William Richardson, Private, 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade, Malta c 1828-1830

[ShaunJ]

GRO has a William George Richardson born Plymouth in 1841 mmn Bunker

There's an 1819 marriage (15 July) at East Stonehouse: William Richardson and Elizabeth Bunker.

Just wondering if this is another daughter:

Ann Bunker Richardson appears to have married Joseph Edgar in East Stonehouse in 1844. As Ann Bunker Edgar, widow, she marries William Eades in Deptford in 1858. Father:  William Richardson, servant.

[Bitzer1]

Many thanks for your posts Shaun.  Yes, I slipped up calling Mary by her sister's name, Elizabeth. 

I did not know that Private John William Newman of the 28th Regiment received a medal for the Crimean War.  I might, of course, be mistaken, but I am reasonably confident that he was the husband of Mary Richardson.  If he was, he would have had to have died before her remarriage as the widow Mary Newman on 19 November 1856 to William Simpson.  The Crimean War was fought October 1853- February 1856.  The 28th Regiment left England on 22 February 1854, arrived in Malta on 4 March, and left for Turkey and the Crimea on 7 April.  I do not know when the 28th Regiment left Crimea.  I cannot find a death for John William Newman in England that fits the chronology, so I am stumped about when and where he died. 

I found Mary Newman with her new born daughter Elizabeth in the 1851 census, living in Crowther Street, Salford.  John William Newman was not listed, but he might have been away with the army.  They had another son, William Joseph Edgar Newman, in Sculcoates in 1853, who was baptised in Drypool on 25 January 1854.

I tried finding a birth/baptism for Elizabeth Bunker in Devon in the late 1790s/early 1800s, but there seem to be three candidates, and I cannot distinguish between them.

I was interested that you also found a possible sister, Ann, for Mary Richardson, but I have not found her in census returns.   

[ShaunJ]

Ann Eades is in the 1861 census in Lee, Kent with second husband William and daughter Eliza Edgar (she was baptised Theodora Eliza Edgar) https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/8767/KENRG9_414_417-0210

[ShaunJ]

Theodora Eliza Edgar (born 1853) appears to have been baptised twice: at St Margaret's Rochester on 4 December 1853 and at St Nicholas' Rochester on 28 June 1857.

See page 50 of this pdf: https://cityark.medway.gov.uk/wwwopacx/wwwopac.ashx?command=getcontent&server=files&value=P305-01-09(1).pdf

and page 33 of this one: https://cityark.medway.gov.uk/wwwopacx/wwwopac.ashx?command=getcontent&server=files&value=P306-01-10(3).pdf

Joseph Edgar was a private in 76th Regiment.

[ShaunJ]

I tried finding a birth/baptism for Elizabeth Bunker in Devon in the late 1790s/early 1800s, but there seem to be three candidates, and I cannot distinguish between them.

There's only one in Wembury (her birthplace per the 1851 census) in the right time period: Elizabeth, daughter of John and Ann, 17 June 1798.

A maternal grand mother Ann would tie in with the naming of Ann Bunker Richardson.

[Bitzer1]

Many thanks Shaun.  I'm a bit confused about the 1861 census entry for Ann Eades.  In the transcribed version I have https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2MG-PFM1, she is listed as age 29 and born in Middlesex.  Ann Bunker Richardson married her first husband Joseph Edgar in East Stonehouse, Devon, in 1844 and her second husband William Eades in 1858.  I suppose the census return might be inaccurate, otherwise she would have been 12 or 13 when she first married, although that would have been legally possible.  I cannot find a birth for her in Middlesex in 1831 or 1832, or anywhere earlier that seems to fit.  Her parents William Richardson and Elizabeth Bunker married, as you noted, in East Stonehouse, Devon on 15 July 1819. 

I would be interested to find out how and where her first husband Private Joseph Edgar died, presumably as a result of his service in the 76th Regiment of Foot.  Another one perhaps for the National Archives when it reopens.             

[ShaunJ]

I'm a bit confused about the 1861 census entry for Ann Eades.  In the transcribed version I have https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2MG-PFM1, she is listed as age 29 and born in Middlesex

Never trust a transcription. On the census image she is 39 and born Sussex, Brighton.

[Bitzer1]

Many thanks Shaun.  What a difference from the transcription.  I have also found Ann Eades in the 1871 census.  She seems to have died later that year.  With the information you provided, I found her baptism on 29 April 1821 at St. Nicholas, Brighton.  She is recorded as Anne and her father William Richardson as a private in the 85th Regiment of Foot, which, again, fits with the information you found earlier.  However, I have not been able to find a record for William Richardson's birth or baptism in Sevenoakes, Kent.

While based in Malta in the 85th Regiment, Private William Richardson and Elizabeth had a son John, who was born on 29 June 1823 and baptised on 20 July.