William Young 10th Regiment of Dragoons

[David Boulding]

I have been fruitlessly searching for the birth of an Elizabeth Young who married in 1793 to Charles Bolden [Boulding] in Aldington Kent who was born circa 1771 (give or take a year or two).

From the 1841 census I know she was born in Kent.
Charls Bolding Male 70 1771 Kent, England
Elizabeth Bolding Female 70 1771 Kent, England

At her death in Aldington 1849 as she was noted as "age 78 buried Elizabeth Boulden or Bolding" which confirm 1771 as her birth date.

I have found some nearby baptsied Elizabeth Youngs but I have excluded most of them for  either dying as children or for marrying :

CMB Charing
1769 Jan 8                           Elizabeth dau of Ann Young - d1775 Charing
1775 Mar 30                                      bur Eliz Young

CMB Newington next Hythe
1766 Aug 24 (birth 5 Aug) Elizabeth dau of Richard & Mary Young
1778 Mar 8            bur Elizabeth dau of Richard & Mary Young

CMB Lympne
[Monks Horton: 1771 Mar 8 William Young (x) & Catherine Codham (c)] - [clearly not the William Young who signed as witness at Charles B's wedding]
1772 Mar 8           Elizabeth dau of William & Catherine Young
1772 Mar 22      bur Elizabeth dau of William & Catherine Young

CMB Molash
1769 Apr 16                Elizabeth dau of Robert & Mary Young [This Elizabeth appears to marry in Molash in 1790 with father Robert as witness]

I have one other clue to help. At her wedding to Charles Bolden (both she and Charles sign with an X) her witness is a William Young which shows a very confident signature.

So perhaps William Young was her father or brother so I started examining the marriages of William Youngs to compare the signatures and I think I may have been successful because in 1765 in nearby New Romney a William Young, Corporal in the 10th Regiment of Dragoons, signs with a very similar signature.

I am reasonaby confident this is one and the same William Young and a good date a marriage just 5 years before Elizabeth's birth.

A search for baptism of the children of Wm & Sarah Young reveal some children in Elmsted and Stowting but I see the marriage of another Wm Young & Sarah Fordred in 1768 and can only assume they are the parents of the children in Elmsted and Stowting not the soldier William.

So I can find no obvious children of (my) William & Sarah Young, the soldier and his wife. This begs the question, would a soldier have his children baptised in an army camp or elsewhere? Or maybe not even baptised? Any suggestions?

[Ashtone]

From 1764: "Over the next two decades the 10th were stationed in different parts of England, although they were in Scotland in 1767-8 and 1773-4".

Have you tried looking for Elizabeth's birth/baptism in FindMyPast's British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Baptisms collection?

There's an Index record for an Elizabeth Young in 1779. Location: Landguard, England
It's in the GRO Regimental Birth Indices (1761 To 1924) collection.

You'd need to research if the 10th Regiment of Dragoons were in Suffolk at the time. The 1779 baptism above could be a red herring. There are several other Young birth/baptisms at Landguard during the 1770s, so it may be another regiment (considering the 10th moved around a lot).

Newspapers archives are helpful for tracking 18th-century regiments. Below is an example:

Leeds Intelligencer, 20 April 1779: "The 5th Division of the 10th Regiment of Dragoons arrived at Wetherby".

It appears the 10th were quartered in Northampton in March 1778; and in Canterbury in June 1776. Looks like they were quartered quite a few places in England. Haven't checked for Scotland yet.

[David Boulding]

Thanks! Good idea to check the whereabouts of the 10th Dragoons for 1770-ish. The 1841 census says Elizabeth was born in Kent but the census - like ages - often have ages and indeed locations which are quite wrong (deliberately).

I have searched the whole of the UK - incuding the military records - for a suitable Elizabeth but none matches.

[RobertHauteville]

Does the 1793 marriage entry explicitly say that Elizabeth Young was a spinster? A lot of marriage entries do not state this and so Young might not be her maiden name...

[David Boulding]

I'm not sure that Elizabeth Young was a spinster (the marriage cert doesn't specify that). The only clue I have is the signature of William Young witness at her wedding which compares very well with that of the Dragoon at his marriage in 1765 - a few years before the 1771 birth of Elizabeth (Young ?) which I have worked out from her 1841 census entry and which also matches her age at burial age.

I have searched for the burial of William the dragoon and his wife from 1765 (Sarah Horne, a widow) but there is a plethora of choice and none which look terribly hopeful. I have searched for male Hornes that died a few years before the 1765 marriage but again several possibles and none that look obvious.

If William the dragoon is not Elizabeth's father (too old to be a brother I'd say) it's possible that she was the widow of his son? Being born in 1771 I checked for Elizabth X married X Young but nothing local that looks to be likely...

It is interesting that Charles Bolden [Boulding] and Elizabeth [previously Young] had a son, George, in 1808 who married another ELizabeth Young who was born in Brabourne in 1811 the daughter of James &  Sarah Young. I have not found a connection of the two Young families but it's probably there (if I could find it)

[RobertHauteville]

Have you checked out the Wills of the Youngs both at local and PCC level?

[David Boulding]

I have indeed checked for the wills of various William Young but I am hampered by not knowing when William died as there is a plethora of William Youngs available in Kent (and elsewhere). None is obviously this William Young.

Just as there is no obvious baptism of Elizabeth Young - probably his daughter - circa 1770 in Kent.

That he married a widow, Sarah Horne, in New Romney in 1765 is sure because the signature at his wedding to Sarah is the same signature as a witness at Ellizabeth's wedding in 1793  so I am guessing it's her father (or possibly Uncle). He'd be too old to be a brother.

[Top-of-the-hill]

  "Monks Horton: 1771 Mar 8 William Young (x) & Catherine Codham (c)"

  No help to David, I'm afraid, but Catherine was the sister of my 3xgreatgrandfather! I hadn't followed her up, but recognised the name.

[David Boulding]

Probably the same family as it's very local and with a small population. I thought Wm & Catherine were the one's I wanted - but alas no... William the Dragoon had a very confident signature and Wm & Catherine marked with an X