Looking for information on Thomas Roker, Royal Artillery Driver, Dublin 1860

[blue jay]

Hello everyone .. Thomas Roker is my GG Grandfather. He was born in Croydon, Surrey in 1838. I am trying to find information regarding his service with the Royal Artillery .. where and when he enlisted, how long he served etc. 

A little background information on Thomas. In 1860 he was a driver with the Royal Artillery stationed at the Portobello Barracks, Dublin.  This information was obtained from the marriage certificate of his marriage to Sarah Ingham in June of 1860.  Shortly after his marriage, in July 1860, he attested to the 77th. Middlesex Regiment of Foot at Dublin (under the assumed surname of Ingham) and was subsequently sent to India, where he served until discharge due to ill health in 1868. I have quite a bit of information about his time in India thanks to the generous help of Rootschat members a few years back. 

What I am trying to find out now is how Thomas got from his home in Croydon, Surrey, to serving with the RA in Ireland in 1860. I have memberships to Findmypast and Ancestry, but so far I can’t seem to find any information on the RA around 1860 or a little earlier.  I feel sure there must be some information on FindMyPast and I’m hoping someone may be able to steer me in the right direction.

Thanks for your help,

Wendy

[whiteout7]

Previous post for Background
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=780895.0

[blue jay]

Thanks Whiteout7, I didn’t know how to link the previous chat! 

[whiteout7]

I can see his mothers maidenname

ROKER, THOMAS       HAMBLETON 
GRO Reference: 1838  M Quarter in CROYDON  Volume 04  Page 49

Were his parents Thomas Roker and Eliza Hambleton married in 1825 in Croydon, Surrey?

Robert Roker b 1844 also has the mother maiden name as Hambleton

[heywood]

Do you have these?

Ancestry indexes has
Thomas Ingham 27yrs b Guilford, Surrey
77th Foot
Private no. 842
Pension Admission or Examination 14 Apr 1868

Records are available from Fold3 https://www.fold3.com

Find My Past shows
Thomas Ingham b 1840 Gilford, Surrey
Army Records 1860

As he joined under his assumed name, he may not have admitted to previous service.

[blue jay]

Yes, whiteout7, that’s my Thomas and his parents.  I’ve not come across any ‘Roberts’ in my family, so I’m assuming that must be another family?  Perhaps related in some way?

Thank you for your help Heywood.  I do have that information regarding Thomas’s service with the 77th, beginning in July of 1860 - thank you.  You might have noticed that his birth year at attestation to the 77th was 1840, although I believe he was actually born in 1838.  Since he felt the need to attest under an assumed name, (albeit that of his wife ‘Ingham’) I feel he also perhaps felt the need to change his personal details to avoid detection.  As you suggested, he may also not have wanted to admit to his service with the Royal Artillery, perhaps because he might have deserted, as suggested previously on Rootschat. 

Does anyone know how or where I might access Royal Artillery records for the period of approximately 1855 to 1860?  I would really like to know where and when Thomas joined the Royal Artillery and how he came to be in Dublin with them in 1860.

Thanks to all for your continued assistance!

[heywood]

Not sure what you mean about how he came to be in Dublin. He would just have been posted there, I would think.

For example, a newspaper report of May 1860 states that:
“G Field Battery of the 9th Brigade of the Royal Artillery will March from Athlone in three divisions on 28th, 29th and 30th  inst. and will arrive at the Portobello Barracks, Dublin on the 31st May and 1st and 2nd June, there to be stationed.”

These dates are a bit too close to the marriage date perhaps but newspapers if the time reported movements like this.

[blue jay]

Sorry if my message was a bit unclear heywood.  I realize Thomas would have been posted to the Portobello Barracks in Dublin (with the Royal Artillery).  What I am trying to find out is where he attested to the Royal Artillery .. was it in Dublin, or somewhere in England closer to his home perhaps, and then subsequently posted to Dublin?  Also, I’d like to find out when he joined the Royal Artillery .. do you have any idea where I might find any of that information?

The newspaper article you quoted was most interesting, even though a little too close to Thomas’s marriage date to be his actual unit, as you said.  Can I ask where and how you find articles like that?

Thanks so much for your help .. it’s really appreciated.

Wendy

[heywood]

The newspaper article was from FindMyPast.

I would imagine he attested in England as he was living there. I can’t find any relevant records, sorry.