Royal Artillery Service Records from the 1870s

[Fear na mara]

59th Foot, which towards the latter end of his service became the East Lancs - his transfer is noted. This is my first view of Service Records of this period and they are not exactly models of Pitman's Office Practice. I have not yet loaded the enhanced reader which may improve things but will not compensate for my contextual ignorance. Where he served is a bit higgledy-piggledy but has him in Ireland at the critical time for the birth of daughter, Margaret. The marriage to wife, Sarah, is recorded with clarity.  He does not seem to have been with the 59th in all the places recorded on the Wiki entry for that regiment. His service in NewZealand is very clear but I will need to get a paper chart to get the rest of the ducks in line.  I noticed, when I first Googled, Muster Rolls were mentioned. These might help with location, but I am not sure.

E

[hurley42]

Does anyone know when the military records for persons prior to 1873 might be released ? As my John Nixon was not present in the 1873-1880s Royal Artilllery batch I am keen to follow up as and when ?

Cheers

Robert

[DarrenMW]

Hi Robert...

You may find this site particularly interesting and helpful,....i did!

http://www.victorianwars.com/index.php?sid=fb36216c62bc9c8665d24aa7d9887606

As i recall (and I think it varied from regmnt) a typical sign up was for 12 years. Generally the soldier would serve 6 years active, followed by 6 years in reserve, where he would assume a normal civilian life but be subject to recall. Some soldiers had a 7/5 arrangement.

I'm not 100% sure of the specifics of the above, but that's my recollection.

Anyway, best of luck, you'll love the Victorian War Foum site.

Darren

p.s. the there is a similar site for the Great War Forum ; if you should ever need it

[Mean_genie]

The records for 1760 to 1872 are online at Finfmypast now. Those for 1855-1872 have been online for a little while and 1760-1854 were released a couple of days ago

Mean_genie

[hurley42]

Many thanks for advice DarrenMW and Mean_genie.
I will follow up the leads you have mentioned.

Cheers

Robert

[hurley42]

Hi

I recently looked at the UK 1871 Census for Woolwich London and found a person of interest  - he may well be the John Nixon I 'seek'.

A John Nixon aged 24 Corporal Royal Artillery and born in Ireland c1847 is present for the Census. I assume he might have traveled there for a course - is there any way of pursuing this lead with any
surviving records ?

I have attempted to find a service record for my John Nixon without success - I assume it has been lost.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Cheers

[hurley42]

Hi All

Well its a year on from my last post and I have found out that John Nixon was born on 1 August 1846 and baptised in St Marys Church, Delvin, Co Westmeath. I visited Ireland in May and managed to track down the Church of Ireland records in Dublin.

Beyond this fact I have no further information on him so his life remains a mystery !

Pity I could not locate his military record.....

Cheers

[hurley42]

Hi All

I have now managed to trace John Nixon in UK military records at Kew with the help of an expert researcher:

John Nixon’s military career with the Royal Artillery (RA) lasted 7.5 years from May 1868 to November 1875. During this time he held four ranks as he was promoted from Gunner to Bombardier to Corporal (1869) and finally to Sergeant (1871). He appears to have spent most of his time on the Isle of Wight and was also present at Woolwich Depot.

The first trace for John as a Bombardier is in late 1868 at Portsmouth attached to the 6th Brigade. He had joined that unit in May 1868. His trade at the time of his enlistment was registered as a carpenter born in Castletown Delvin, Ireland. Later that year this unit was merged with the remnants of the 21st brigade (Ex Indian Army) which had recently returned from Bombay. He held the rank of Bombardier (7th Battery) by the time the first muster was held for the reformed 21st brigade in April 1869.

In April 1871 he was present at Woolwich barracks and recorded as an Irish ‘stray’ in the UK Census. This fact has enabled his military career to be traced as units present at Woolwich then are known and can be researched. The fate of his actual service record can now be established – he was never a ‘Chelsea Pensioner’ (ie never received a military pension) consequently his service record has not survived. Nevertheless the War Office muster, pay and nominal roll records and the married establishment records permit a reasonably detailed description of his military career.

Further research indicates he was promoted to Cpl on the 16th of Sept 1869 and promoted to Sgt. on the 19th of December 1871. During that period he'd been detached to the 2nd Divisional Depot Brigade at Woolwich. So it is now clear that the studio photograph of him taken in a Kingstown studio in Ireland, must date between September 1869 and December 1871.

In early 1875 he married Emma Blandford (probably on the Isle of Wight) and the marriage was duly noted on the battery records as from 12 January 1875. Emma was the daughter of James Blandford, publican of the Kings Head tavern, Quay St Yarmouth IOW. A local newspaper reference dated 1860 indicates that James had once been assaulted by 4 corporals from the Royal Artillery. This reference confirms that the tavern was a favourite meeting place for the local RA personnel and perhaps it is not surprising that 15 years later a marriage between John and James’ daughter Emma eventuated early in 1875.

In November 1875 he left the Royal Artillery by purchase. This would have required a substantial amount of cash, perhaps 3-4 month’s salary. It is the reason his service record has not survived. The most probable reason for John’s departure from the Royal Artillery was the impending transfer of his unit to India in January 1876.

Interestingly John’s departure from the Royal Artillery coincided with his brother Henry joining the NSW Government Railways in November of the same year. It is not clear if they managed to maintain contact with each other at this time but family stories refer to them travelling to the US and to Australia. It is possible that John settled in the US but no direct evidence to confirm this has yet been located in the US historical record.

Further research in UK records may establish whether or not he remained in the UK and if so for how long.

[ShaunJ]

The marriage was at the parish church in Yarmouth on 12 January 1875. See http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=7&CATID=-6451403&j=1