Hi Biggles! I recently got the name of my great-great grandfather, born in Scotland, from someone I met on one of these forums. She had actually posted years ago about this man, happening to mention in her post the name of my great grandmother, who was his daughter. This contact was trying to find out what had happened to those daughters because she and her sister had been left in Bermuda by their father when he was widowered. They were Bermudians, as was their mother.
Your kind offer to assist with researching information about those who were in the British military caught my eye and I am writing to find out more, if that is possible.
My contact (who has stopped communicating with me, apparently, and regrettably - maybe she is just having computer problems or got busy) mentioned that his military records, which she did find in the national archive at Kew, revealed a lot about his personality. I would love to see what is in those records, but since I don't think I'll be getting them from her, and don't think I'll be getting to the U.K. again any time soon, perhaps you could help me with finding more, please?
Here is what I have so far: Arthur Ernest Campbell. Royal artillary muster records for him were found (again, by this contact, who is his great grand-daughter) at The National Archives in Kew, London; he was a Bombardier, Royal Artillery, he was born in Killiecrankie, Scotland in 1846 or 1850; he worked as a photographer later in life (I don't know if that provides any clues about what he did in the military; he was stationed in Bermuda for a long time. He married a Bermudian and they had two daughters, one of whom was my mother's paternal grandmother. His father's first name might have been Samuel but that is not certain.
Arthur may have gone to Bermuda c1870 probably with the British Merchant Navy (leaving from Portmouth) or he was a bombardier in the Royal Artillery...not sure which, nor do I know the difference, but those two branches (if they are even separate branches) have been mentioned in connection with his military career.
I am a librarian and have great research skills, but nothing beats being in the country where the research is conducted (and I've also just expanded my research efforts online) so if you can help in any way (including pointing me in the right direction or directions for more information related to this ancestor), I would really appreciate it so much!
It is 3:30 a.m. here so I'm off to get some sleep, but I hope that you can help me.
Many thanks,
Deborah
