hi
her 1st Husband was
Private Edward Cilfford - married 17 Feb 1859
RawalPindi, Bengal, India - he was born 1836 died 6th April 1860
aged 24 of Smallpox
Sarah remarried on 24th Sept 1860 - William Oakley (Sergeant 70th Band) in Allahabad, Bengal, India
They had I think there 1st child in New Zealand in 1864 (Sarah Matilda)
Sarahs Father William Linsell was also a Sergeant in the 70th foot in India (he's wife/Sarahs mother had another 4 children in India all died, and she dies 3 months after the 4th) he remarries Mary Farley (her 2nd or3rd marriage) seems they remarried fairly quickly after losing a spouse
Hello Jeff, thanks for the extra information, all very interesting. So Sarah must have been 13 when first married. Life was short then so attitudes were very different and of course usually heavily governed by a Christian denomination of one kind or another. Soldier’s widows did indeed remarry quickly, not least in order to remain on the regimental strength, which brought with it a half ration of government issue vittles, with a quarter ration for each child. It also ensured quarters and a continuation of the only life understood, especially if born into the regiment, as she was.
The Band Sergeant was quite a premier position so she very literally went up in her little world by marrying him, and her father would also have been pleased to see her get such an assured degree of security. The Band Sergeant was one of the battalion’s staff sergeants and head of the band (in the late 1860s the position became band sergeant major), with full responsibility for the battalion’s music. At that time the band wore white uniforms, but with the facing colour of their regiment (black for the 70th) for collars and cuffs, whereas the rest of the regiment were in scarlet. Sarah would have assisted her husband with keeping his uniform clean, which required a lot of effort given its colour. I enclose some images to give you an idea how he would have appeared. In 1855 the regimental upper garment for full dress changed from a coatee with tails to a tunic with a straight skirt, although the colour differential I mentioned remained the same. For day to day undress simpler uniforms were worn, often procured locally and in hot climates use was made of linens and cottons to provide more practical clothing. In India these were often made up by native tailors called ‘durzis’ to whatever design was prescribed by the regiment. Although lightweight, in a shirt like material, they were often made dressier with decorative lines of contrasting regimental lace and shiny brass buttons.
