76th regiment of foot

[Glentworth]

I am researching the life of my ggg grandfather, Thomas Thrush, who enlisted as a private in the 76 regiment (the "Hindoostan" regiment). According to information supplied by the Public record office in Kew, Richmond, Surrey, Thomas joined the regiment on April 1, 1809 at Ipswich. In 1810 he was posted to Ireland with the regiment. In June 1813 the regiment was ordered to Spain, but Thomas remained behind at the General Hospital in Cobh, Cork for unknown reasons until December 1813. Early in 1814, Thomas was posted to the regimental depot on recruiting duties. He was subsequently promoted to corporal and later sergeant, and his service expired on May 12, 1816.

His son Charles, my gg grandfather, was born on November 4, 1814 (according to family records). According to census records in Canada, Charles was born in England.

What I am trying to find out is where in England Charles was born/baptized. I am thinking that he may have been born in the town where the regimental depot was located in 1814.

Would anyone happen to know where the regimental depot for the 76th regiment was located in 1814?

[Victor Harvey]

The 76th Regiment of Foot collection is held at The Duke of Wellington's Regimental Museum, Bankfield Museum, Akroyd Park, Boothtown Road, Halifax, HX3 6HG.
Curator: J. Spencer BA
Tel: 01422 354823
Email: dukesrhq@netscape.net
Hours: Tue-Sat & Bank Holiday Monday 1000-1700
            Sun 1400-1700
Victor

[Glentworth]

Hi Victor - thanks for your reply. I will get in touch with the museum.

[t mo]

this looks like his service/pension record the corner of the page which has his regt number is torn but as it,s such an unusual name and other detail you,ve given appear to match i,m pretty certain this is him , so here goes .
thomas thrush  parish of birth offling , town of birth hitchin hertfordshire
age at att 53  discharge rank corporal
regt , 2nd royal regt of veteran battalion
service record .
? foot 12 mar 1784 - 11 mar 1808
veteran bat 12 mar 1808 - 24 may 1816
discharged due to reduction of battalion
discharged at harwich barracks 24 may 1816
on another image it has india 3 ?  i,m wondering if this is 3 yrs

these early records are very sparse in info so the above is all the relevent info on it it,s just a pity the corner is torn right by the regt detail of wether it is the 76th or not .
the record is in find my past service/pension records you can buy credits to download it if you so wish .
regards
trevor

[Glentworth]

Hi Trevor - thanks for your post. I don't think this is the same individual, although I agree it is a very unusual name and at first blush it would appear that they are the same person. My ancestor Thomas, however, was baptized at St. John's the Baptist Church on January 3, 1790 in Little Somerford, Wiltshire and as far as I know was not from Hertfordshire. Family records show that he was about 1 month old when baptized and presumably was also born in Little Somerford.

Another point of difference is that my Thomas ' rank at discharge was sergeant, not corporal.

As well, my Thomas was discharged at Albany barracks on the Isle of Wight and his date of discharge was May 12, 1816, not May 24.

Perhaps this other Thomas was a distant cousin?

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

[t mo]

i should have known it was too good to be true especially as it was the only record of any kind with that name .
i also looked for charles in army births but nothing shows nor in parish records in find my past .
regards
trevor

[Kiwi-girl]

Hello!
I live in Little Somerford and am working on a massive spreadsheet detailing (eventually) everyone I can find who has ever lived in our village. It's a huge undertaking and one which I happily call my lifes work!
I have something that you will not find anywhere, it's a removal order for Thomas, his wife Alice and their three sons Charles (your line) aged 4, John aged 2 & 1/2 and Thomas aged 11 months. The document is dated 28 Nov 1818 and states that the family has become chargable to the parish of Saint Mary the Virgin, Malborough, Wilts and upon Thomas' oath of settlement they are to be removed from there to the parish of Little Somerford. His parish of birth/baptism. Apart from the obvious, this is the only document I have found relating to the family. Exciting though huh!
This document was, along with others, in an outhouse belonging to an elderly person in the village who died a little while ago. I knew he had some historical documents and have been trying to obtain them from his family. I have photgraphed them before I take them to the records centre (when we're out of lockdown) which is where they should have been all along.   
I'd love to have some information about his emigation if you have it?
Kind regards, Arlene
PS: I've tried to attach images but the file is large 

[Glentworth]

Hi Arlene - thanks for your message - I almost missed seeing it! This is fantastic - who knew such a document existed! I'm looking forward to seeing it. I have so many questions about what the document means exactly and why it was created. I take it that it's too large a file to send in RootsChat but perhaps you could email it to me. Apparently we're not supposed to reveal our email addresses, but I think there's a way I can send you a private message in RootsChat with my email address. I'll check it out.

In the meantime, I do have emigration info for Thomas, which I discovered in records here in Canada. On June 28th, 1832 Thomas and his pregnant wife Alice and 6 children (Charles, Thomas, Benjamin, Sarah, Nancy and Mary Ann) sailed from the port of Bristol for Quebec City on board the ship Othello under the command of Captain Legget, arriving in Quebec City 37 days later on August 5, 1832. The ship carried 162 settlers. Sadly, son John did not accompany them as he had died in 1831. He was buried at Little Somerford on March 25th, 1831, aged 15.

By the way, I eventually did find out where Charles was born (which was why I had originally posted my query to RootsChat years ago). He was born November 4, 1814 in Wokingham, Berkshire and was baptized November 25, 1814 at All Saints Church in that town.  The record of baptism says that Thomas lived on Down Street and was a corporal with the 76th regiment, which must have been posted there at the time. I have a picture of Charles taken about 1895, but it's too large to attach to this post.

FYI, I mentioned 4 other children, at least 3 of whom who were also baptized in Little Somerford. Benjamin was born February 7,1819 and baptized on March 19, 1819 in Little Somerford. Nancy  was born October 24, 1822 and christened at Little Somerford, Wiltshire on December 29, 1822. Sarah was born January 25, 1825 and was baptized at Little Somerford on February 20, 1825. Mary Anne was born December 14, 1828 according to family records here. I found  a record for a Mary Anne Thrush baptized in St. Michael’s church, Winterbourne on January 11, 1829. Her father is named as Thomas Thrush, a labourer from Hambrook and her mother's name is given as Anne, rather than Alice. This may or may not be the same person as Mary Ann, daughter of Thomas and Alice. If she is the same person, it would appear that Thomas and his family moved away from Little Somerford sometime after 1825.

I also have some info on Thomas' parents and siblings who also lived in Little Somerford, if you would like it.

Best regards - Kerry, in Toronto

[sarah]

Hi Kiwi-girl,

You are allowed to attach images upto 500kb in size, if the image is too large you can either resize the image or you can crop into smaller sizes.

Regards

Sarah