William Kelly, Private 13th Foot

[LittleNell44]

I have hit a brick wall with a Great Aunt (Ellen Cannon b.1841 Birmingham) and her husband William Kelly, who born circa 1840 according to their marriage certificate (they married in B'ham in 1868). 

William was a 'Private 13th Foot' at the time of their marriage which I believe was the Somerset Light Infantry. Excuse my ignorance but would he have been likely to have joined this regiment because he was from Somerset?  I am struggling to find William before 1868 and both of them after the marriage in 1868 (I have Ellen in all census's up to this point and her baptism details etc).

When I search military records there are so many 'William Kelly's'... would he have changed regiments at all depending upon which conflict he was taking part in?  I don't know anything else about him other than his father was a James Kelly who was a Blacksmith (also according to the marriage cert).

Any help pointing me in the right direction would be gratefully appreciated.

Many thanks

[MaxD]

Just a starter.  There is one record for a 13th Foot William Kelly, in South Africa with the 2nd Battalion in 1961.  In 1868 the 2nd Battalion were in England at Portland.

Movement between regiments was not usual, although movement between one battalion and the other of the same regiment did happen (13th Foot had 2 Battalions).  The 1st Battalion were in Gibraltar in 1868.

The 1861 record is extracted by FindMyPast from the Muster Book of the 13th Foot, he does not seem to appear in the 1871 FindMyPast records which suggest he had left the regiment.  These books have no personal information, they simply record the men who were there in each quarter of the years.

Few records exist with information about wives and children, the army didn't really recognise their existence at that time, a discharge record which might have existed concerns itself with the man's service only.

Place of birth is not really a good indicator.  The only William Kelly born about 1840 who gives a place of birth as Somerset joined the 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment in 1860.  Of the 19 William Kellys for whom some sort of record exists with a place of birth, 12 were born in Ireland joining a variety of regiments, not all with "irish" connections.

MaxD

PS As you've seen, given the numbers of William Kellys, he may pop out of the woodwork for someone!

[jim1]

FreeBMD doesn't show any Kelly/Cannon children in England/Wales so if he was in 2/Batt. they may have gone overseas soon after marriage.
You could look at consular births on FindMyPast although this won't give his birthplace at least it's a bit more info.

[LittleNell44]

A belated thank you to both of you that have replied...  This at least gives me a direction in which to search 

Nell

[RuthieB]

My great great uncle Richard Russell served with the 1st Battalion 13th Foot; he served from 1858 to 1879. He was born at Tholthorpe (North Riding) and enlisted in York. I found his discharge papers on FindMyPast.

Of his 21 years in the regiment, over 17 were served abroad; East India, Gibraltar, Malta, Cape of Good Hope, and Transvaal.

Hope this gives and indication of where William Kelly might've served

RuthieB

[MaxD]

Hope this gives and indication of where William Kelly might've served RuthieB

The record is for a 2nd Battalion man, locations for both can be seen:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset_Light_Infantry#13th_(1st_Somersetshire)_(Prince_Albert's_Light_Infantry)_Regiment_of_Foot

MaxD

[RuthieB]

Following Little Nell's earlier post, I looked again at the records on FindMyPast and I think I've traced g g uncle Richard to being an in-pensioner at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. I've ordered a death certificate and I'll  know one way or the other probably by Friday.  I'll update then.

I did look for William Kelly and while there were records in that name, they seemed to be for a man a generation earlier.

RuthieB

[LittleNell44]

Many thanks for sharing your information...  it does help me to know where to start...   

Nll

[RuthieB]

I've received the death certificate now and it confirms the death of Richard Russell at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in 1890. I'm fairly confident that this is 'my' Richard. My only caveat is that on his Chelsea records (in pensioner candidacy) it states that he 'never married'.

While I've never found a marriage record for him, he did register the birth of his daughter, Frances, in Thornaby  in 1881 and I do have a DNA match with one of her descendants who are otherwise unrelated to the Russells.

So, I haven't helped much with finding William Kelly but I've made huge progress with my Russell branch and I'm very grateful!

RuthieB