Connaught Rangers 1903 -1911

[eac61]

Hi

Wondering if anyone can help ??

Researching my friends family tree, I have discovered that her Great Grandfather who was born in Birmingham, England in abt 1876 was a Sergeant in the Connaught Rangers.  His name was (Stephen) George Lane.  He married his wife Margaret Jennings in 1900 in Galway, and that year in Galway they had their first son.  The three then appear on the 1901 English census in Kent and went onto have another two children, one in 1901 and the other in 1903. I could find no trace of the family on the 1911 English census so then decided to check the Irish census records and lo and behold found Margaret as a widow, along with her three young children - she had returned to Co. Mayo where she was born.  In 1914 Margaret married again and went on to have a few more children. 

Can anyone tell me how I can discover where Stephen George Lane died and when ??

Many thanks

EAC

[km1971]

If he died in service they would have destroyed his papers 20 years later. But you can double check that next year when Findmypast put pre-WW1 records online. Unfortunately there are no muster books from the 1900s either. If he died in service you could try the overseas/regimental death registers on Findmypast. In 1901 he was with a detail in Gravesend/Chatham From the census it looks as if they shared accommodation with HM Customs.

He may have died there or with one of the battalions. These spent most of the 1900s in India, with one year (1907) in Malta, and a few years in Tipperary (I think).

As an army widow she would only have received a pension for 6-7 years. If she re-married she would have lost it, albeit with one year's pension in lieu. So most widows had to re-marry within a few years.

Ken

[eac61]

Thanks so much for responding - I am also trying to trace his family, the only Stephen Lane in Birmingham I can find dosen't give a middle name so I am not sure if it is him as I have no other information, also the record  shows another sibling who has the name of George - I appreciate that this wasnt totally uncommon one of my own uncles was Thomas Owen and his brother was Owen ... talk about lack of imagination !

You mentioned that any records would have been destroyed 20 years later - why would that have been done  

[km1971]

You mentioned that any records would have been destroyed 20 years later - why would that have been done  

Because they had no reason to keep them. He was dead, and any widow's pension was only paid for a short period. So why would they need to keep them?

Ken