Quick Military Question

[millymcb]

And of course he may have been baptised at any time after his birth...

What did his father do?  If he was military too then that may have affected the registration process?

Milly

[liscoole]

thanks Milly!

He stated his father to be James Wilkinson a Beer Seller. Nightmare. No James Wilkinson in any census, was recorded as a beer seller. It feels like he went out of his way to avoid being traced by his descendants lol!

[ReadyDale]

Hi ReadyDale,

Thanks for your reply! Yes, he was a catholic before he got married, so its all starting to make sense now! Its very likely then that his birth may not have been properly registered. However I suppose his baptism in the Catholic church would have been recorded.

Also, can anyone tell me what the difference between Catholic and Non Conformist was?

many thanks

My understanding is that a non-conformist is one that doesn't conform to the main (CofE) religion. Bit of a catch-all term. So a Catholic would be regarded as a non-conformist, but a non-conformist would not necessarily be a Catholic (could be Baptist, Jewish, etc, etc).
Yes, the baptism would have been recorded at the Catholic church. Might be worth an e-mail. I am having reasonable success on that front myself (not in that geographic area though, so I can't advise specifics).

[liscoole]

Thanks ReadyDale I will try that

[bowman]

There is a James Thomas Wilkinson born Sept 1870 in Lowton which is a part of Wigan, this is from the Family Search site

name:   James Thomas Wilkinson
gender:   Male
baptism/christening date:   18 Sep 1870
baptism/christening place:   Lowton, Lancashire, England
father's name:   James Wilkinson
mother's name:   Ann
indexing project (batch) number:   C16160-1
system origin:   England-ODM
source film number:   1469067 IT 2

I hope this might help.

Bowman

[liscoole]

Gosh thank you for that Bowman, I have never seen that before, I must investigate it further.

Many thanks again!

[bowman]

As for the minimum age for enlistment, I am in the throes of transcribing RA brigade books, this is an extract from one such book, which shows that this chap was 12yrs and 9mths when he was attested, I have had several younger than this, I have included the page heading for clarification.

Bowman

[liscoole]

Wow that is incredible
12 1/2 years old when he enlisted? Mind blowing really, he was still a child!
Many thanks for posting this, im not sure I would have believed it if I hadnt seen the proof with my own eyes!

[rutti tutti]

Hi there - was about to post a similar question for someone born in December 1852. He joined the 14th hussars. What would his likely age be of entry into the regiment? He lived in London.
Thanks
Ruth