Did my ancestor serve in the armed forces (~1809 - ~1814)?

[M_ONeill]

Oh I agree, it’s very tenuous! I’ve also looked at the Muster Rolls for the 39th Regiment and there are no William Monks present. It was more of a roll of the dice.

I’m very new to this aspect of family history and I have no idea how I’d narrow down an ancestor’s military service in this era - or equally, how I would discount it as a reason for a gap in children.

[Maiden Stone]

So thanks to a kind rootschatter here I now have the full list of baptisms for William’s children:

William - 13th May 1798
Mary - 12th May 1800
Edward - 9th October 1802
John - 1st January 1805 (My ancestor)
Thomas - 4th November 1806
James - 16th April 1808
<Gap?>
Francis - 2nd July 1815 (died in infancy)
Joseph - 8th April 1816
George - 7th July 1821 (died at ~1 year old. Mother died in childbirth)

So if William *did* do any form of military service, he had to have been with a Regiment that left England sometime after June/July 1808 at the earliest, and William would have had to have come back by October 1814 at the latest.

Baptisms of Francis (2nd July 1815) and Joseph (8th April 1816) were very close together. If these dates are correct and they were definitely sons of same parents, I surmise that Francis was born some time before July 1815. Alternatively, Joseph may have been premature. If the latter was true, his chances of survival would have been less.  I may have mentioned this on another thread about the family.
I have no knowledge of contemporary statistics in reproduction. However, I imagine that a woman who had 9 live births may have experienced a miscarriage or 2. Having said that, I have 2 ancestors who each had 13 live births and another who had 10 at same time as Mr & Mrs Monk. Timing of my ancestors' confinements were regular until the later children of each marriage.
Why would William have had to leave after June 1808? He didn't need to be present for the birth of baby James. No paternal leave in those days - mothers just got on with it, with help of female relatives, friends & neighbours. 

[M_ONeill]

Hmm, that's a good point about the two births being close - Joseph did survive to adulthood, but he died very young in 1839 (23), cause of death was listed as 'dropsy'. I suppose it's possible that he had some kind of congenital defect as a result of a premature birth, but I guess that's something we can never know.

As for Francis, I had thought I had a death record for him, but I can't seem to find it. I know I haven't found him in any later census record. I'll double check on his death. If he was born earlier, then I guess that might preclude any serious military service for William.

EDIT: Aha, found the reference in England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Francis' death date is listed as 9th September 1815.

Ah, the date of July 1808 was a mis-typing, I meant 1807. Though that was assuming he would be baptised pretty soon after being born. If he wasn't, then trying to count backwards is pretty pointless.