List of all Battle of Waterloo men - free lookup offer

[kerryb]

Thank you Martin

Thank you, that makes it a lot clearer for me.  Nothing about Waterloo on his discharge papers.

Kerry

[Lookin2]

Martin

Thank you for info.  I maybe able to find out more about this fellow  in No. 1 Troop thereby eliminating him.  I have been told there are two medals awarded to Thomas Browns on Find My Past so that may help in tracking the Thomas Brown Farrier that I am looking for.  If I find him I will let you know and thank you for your response.  Lookin2

[Rodeo]

Hi Martin

Many thanks for your kind offer.

My ancestor, John Paterson, born 1783 in Hamilton, Scotland, joined the 79th Regiment of Foot (Cameron Highlanders) on 25 February 1805. He was wounded on 16 June 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo and discharged in 1816 at the age of 33 (his age having been erroneously recorded as 31 but amended on the discharge document he signed).

I have his service record on which is a notation at the top left of the page, which looks like 4th Airdrie 9/7/29. He must have re-enlisted in another force because there are two Chelsea Pensioner records for him -- one for John Paterson, born Hamilton, age 33, 79th Regiment of Foot, dated 1816 and another for John Paterson, born Hamilton, age 56, Independent Companies, 1839.

However, I can't find a medal record for my John Paterson. Could you please have a look for me?

I also wanted to ask if any further information might be available at Kew archives or elsewhere. For example, where would I find his attestation papers or documentation of his pay address, next of kin, etc.?

Thanks again, Martin.

Cheers,

Rodeo

[km1971]

The record on Findmypast is all that remains having been culled (to save space) during the past 180-190 years. Records did not include next of kin until c1880s. Sometimes you get it on a muster, but not until much later. Again later musters sometimes contain remittances to family back home. But most men spent all their pay of food and beer - beer was a food tuff as you could not drink the water.

If you can get to Kew or have a large budget you can follow his service using the muster books from 1805 to 1816. He would have enlisted for unlimited service - ie for life - but there was a reduction in 1816 following Waterloo. So his injuries would have prompted his discharge.

Can you post a link to the second set of papaers on FindMyPast?

Ken

[Rodeo]

Hi Ken

Thanks so much for your reply. Are the muster books 1805-1816 only retained in the archives at Kew?

I've sent you a PM.

Cheers,

Rodeo

[km1971]

For this period - yes.

Ken

[Rodeo]

Hi Ken

Pity those muster books aren't online or retained in libraries elsewhere, as I live in Australia.

I've attached an excerpt of the second set of Chelsea Pensioner papers, John Paterson being third from the top of the page, age 56, lame of his left hand. The earlier document cites the wound to his right foot suffered on 16 June 1815 at Quatre Bras in the Battle of Waterloo.

Having been discharged as unfit for further service from the 79th of Foot on 21/11/1816, is it conceivable that he could have subsequently enlisted in an Independent Company?

The final Chelsea Pensioner document I have cites his date of discharge (21/11/1816), birth in Hamilton and death on 5 March 1849.

On the 1841 Scotland census, there is a John Paterson, age 58, domiciled in Leechlee Street, Hamilton, with Jean, age 54, James Crawford, age 23, and Alexander Crawford. I believe this is my John Paterson but hoped to find further information from his service records to substantiate this and to determine if Jean was his spouse.

Cheers,

Rodeo

[alfietcs]

I have only just returned to this forum after many years away - so, just to repeat an offer made years ago - I have a database of all 28,000+ British Waterloo combatants and would be very interested to hear from anyone who either
a) is looking for help in researching a Waterloo soldier or
b) would like to share details of their Waterloo ancestor with me

Ancestry.com and other similar sites will try to take your money to look up Waterloo men using the medal roll held at Kew. It would take too long to explain just how flawed and incomplete the medal roll is - but there are hundreds of Waterloo soldiers who do not appear on it for various reasons and, besides, the roll provides no biographical information.

Anyway - do please get in touch if you want me to look someone up. Please provide as much detail as possible - name and birthplace or regiment is often enough but if the surname is a common one then the more detail the better.

Kind regards
Martin

Hello Martin.
If your very kind offer is still open, I would be very interested in finding out about my gtx4 grandfather Charles Mitchell. Another kind forum member informed me that he was in the First Battalion of Rifle Brigade ( formerly the 95th Regiment of Foot, the 95th Rifles). This is on his marriage certificate that took place in Gorbals, Glasgow 1820.
I think that my ancestor would have been too young to be at Waterloo but it would be great to have a yay or nay confirmation. He was probably born between 1798 and 1802 in Kibworth or Kilworth Leicestershire, and would have been very young if he was at Waterloo. It would be interesting to know if there are other Mitchell's from that battalion at Waterloo, as I don't know much about the army and if generations of the same family would have joined the same division or not.

Thank you
kind regards
Alfietcs

[falkirk_bairn]

 Hi Martin,

I stumbled on your rootschat post offering to lookup  Waterloo Medal holders.  If you are still prepared to do this, I would be grateful if you could help with the following:

My Gt.Gt.Gt Grandfather, John McKenzie, was born in Kindrochit -(from the Gaelic Ceann
Drochaid – meaning Bridgend.)  Ardtalnaig, on South Loch Tayside. It is in the Parish of Kenmore, Perthshire, on 12th May 1786.

He married late, at the age of 40 to an 18 year old girl, Catharine McCallum.in December 1816.  I was curious about the age difference first of all.  Statistical accounts show fewer males than females and this might be the reason. However, this would be around the time of the Napoleonic wars and it occurred to me that he could well have been involved overseas.  The date of his marriage in 1816 is perhaps significant, being only a year after Waterloo, so I wondered if he had been there.

The medal roll lists about nine men called John McKenzie. Kenmore would have been
recruiting territory of the 42nd Foot (Royal Highland) – Black Watch, and two of the John McKenzies were in the 42nd,  as far as I know  Other regiments, such as the 79th Foot (Cameronians) may have recruited in Perthshire too, but I don't know.

The census of 1841 shows him still at Kindrochit, or Kindrochad, as an agricultural labourer.

I hope that you may be able to help to find out if he was indeed at Waterloo.  Any information would be much appreciated,

Yours sincerely,


falkirk_bairn