!8th Royal Irish Regiment.

[ricardoespana]

Hello

I am hoping someone is able to show me how to obtain details of names of officers of the 18th Royal Irish.

I am trying to trace details of my Great Grandfather Capt. Samuel Henry BRYAN and his father a Col. BRYAN.

Samuel Henry BRYAN lived between 1831 and 1887 and I believe at one stage he was stationed in India.

Although, I know some of the history of the 18th Royal Irish, I do not know how to ascertain details about personnel archives; plus it does not help e living abroad.

Richard

[scrimnet]

Well here is where the 18th were during your periods...

  1824 Ireland 
  1837 Ceylon (6 service coys) Ireland (4 depot coys)
  1839 Ceylon (6 service coys) England (3 coys) & Ireland (1 coy)
  1840 China (regt reunited?)
  1842 China 
  1848 India: Bengal 
  1852 Burma 
  1853 India 
  1854 Crimea 
  1857 Ireland 
  1857 India 
  1857.18 Sept:- 1st Battalion, 18th (The Royal Irish) Regiment
re designated on formation of 2nd Battalion
  1857 Sepoy rebellion 
  1858 India   
  1864 Burma 
  1865 India 
  1866 England 
  1868 Ireland 
  1872 Malta 
  1875 India 
  1879 Afghanistan 
  1881.1 July:- 1st Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment 
  1881 Bengal   
  1884 Egypt   
  1885 Sudan   
  1885 England: Plymouth   
  1889 England: Colchester 
  <1894> Ireland: Curragh   
  <1897> Limerick   
  <1899> Buttevant   
  1899.Oct South Africa

[scrimnet]

You may find this book of use...If you can find it!

Gretton, George Le Mesurier. The campaigns and history of the Royal Irish Regiment from 1684 to 1902. London : Blackwood & Sons, 1911
 
Gretton, George Le Mesurier. The campaigns and history of the Royal Irish Regiment from 1684 to 1902. [facsimile reprint] County Cork : Schull Books, 1997.

[km1971]

Hi Ricahrd

I cannot find any reference to anyone called Bryan serving with the Royal Irish. Can you give a date when you know for sure he was in the army?

Here is a link to researching officers - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/rdleaflet.asp?sLeafletURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enationalarchives%2Egov%2Euk%2Fcatalogue%2Fleaflets%2Fri2004%2Ehtm&lBack=-1

Ken

[ricardoespana]

Hello Ken (km1971)
I am just slightly surprised you could not find any reference to anyone called Bryan serving within the Royal Irish.
The references I have are from what my late mother told me, have in front of me notes from a late cousin, who was a direct descendant of Samuel H Bryan, where she says about him being a Captain in the 18th Royal Irish and him being the son of Col. Bryan late of the 18 Royal Irish.
Also, I can remember having for many years his Subalterns' Stick (not sure if this is the correct description).
In the notes it says, that Col. Bryan of High Haldon, Kent was a rich landowner and one of the few gentlemen of his time to own a watch for time-keeping, plus, he was very tall and had a nickname amongst his fellow officers of 'long-shanks'. Samuel H Bryan was married twice and when they were stationed in India, his wife a 2 children caught and died of the plague.
You ask for dates; these will be approximate. Samuel H Bryan was born in Nottingham in 1831/1 and died in Cheriton Bishop in Devon in 1887; so it is likely he was in the army in the 1850's and I have a feeling it may have been for a short time- possibly between 1 and 10 years. His father, Col. Bryan, I would have thought could have been in the army in either the late 1700's or early 1800's.
My wife and I live in Spain (near Jaén), and we do not travel back to the UK often, (credit crunch!!); which makes it rather difficult to get to somewhere like the National Archives in Kew.
Regards
Richard
 

[km1971]

I only have the 1850 and 1862 Army Lists around his time, and he is not listed in these.

You could try the LG search engine - http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/search

Ken

[jewell19]

Hoping someone may be able to help me. I have found the marriage cert of my g'g'grandparents... Edward Conroy and Emily Louisa Bond. They were married in Sydney (Aus) 20.4.1861. Edward's occupation was Compositor, born in Colombo, Ceylon, his father, also Edward Conroy is listed as being in the 18th Regiment, his wife (Edward juniors mother) mother listed as Mary Dunn.

Would the 18th Regiment be Irish? Would the regiment have been in Ceylon in the 1840's-50's, and is there any way I can find more detail on Edward senior and Mary Dunn, as I have exhausted Australian records, to no avail.... many many thanks.

[ricardoespana]

Hi,

I was the OP, but at this moment in time, have been unable to find out much about the 18th.

This is what I do know:

The 18th Royal Irish Regiment was Irish. Officers and Ranks were out in India and Ceylon at many times in the 1800's. In the 1935, the Regiment was gazetted by King George V into the Irish Guards and also performed the Trooping of the Colour to great acclaim.

My problem is, although, I know my great grandfather as well as my great, great grandfather were Officers in the 18th Royal Irish Regiment, I am unable to locate any records.

I was going to suggest you copy your post from this thread to the RootsChat Brickwall page, to see if anyone else could find out about your query. There may be a better response on the Brickwall page.

Alternatively, try and contact the Research Dept at the Irish Guards. You will have to Google as I do not have this information to hand.

Happy research hunting.

With kind regards

Richard

[km1971]

Would the regiment have been in Ceylon in the 1840's-50's

They left for Ceylon in January 1837. They left in May 1840 for China (7 years), then India. They arrived back in England in May 1854, and left for the Crimean War in December 1854. I cannot find his name in the medal roll however.

Would the 18th Regiment be Irish?

They were a regiment of the British army and therefore recruited men from all over the British Isles. Although they spent a lot of time in Ireland they also served in England and Scotland. While the regiment was overseas they would retain a Depot in the UK to carry on recruitment. Often the Depots for regiments in India was in Chatham, so while they were overseas it would not be a great surprise if they acquired more English recruits than Irish.

Findmypast have the records for several Edward Conroys online. All are of a later date, but there is one whose DoB is not given. You should also check FindMyPast for regimental BMDs. If he was discharged before the end of 1854 then his record has not survived. These can be searched on the National Archives Catalogue, and he is not listed. FindMyPast will be putting these records online later this year, when you can check again.

Ken