Pontefract Barracks

[BETTS7]

Hello
My  4th great grandfather fought at Waterloo and then went on to marry and have his first son in 1820 in Pontefract.  Is it true that the barracks there had already wound up by this date?  He had his next 3 children at Woolwich, so I presume there was a barracks there at this time, before going on to have the next 3 in Ireland!

[ShaunJ]

The Pontefract Barracks were not built until much later but there are contemporary press references which suggest that the Horse Artillery had its Northern headquarters at Pontefract until 1819.

[sallyyorks]

Hi BETTS 

There was serious riots / uprisings in the West Riding in 1820. This came just after Peterloo and the Cato Street Conspiracy. There would be soldiers barracked across the West Riding (and other industrial districts, like Lancashire) to deal with it. As had happened during the Luddite uprisings ten years earlier and would happen again during the Reform Riots (1830s) , the Chartist period and various other strikes (eg Plug Riots) and mass meetings /disturbances

This link is about what happened in the West Riding "Yorkshire Rebellion 1820"

http://www.zyworld.com/albionmagazineonline/yorkshire_rebellion.htm

[KGarrad]

He had his next 3 children at Woolwich, so I presume there was a barracks there at this time, before going on to have the next 3 in Ireland!

    Woolwich is in London, not Ireland?

[BETTS7]

Thank you all for that.  I know that Woolwich is in London, I stated that he had the three children after the Woolwich ones, in Ireland.  Is there a way I can check on his army career?  I know he was a Chelsea Pensioner and that he was Retired "H Arty" on the 1851 census.

[ShaunJ]

"H Arty" would be Horse Artillery and that would tie in nicely with Pontefract.

Have you searched for an army discharge record on TNA or FindMyPast? What was his name?

[BETTS7]

Hi
Thanks for that.  He was Benjamin Sellers b 1800 in Easton, Northamptonshire. His Waterloo record states:
 Rank: Driver Regiment: Royal Horse And Foot Artillery Sub Unit: Lieutenant Colonel Gardiner's "E" Troop.
Would he have got a medal?  He is in Woolwich in 1822 & 1824,  in Manchester in 1829, Freland Dublin in 1832 and Ireland in 1835 (I'm going on Children's birth places), back in Woolwich in 1838 and Darfield, Yorkshire in 1841 when I think he has retired but I can't read his occupation on the census.

[ShaunJ]

His army discharge file is viewable on FindMyPast. No details of his postings other than his time in Belgium and France but it's still worth a read. He retired in 1839.

See TNA refs  http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C8855545

More documents at TNA
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C13475289

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C11745301

Yes he would have received a Waterloo medal

[BETTS7]

thank you.  I'm not a paid up member of FindmyPast, just Ancestry so I guess I can't view the records?  TNA mentions interesting though.