Thomas Button 35th Regiment of Foot 1806-1832

[queenswood 1]

A really hard look up! I have Thomas Button born Dorset around 1794- enlisted around 1806. Discharged 1832 after 26 years service. During that time, he married at st Ann Fort in Barbados in 1831 as a Lance corporal and a widower. In 1832, he and his wife Jane had a daughter born and registered at st Ann fort Barbados before being discharged from the army and returning to England where he settled again in Dorset.
I am trying to find his enlistment details- i have his army pension record from 35th regiment which confirms he was discharged in 1832 at his own request and that he died aged 60 in 1854- but wonder if he enlisted in a different regiment- the nearest I can find is possibly 2/9th Foot regiment in 1808 but not sure if this is him.
I have the marriage cert for 1831 and the birth cert of his daughter in 1832- but as he is shown as a widower, how can i find his first marriage? he seemed to be a soldier for over 25 years so i would assume that maybe he married his first wife at a military base as he did his second- but would really appreciate some pointers please!

Really really long shot but appreciate any suggestions!
Caroline

[John915]

Good morning,

From the dates you give he joined as a boy, aged 12 which was the minimum. You can access the muster roles at the national archives through ancestry, WO12 series. 

He would have needed his commanding officers permission to marry, i'm not sure if there was an age limit but possibly 18 but officially only so many were allowed per regt so he may have been much older.

He would only have been 38 if his boy service counted in his total, or he could have been as old as 44. He may have re enlisted as a volunteer.

John915

Added, 35th was the Sussex regt.

[ShaunJ]

Ancestry has two records in its so-called "Canada, British Regimental Registers of Service" dataset for a Thomas Button of Pimperne/Peppern, Dorset, who attested for the 35th Regiment in Weymouth in May 1811 aged 17/18, having volunteered from the Dorset militia.

[queenswood 1]

Oh my goodness- thank you both so very much! That has opened another window for me! How is it possible to trace where Thomas went with 35th Regiment? All I know is that by 1831 he is at Fort Ann in Barbados with them- how can I find out where he went with them? I have looked on the website for 35th Regiment- would all of the soldiers gone on all of the postings? I am quite new to military research but have done family history for about 15 years so appreciate any guidance.

[ShaunJ]

I found his discharge papers (with some difficulty) on FindMyPast - see link if you have a sub. Perhaps you already have these.

It is recorded that he served upwards of six years in the Mediterranean, eleven years in the West Indies and the remaining time  in Great Britain and Ireland.

[ShaunJ]

Discharged 1832 after 26 years service

His actual service was 21 years (1811-1832) but he received an additional 5.5 years pension for his 11 years of service in the West Indies

[queenswood 1]

Thank you! I found his discharge doc via NTA which indicated service for pension as 26 years and 8 months and I had assumed he had joined up as a real youngster but the 5.5 years added for the 11 years in West indies now makes more sense! Would it be fair to assume that the 11 years in the West Indies was continual service out there? Is there any way of knowing where and when he was in the Med for the 6 years? he declared himself to be a widower in 1831 when he married a Jane Dobbin at st Anns Fort in Barbados- I have the marriage cert from GRO but i have no way of knowing the origins of Jane dobbin. They have a daughter who they also call Jane at the end of 1831 who is christened at St Anns Fort in Jan 1832 before he applied for discharge and return to Pimperne in Dorset. So many questions but this has been a brick wall that has stood for too long and all your help is wonderful! I have found a Settlement order in the Dorset archives for Thomas in August 1832- a month after he was discharged in July 1832 so i am hoping that may throw a bit more light on the situation. I wonder how I can find out anything about his first wife? I wonder what the likelihood would have been for it to be another army marriage like his one to Jane in 1831? I will look again at the movements of 35th regiment during the period now to check out Med destinations to maybe fine tune things a bit. So many thanks!

[ShaunJ]

Just from a quick dig around it appears that 35th Regiment was in Corfu and then Malta before returning to UK in 1817.

We know from his army papers that he was in the West Indies continuously from 5 Feb 1821 to 11 Feb 1832.

[queenswood 1]

Thank you Shaun- you just beat me to it as I worked out he must have been with the 1st battalion rather than the second. So I guess returning to England in Nov 1817- I have now found a possible marriage on FreeReg on 12th May 1818 of Thomas Budden (we have a spelling discrepancy as he is Button in his army docs but Budden on the 1841 Census which shows wife and daughter- daughter shown as born in Barbados in later censuses)- to Elizabeth Saunders at Gussage All saints- about 7 miles from Pimperne. Is there any way I can find out more about this wedding to check it is the right man? It would certainly fit the 4 year window for his UK army service before the 11 years in the west indies.