16th Foot Regiment - where do I go for records?

[fred21]

Hi

My ancestor is mentioned in the Muster Roll for the 16th Foot Regiment in 1781.  Later on he transferred out of this regiment to the 62rd.

I would like to find out where these regiments keep their records and if it possible to research them as I would like to find out more about this ancestor particularly where he was born and when or how old he was when enlisted.

This ancestor has been a brick wall for us all for some time so finding out where he was from would be a huge help.

Any suggestions/help etc. would be greatly appreciated.

[MaxD]

You can read the history of the regiment here:
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278803

The guide to records of that period is here:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-soldiers-up-to-1913/  You will note that records of an individual IF they still exist should come up on Ancestry or Findmypast - have you checked those?  Note also what it says about records that no longer exist.

His move into the 16th prior to 1781 and his subsequent move to the 62nd will be in the relevant muster books but you'd need to trawl though them at Kew.  These do not have any personal detail.

I fear your answer is unlikely to lie in military records but in the BMD area although I suspect you've looked already.

[fred21]

Thanks

Sadly he doesn't come up on Ancestry or FindMyPast - except for his death in 1806 in Brabourne Lees, Kent.

I kind of had the feeling that there might not be much personal information in the military records due to the time period etc.  So disappointing.

Trying to find out where he was born is proving very elusive so far.  Though with is name we know that he certainly wasn't English

[MaxD]

Deleted (with thanks to ShaunJ)

MaxD

[ShaunJ]

I think you replied to the wrong thread, Max!

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=815385.0

[Regorian]

What was his name please? The 16th had the county title Buckinghamshire until 1809, not that that meant anything then. You say he wasn't English, the 16th was in the American War of Independence. Perhaps he was a colonist. If you were born British then, you were British, end of story.

[fred21]

On the 1781 Muster Roll his name is recorded as JEAN CHRISTOPHER WILDERMUTH.

He appears on the 1783 Muster Roll (when the regiment was back in England) as CHRISTIAN WILDERMOUTH

When he transferred to the 62 Regiment in 1795 he changed his name again.  This time to JOHN WILDERMOUTH.

It is believed he was born in Alsace, France (though no record has been found other than what is on the IGI which we all know is unreliable).

It is possible that he was either born in France or Germany or Switzerland (where the name Wildermuth is known) or he may have also been born in America or even in England - perhaps his parents were refugees?  i.e. Huguenots?

We know that he married in Belfast, Ireland when the regiment was stationed there.

He has been a hard man to track down but we have found in some official records.  The Muster Rolls, his marriage and his death have all been traced.

Just need to find his birth

thanks

[Regorian]

Alsace was/is composed of both French and Germans. The French tolerated the German protestants despite the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Your man may have been born in Alsace and the family moved to England for another reason or he was born after the move.