Crimean War

[Ranolki]

I am trying to trace someone who died in Australia but was apparently born in Birmingham in 1837. There is no trace of him whatsoever in England (people have used links to people with similar names/dob but haven't genuinely managed to locate this right one). I'm now trying a different direction. This was his obituary. If the Crimean war broke out in 1853 and he was already serving with the Fleet (ie aged 16), I'm wondering where and when he enlisted.  Are there any type of records of this? And I seem to think (probably from the TV series Hornblower!) that a ship also carried soldiers as well as naval men.  Could someone explain to me how these soldiers would have been described ie members of a military unit or the ship concerned?

[Ruskie]

Sorry I can't help with the military part of your question, but if you are looking for his birth or information about his parents, do you have his Australian death certificate? This may give his parent's names if known by the informant, how long in the colony etc.

Have you found him on the 1841 and 1851 English censuses?

Keep in mind that some obituaries are not wholly accurate as information is likely to have been provided by family members, so is dependent upon their knowledge.

It looks like you might need to pay someone to copy the records for you if they exist:
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/crimean-war-records/

[Ranolki]

Thanks for that. No parents on his death cert unfortunately. He gives his father as William on his marriage cert but no real trace of him either.  We have a family Bible where there is talk of him being born in St John's Parish Birmingham (there was no formal Parish called St Johns although there was a St John's church in Deritend). The conclusion is that all the Bible entries were done in one go so may not have been him filling them in and just speaking from memory of previous tales too. We can't see anything on the 1841 and 1851 census forms either. It's as if he suddenly came into being on his way to Australia and his career sounds somewhat "Boy's Own" although I'm not saying it isn't the truth, just odd that we can not find him anywhere!  We've exhausted all the possibilities we can think of and thought Military records might be a good bet.

[ShaunJ]

If he did serve in any of those campaigns it was under a different name. There are no Troths in the UK campaign medal rolls for that era.

In this cutting from another paper when he was 82, there is no mention of Crimean war service or of  having been wounded: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/mediaui-viewer/tree/70078999/person/112104782302/media/11ce9d43-e67c-4d52-926f-6430770ba12e

It says he enlisted in the "Queen's Own" in 1857 and transferred to the 50th.

[Ranolki]

Thank you ShaunJ, that's exactly the detail we are looking for.  I personally think he was running from something, probably WAS a Troth but not William Henry and gave himself an illustrious career to go with it. Who would have thought that he is potentially being found out so much later...

[Ranolki]

Someone has set me this but I'm not sure if this is giving clues or not...

[ShaunJ]

It's definitely not that William H Trout. He was born 5 May 1833 and served with the Royal Navy until 1884. 

[Ranolki]

Oh that's interesting! So if he had been awarded any medals (even if he didn't return to the UK), they would have been recorded?  Did they have the equivalent of the basic service medal in those days which everyone would have had?  It look more and more likely that he became someone else as he landed in NZ or Australia.  Would having his exact dob give us any clues (I noticed you could tell me the dob of William Henry Trout...)  I think he WAS a Troth (there are DNA links back to UK Troths but nothing very helpful), just not William Henry. Does your info give details of any other Troths who might fit please?

[ShaunJ]

So if he had been awarded any medals (even if he didn't return to the UK), they would have been recorded?

Yes but as I said there are no Troths on the campaign medal rolls in that era (1855-1871)

Did they have the equivalent of the basic service medal in those days which everyone would have had?

No

Would having his exact dob give us any clues

This is something the navy recorded but not the army.

Does your info give details of any other Troths who might fit please?

There was a Private William Troth (753) with the depot battalion of 56th regiment at Colchester in 1861 according to muster rolls but I can't see him on the census. No other records found for this soldier.