His Majesty's 40th Regiment of Foot - sleuthing help needed

[karenb]

Dear list,

Are there any experts here that may be able to help me (or point in the right direction) to find some information on the following persons?

Major Joseph Thompson was born in Berwick upon Tweed or Salisbury, Wilts, date unknown and died ca. 1854 in Ontario, Canada.  He was in His Majesty's 40th Regiment of Foot after Waterloo - (according to family notes).

His father and grandfather are also supposed to have had impressive military careers but unfortunately the diary of one dissappeared after the death of a descendant and I don't have any details on these persons.

I do have one published note taken from a descendant's obituary which may be of some help and is at the bottom of this page.  All I can say for certain is that the 2 older generations were from Berwick Upon Tweed.  The Christian name of the gt-gt-grandfather MAY BE John Thompson and the gt-gt-gt MAY BE  another Joseph Thompson.

With the little information in the below note - would anyone be able to tell me what Regiments the 2 older generations might have been in?  Also - where might I find information on these Regiments and/or lists of commissioned officers etc. ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks,
Karen

.... Her great-grandfather, Major Joseph Thompson, fought with the Duke of Wellington and helped defeat Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. He moved from Europe to Brock township in Ontario in 1836.

Ms. Thompson's great-great-grandfather was in the British navy and organized the British withdrawal from New York.

Her great-great-great-grandfather fought with the British at Germantown in the American Revolution.

[CoxDodds]

http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Regiments/30thRegimentofFoot.html

Try this site as it has a mention of the 40th Regiment

[liverpool annie]

Read this first Karen !

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~crossroads/regiments/

40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot

Looks like this is the film you need to order .... for your soldiers documents !!

v. 566 40th Rgmnt. of Foot: Sellars-Tubbs 1760-1854 FHL Film894823

Formed in 1702 and designated as the 40th regiment in 1751. It  to served in Nova Scotia, Maine, and Newfoundland for some thirty years After the breaking out of the Seven Years' War, the regiment went to Louisburg  and took part in the capture of that famous stronghold; its grenadiers, with the "Grenadiers of Louisburg," fought under Wolfe at Quebec in 1759. Arriving from Cape Breton in the following spring, the regiment, witnessed the surrender of the French at Montreal in September, 1760, and was afterwards at the taking of Guadeloupe in 1761, and at the conquest of the Havana in 1762.

After forty-six years' continuous foreign service, the 40th came home, and was for some years on the Irish Establishment. It went back to America in 1775 arriving in Boston in June 1775, and fought at Long Island, at the capture of New York, in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and other affairs. The regiment was dispatched to Antigua from New York in 1778, recalled to New York in 1781 and finally returned to England in 1783. It later returned to the West Indies serving there until 1798. After serving in the Peninsular War,  it took part in the attack on New Orleans in 1815.

http://www.blupete.com/Hist/Gloss/Fighting40.htm

Annie 

PS ... it was quite usual for boys/young men to follow their fathers and Grandfathers footsteps into the same regiment ...... !

The 40th were at Germantown ......

http://www.britishbattles.com/germantown.htm

[karenb]

Hi Liverpool annie and CoxDodds,

Thank you very much for the information and links.  That's really a great help and I'll see what I can find from there.

I wish I knew what happened to the Thompson diary.  Apparently, the writer of the diary went into great detail of the battles in America.  Oh well, perhaps it will turn up somewhere - someday.

Thanks again,
Karen

[km1971]

Hi Karen

He is not listed in either the 1827 Army List or the one for 1850. You will have to find one just after Waterloo, say 1816 to 1820. If you google “army list” you might find one on CD, if you cannot get a lookup. There is an almost complete set in Kew if you can get there. Anyone at Waterloo has a gothic W against their name in all subsequent Army Lists.

I did manage to find him in the London Gazette online search:

= Feb 1794 - http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/13625/pages/160

Lt Joseph Thompson to be Captain-Lt in 40th Foot

= May 1802 - http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/15478/pages/468

Captain Joseph Thomson to be Major in 40th Foot

= July 1803 - http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/15602/pages/874

A Reserve battalion of Infantry, The Honorable,G.
Chetwynd Stapleton, to be Colonel, with temporary
Rank in the Army, vice Peter, whose
Appointment does not take Place.
Brevet Major Joseph Thompson, from the 40th Foot, to be Major.

Note the two spellings; and  “vice” means replacing.

The problem is that I could not find him after 1803. Neither can I find out what the Reserve Battalion was renamed to. A lookup in the Waterloo medal roll and for the MGS (Military General Service) medal - awarded for service either in the Peninsular or against the Americans in 1812-1815 - would also help.

From the 1781 Army List there is a Lt Joseph Thompson in the 40th Foot (in America at the time). He obtained his rank in April of that year.

There is also a Captain John Thompson in the 69th Foot, with rank effective 9 Oct 1775.

The "Hon G" is probably Granville who later became a Major General

Ken

[ShaunJ]

One more from the Gazette:

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/issues/15916/pages/568

War Office May 10 1806

40th (Foot)... Major Joseph Thompson, from Half-Pay
of the late 15th Garrison Battalion, to be Major,
vice Shawe, who exchanges

[ShaunJ]

He's not listed in the Index of Commissioned Officers in the Waterloo Roll Call

[ShaunJ]

In the 1798 Army List he's listed as a Captain in the 40th Foot, with a seniority date of 24 December 1793.

[karenb]

Wow, Ken and ShaunJ
- that's a wonderful help and I'm beginning to think his father was also a Joseph and likely this one:

From the 1781 Army List there is a Lt Joseph Thompson in the 40th Foot (in America at the time). He obtained his rank in April of that year.

Unfortunately, I don't have birth years for these fellows but the Major Joseph who died 1854 in Ontario had children from 1803-1814 so I would guess he was only born in the 1770s or early 1780s.   This is likely his father. 

Thanks a million,
Karen