I've already had some help on this topic but I now have some more info and wonder if anyone can come up with more ideas. I'm chasing up someone who says he served with this regiment (he says he was born in 1837 and signed up in 1857 in Birmingham) and then went on to serve in the Crimea, India, China and New Zealand. I can't find that he exists prior to arriving in Australia in 1867 and I believe he may well have fought in some of those campaigns but under another name and possibly deserted as his Regiment was leaving for the UK in 1869.
I've discovered there were two Battalions of the 50th Queens Own. The first battalion served as follows:
1848 England
1854 Ireland
1854 Malta
1854 Gallipoli peninsula
1854 Crimea
1856 England
1856 Ireland
1857 Ceylon
1863 New Zealand
1863 Maori war
1866 Australia
1869 England
He mentions saving the life of Col Waddy so I'm assuming he was with the 1st (the life-saving may be another matter though...), also the 2nd didn't go to New Zealand, although they WERE involved with the Sepoy Rebellion in India. From what I can see the 1st went back to the UK after the Crimea (another point is the Crimean war was over by the time he apparently signed up, despite saying he was shot by a Russian there) but then were sent out to Ceylon in 1857 where they were garrisoned until they headed off to New Zealand in 1863. If he DID enlist in 1857 I would say that would fit with them going out to Ceylon. However I can't see they were involved in any wars in India or China either, just the Maori Wars. He supposedly was awarded three ribbons and a medal but these have never been seen.
I think he knew too much of the Regiments history and commanders not to have been involved in some way but I do get the impression that quite a lot of it is invention (possibly hearsay from older comrades?), added to which I'm pretty sure he didn't begin life as the person he became in 1869.
I'm trying to build up a picture and wonder if anyone has definitive knowledge that the 1st Batt. 50th were NOT in any Indian or Chinese Wars in that period? I know the wars were going on then but I can't see any involvement for the 1st Batt. 50th.
As I don't think I have a proper name for him it's not going to be possible to verify much in the way of Army records at the moment but I have been told he did not received any medals etc in any of the campaigns in the name he used from 1869. From what we can see he DOES have weak DNA links using his new name so I'm wondering if it was his mother's maiden name etc. But I suspect that's further down the line and I just want to see what wars he could genuinely have been involved with!
I was very interested that someone found me a person of the same name at Colchester Barracks on the 1861 census but I'm more or less 100% certain this wasn't him.