Soldier Migrants

[screwlooose]

Just found an interesting "fact" in a newspaper obit.
This is my wifes 3xGGrandfather. He came to South Australia in 1849. The only reference in the passenger lists is that he was in Adelaide by 31/12/1849. Cannot find him on a passenger list.
The death obit say that, "he came to S.A. with a number of other soldiers, but soon after bought himself out of the regiment and rushed to the Ballarat goldfields". I'm not able to find any soldier lists or records of soldiers from 1849.
Would be greatfull for any info or being pointed in the right direction.
Name is Richard Butters. born abt 1819.
thx
Duane

[~MERLIN~]

His marriage shows that he was a widower & in SA by 14 Dec 1849:

BUTTERS Richard - Widower age 28yrs m. EASTCOTT Mary Ann - Widow age 22yrs 14-12-1849 St John Church Adelaide Book/Page: 65/237

Many pensioner soldiers & guards came to Australia. Dependent on what service they were in they could buy & sell their regiment commissions.

Do you have any idea of what regiment he was in & his place of birth?

I see they had a few children in SA & several more in VIC. I assume you have all these?

[majm]

I wonder if the widow he married may have been married previously to someone in the same regiment as him?

Have you tried searching Trove using the keyword regiment and limiting the search to the SA papers and to say 1847-1849?  That may well help find the regiment number etc.  Quite often those in regiments are not named in the papers when those regiments or detachments of them moved between the colonies.

Cheers,  JM

[screwlooose]

thx for the replies. Mary Ann Eastcott, actually came here as Mary Ann Allen. She married a William Allen before coming to Australia. Haven't found what happend to William, obviously he died. She had a son to him in April 1849, Theodore James Eascott ALLEN, and in December of the same year she married Richard Butters. Unusual that she used her maiden name. Havent found any refence to him with the family. He married in Victoria in 1875, so i will search for him amoung the family.
Will also look for a marrige of Richard in England.
will keep looking, thx for the tips, and any other that may come,
Duane

[Heathereg]

I had the same problem with my ancestor.  He was in the 11th Foot Regiment in Monmouthshire England, then turned up in South Australia where his 3rd & 4th child was born at the Flinders Street Barracks.

I found his info in the 11th Regiment muster & pay book on Trove - below.  I just had a look and also saw Richard Butters (#1624) with the same notation - embarked Mount Stewart Elphinstone 22 January 1849 to Van Dieman's Land. He was in the same regiment as my ancestor 

EMBARKED FOR VAN DIEMANS LAND 22ND JANUARY 1845


It's here...

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-728664549/records of other administrative departments of the war office returns/muster books and pay lists.general/infantry/11th foot/11th regiment:devonshire

The Elphinstone was a convict ship so the soldiers were guards on the ship that sailed to Tasmania in 1845 to offload convicts.  Soldiers names were not always recorded as it wasn't a passenger ship, but the convicts were.  The soldiers then stayed in Tasmania for various lengths of time as guards, but would have gone back and forth to the colonies with their regiment.

My ancestor then sailed to Adelaide South Australia in 1846 on an 'inter-colony ship called the Branken Moor (Butters is not listed) - arriving in June to relieve the 96th Regiment based in Adelaide. 

There is a website with a list of all inter-colony ships arriving in South Australia - you might be able to find him here?

https://localwiki.org/adelaide-hills/Inter-Colonial_Arrivals_to_South_Australia_-_1835_to_184p

[Heathereg]

Update to my previous post.  The dates recorded on some of the documents I've seen are incorrect.  It states 1849 on some, but my ancestor was definately on the 1845 voyage as he was listed along with his family as passengers on the second intercolony ship and his wife had a child at the Flinders Street Barracks in 1846.   

The date you were given may also be wrong, as he may not have been in Tasmania that long after arriving in 1845, and most likely arrived in South Australia earlier than 1849.

Unfortunately the soldiers were often 'dribbled' to the colonies and many are just listed as 'soldiers' on the inter-colony passenger lists.  They may have been put on when there was room.  If he was married his wife should be on the passenger list though. 

There is a great read on the Charles Sturt Museum website called 'imperial regiments in south australia' which goes into detail about the 11th regiment in Adelaide - you can google - or find here
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.charlessturtmuseum.com.au/resources/booklets/imperial%20regiments%20in%20south%20australia.pdf

[maddys52]

Hello Heathereg and welcome to RootsChat.

The original poster, screwloose has not been online here since 2018. Hopefully they still have the same email address and will receive notification of your post.

It is an interesting thread.