1889: Gunner buys himself out for £10 after just 2 months. Was this common ?

[kob3203]

£10 seems like a lot of money for 1889.
And signing up for two years, but then buying yourself out after just 2 months seems unusual. Was it ?

71052 Williams, Walter FindMyPast record here -  https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=gbm%2fwo97%2f4179%2f333728 - the information is only on the scanned image, not the transcription

[nanny jan]

My grandpa did the same!   

Joined on 19th September 1898 and discharged upon payment of £10 on 4th October 1898.......16 days.   

He was 18 years and 6 months so probably  a young man's wild fancy......or he missed his mum. No idea where the family found the money, dad was just a labourer.

[kob3203]

Just found this Rootschat "Pounds shillings and pence - in today's value" thread http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=239765.0 which links to an online calculator https://measuringworth.com/calculators/ppoweruk/

I'd already found a couple of online inflation calculators: http://inflation.stephenmorley.org/
and http://www.in2013dollars.com/1889-GBP-in-2016?amount=10

It seems that £10 in 1899 was roughly equivalent to just over £1,000 today

[nanny jan]

£1,000......phew!  Guess they passed the hat round the family....one of his sisters (he was the baby of the family) had "married well" so perhaps they helped or a few visits to the pawn shop.

[jim1]

Not that common as a soldiers pay wouldn't cover that kind of expense.
As has been mentioned the money probably came from someone else.
You need to look at the movements of his Battalion as this may give a reason why. It may be they were due to go overseas & he didn't want to go as overseas postings lasted years rather than months.

[kob3203]

My grandpa did the same!   

Joined on 19th September 1898 and discharged upon payment of £10 on 4th October 1898.......16 days.   

He was 18 years and 6 months so probably  a young man's wild fancy......or he missed his mum. No idea where the family found the money, dad was just a labourer.

I wonder how they paid. I seriously doubt they had £10 to hand! Telegraph/telegram or post seems the only quick way to contact family (telephone seems to have been very new and probably not an option - https://owlcation.com/humanities/history-of-the-telephone-system-uk )

[kob3203]

Not that common as a soldiers pay wouldn't cover that kind of expense.
As has been mentioned the money probably came from someone else.
You need to look at the movements of his Battalion as this may give a reason why. It may be they were due to go overseas & he didn't want to go as overseas postings lasted years rather than months.

Thanks. Just did a Google search for "ist battalion welsh regiment 1889" (yes, I mistyped) and the snippet for the top result (Wikipedia) included "...The 1st Battalion moved to Malta in 1889..."

www.royalwelsh.org.uk/regiment/history-regiment-timeline.htm 1881 The Welch Regiment (third column,near the bottom), click on 'Natal, Egypt, Sudan, Malta'

1st Battalion
1881-1886 Natal
1886-1889 Egypt (1888-9 seeing action)
1889-Dec1893 Malta
1893to Wales, Pembroke Dock

2nd Battalion
1881-1898 Home, Ireland and then moved to India (1892 according to Wikipedia).

So if he was expecting to join the 2nd battalion (Home/Ireland in 1899) then not wanting to go overseas could be the reason

More detail https://www.maltaramc.com/regmltgar/41st.html on the 1st btn movements in 1889 - 24 Aug 1889 embarked in Egypt, 29 August 1889 disembarked in Malta

[Sinann]

My great grandfather sold the pony to get the £10 for his son, the son later joined up again but too late to get the refund of the £10. Three of his younger brothers also joined the Army and were told in no uncertain terms that once in they had to stay the course. We still say "pony gone soldier on" in my family for any job you have no chance of getting out of.

[kob3203]

My great grandfather sold the pony to get the £10 for his son, the son later joined up again but too late to get the refund of the £10. Three of his younger brothers also joined the Army and were told in no uncertain terms that once in they had to stay the course. We still say "pony gone soldier on" in my family for any job you have no chance of getting out of.

What was the time limit for the refund ?
Would joining the militia entitle a paid-out soldier to a refund?