Invalid soldier in 1871

[cimbrio]

Hello everyone,

I wonder if anyone can help me. I've a record of one of my ancestor's sister, Mary Ann Caldwell (née Vickress) who is listed in the 1871 UK Census as living with her husband Joseph Caldwell and their children. One of them, Edward, is listed as an invalid soldier and is 36 years old (so would have been born roughly in 1835). I know Mary Ann and Joseph married on April 17th 1837 in Hope under Dinmore, in Herefordshire, so it might be possible that Edward was born before they married, and perhaps even Joseph Caldwell may not have been his father.

I wonder if there's any way of proving whether Edward was indeed called Caldwell, and how he may have become an invalid soldier. Would it be possible he had been wounded in, say, the Crimean War? He would have been around 18-19 years old at the time.

This is the census entry:
Vern, Marden, Herefordshire

Joseph Caldwell  Head  Mar  58  Axe helve maker  bn Herefordshire Yazor
Mary A Caldwell  Wife  Mar  58  bn Herefordshire Hope under Dinmore
Edward Caldwell  Son Unm  36  Invalid soldier  bn Herefordshire Hope under Dinmore
James Caldwell  Son  Unm  29  Helve maker  bn herefordshire St Margarets
Selina Caldwell  Dau  Unm  22  bn Staffordshire  Winguinford (?)

RG10; Piece: 2695; Folio: 42; Page: 5

Thanks!

[jorose]

https://www.familysearch.org/ shows a likely baptism for him in 1835 as Edward Vickress, son of Mary Ann Vickress, but he is certainly living with them in 1841 as a Caldwell. It is likely that whether Joseph was his biological father or not, he was raised as a Caldwell and probably used that name.

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/chelsea-pensioners-service-records-collection-search-start.action
 - there is a likely hit here for him (under Caldwell).

[cimbrio]

Thanks jorose, that confirms his surname and that he might have received a pension.

I do not have a suscription on the webpage you mentioned, is it possible that you or anyone else can check the information. I'm eager to find out about this wounded soldier and how he came to be wounded.

Best regards,

Cimbrio

[t mo]

there are 3 records for edward caldwell,s 2 born in ireland and the other is stated to be from worcs there attestation dates are for the 1860,s so a bit tight time wise to be yours also checked him out under the surname vickress and none show under that name .
trevor

[cimbrio]

 
So a dead end?

So how can I find out how Edward Caldwell/Vickress would have become wounded? Any tips are welcome. I haven't found his date of death so any clues might also be useful.

Thank you for your help!

[t mo]

hi

the thing to bear in mind with this sort of problem is that it may be he was registered for birth under a different name completely say for arguments sake he was illegitimate and his mother reg him with his actual fathers name but when he grew up he altered his name to the person who raised him as a father  ie caldwell he would still be legally whatever his name was at his bpt , any of us can legally call ourselves what we like but at the end of the day it,s what,s on our birth cert that counts what you need to do if pos is find a birth reg for him to be accurate in this , the other thing is that although it says on the census he was an invalid soldier it  doesn,t mean he was getting a pension from the army so in that case obviously he won,t be recorded there   , you need to start from the begging i feel with this look for a birth cert or birth reg and go from there , i appreciate that if his age on the census is accurate that he falls just the wrong side of when the birth records start but i,m using the term cert as an example for what to do next in the hunt for him not as an actual statement of fact !

best wishes and don,t lose heart it,s still early days with this it just needs expanding in the search field step back and look at it in a broader context .

trevor

[cimbrio]

Hello Trevor,

thanks for your message. I realise we have to go step by step and not jump to conclusions. Perhaps Edward was simply wounded, and happened to be a soldier at the time, thus he would have been a wounded soldier... Maybe he never got injured in a war!

Whatever the case may be (I'd love to find out how he got to be injured though), he was baptised as Edward Vickress, son of Mary Ann Vickress, which fits my facts:

Name:     Edward Vickress
Gender:    Male
Baptism/Christening Date:    03 Mar 1835
Baptism/Christening Place:    HOPE UNDER DINMORE,HEREFORD,ENGLAND
Birth Date:    
Birthplace:    
Death Date:    
Name Note:    
Race:    
Father's Name:    
Father's Birthplace:    
Father's Age:    
Mother's Name:    Mary Ann Vickress
Mother's Birthplace:    
Mother's Age:    
Indexing Project (Batch) Number:    C13894-1
System Origin:    England-ODM
Source Film Number:    unknown
Reference Number:    

I know Mary Ann Vickress married Joseph Caldwell on April 17th 1837; their first (legitimate) child was born on October 29th the same year, so Mary Ann was already pregnant with her second (that we know) child by then, i.e. she and Joseph did not wait to be married before they started to "fool around". It's possible that Joseph too was Edward's natural father, and that Edward was legitimised upon their marriage, which might explain that he is listed as son (as opposed to step-son) on the 1871 census.

Perhaps another census entry, or a marriage/death certificate could explain more...

Is there any way of finding out about his military record, if he had one?

[t mo]

hi cimbrio
forgive me if i appeared to be talking down to you it certainly wasn,t meant like that only as a guide , as you say it could well be he was just a soldier with a wound nothing more but how you could find out how it happened i,ve no idea ,without knowing a reg for him personally i don,t think you will find anything on him , only if you could find a census that might have his reg stated that would be ideal , i went back into the service records using vickress and any derivative i could think of but still nothing , and as i,ve stated without a regiment you stand no chance of finding him , as hereford is close to the welsh border it may be he was in one of the welsh reg,s .
as to mary ann & joseph what you suggest could well be the case may be this part of your original post needs to be split off and posted in the herefordshire section there may well be a chance of finding something using people with more local knowledge and local records .
best wishes
trevor

[cimbrio]

Hi Trevor,

none offense taken whatsoever, don't worry!

I've stumbled across a document a relative had and I've found Edward Caldwell, as he became eventually. He is listed on the 1891 Census in the parish of Wellington, Herefordshire. He is single, 56, listed as an agricultural labourer, living alone at a 4-room house, there is no reference to him having been a soldier. This is certainly him as he is born in Hope under Dinmore, Herefordshire, so that confirms it. He must have died sometime after the census was taken so I'll check BMD Index to see if he appears.

I suppose it'll be almost impossible to find out how Edward Caldwell came to be wounded, but at any rate I'm glad to find out he lived into maturity and seems to have had a comfortable home.

Thanks for everything, and keep me posted on any developments please!