Linking back to the birth and baptism certificates in your 2007 thread:
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=248358.msg1374010#msg1374010
If it is the same man, he would only have been aged 11 when he joined the army in April 1876 (or possibly the birth was registered two years late, with a false birthdate).
That seems quite feasible to me Shaun. Boy entry was always aligned with the statutory (legal) school leaving age, so an error with the birth registration seems most likely.
