Chatham Barracks, kent

[witchy_mum]

Hi Am trying to find my GreatGreatUncle James Bennett. who was b1828 Maidstone,Kent. The only info on James is his baptism record. In the 1841 census I find a James Bennett living at the Chatham Barracks, Chatham as a soldier age 14. How am I able to find if this is my James as there seems to be no records of enlistments for the Chatham barracks. Did they take young boys at this age into the army as soldiers. Lpve to hear from anyone you can help me break this brick wall.

[t mo]

hi wm
he could have enlisted anywhere then gone to chatham  barracks , i,ve had a look at service /pension records but using your time frame there isn,t a james bennett with that birth year and from kent , are you working on the birth year as it appears in the 1841 census or have you definate proof of the birth year only the early censuses are notorious for being in most cases up to 5 years out or even more in some cases .
as to his being under age it did happen but i don,t know wether it counted to there real service time or not but i have seen mention on records of under age on them i believe they may have been used as bandsmen or such till they became of age proper  , no doubt someone will put me right on it as i,d like to know myself .
regards

trevor

[witchy_mum]

Good Afternoon Trevor

Many thanks for your reply and help. Yes I do have James baptism record for his birth. James was born 6 Jan 1828 in Maidstone, Kent. When I was searching the 1841 census for James this was the only James closes to my dates etc for him. So am curious if this is the person I'm looking for. Didnt realise they could enlist at a different place. Even though its says he was a soldier in the census he may not necessary been one but like you say may had been doing something else until coming of age. Hopefully someone can enlighten us on this query. Is there anywhere were you can search for army enlistment as surely they would have to name a next of kin or a parents name on the form when they were enlisting. These forms must of been kept somewhere Have search google but to no avail have not find anywhere or am I not looking at the right places. Pam

[km1971]

Hi Pam

He does not appear to have received a pension, so his service record will not have been kept. You can however confirm that for yourself using Findmypast. Further military research would require you to identify his regiment. So the next step is to find the names of any officers given in the census.

Enlistment forms record NoK from about 1890.

Ken

[t mo]

hi pam
do bear in mind that the 1841 census is notoriously bad as far as birth years are concerned never bank on it being correct as back then the birth year was rounded up or down by 5 years so it always pays to work on the assumption that you need a leeway of 5 maybe 6/7 years either way so you may not be right with where your looking use this in future searches you were lucky in having the birth record of james this time .
as Ken says he doesn,t look as if he received a pension ( i checked FindMyPast records yesterday ) and back then you very rarely see any mention of next of kin on enlistment papers so that doesn,t help and what service records exist is it no other records of any sort are out there apart from regimental records , again sometimes in the census info you can get a regiments name but in this case not so i looked at it yesterday as well .
regards
trevor

[t mo]

hi pam
i,ve just looked at the army lists for 1840 and 1842 after finding 13 officers in the census of 1841 along with james and it looks as if the reg he was in was the the 33rd of foot (1st yorkshire west riding reg) as 4 out of the thirteen show as being in that reg in both army listsfor 1840  another was to do with the medical side and a couple didn,t show at all in either list but bearing in mind 4 of them were aged 15 it,s not surprising i suppose they were all ensigns the lowest officer rank i believe in the british army of the time , hopefully Ken will pop in and see how he reads the situation now he,s the expert not me .
regards
trevor

[AskAnExpert]

The 1841 census was taken on the night of 6 June. Ages of persons over 15 were rounded down to the next 5. That’s how it was supposed to work but some enumerators were a bit confused. http://www.1911census.org.uk/1841.htm

If he was in the 33rd it would have been with the depot, the 33rd Regt. of Foot was in Barbadoes. The depots were responsible for recruitment, training, and supply of suitable soldiers to their regiment. About 25 Regiments of Foot had their depot at Chatham in June 1841.

Queen’s Regulations re recruitment, 1844, for boys see paragraph 5.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=G9mgAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA389

Askan

[witchy_mum]

Good Afternoon. Many many thanks Trevor, Ken and Askanexpert. Your help has been tremendous. Have noetd down what you have searched for me Trevor. Will be following up on these on the weekend. Have searched Military records on findmypast Ken but with no luck. Can see why now as you said he never collected a pension which really makes it hard to find him.
Trevor did you read the site that askanexpert gave me to read.

Once again many thanks and greatly appreciate all you've done. Will let you know if I eventually find my James Bennett

Regards Pam

[Kakaka10]

hi
I have a similar issue with My 3rd Great Uncle William Cole. He was baptised in Dover on 1st September 1822 then I find him in the Chatham Barracks in 1841 Census is there anywhere that i can find out more details from military sites about William?

Thanks in advance for any help

Regards

Lauchie