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Ask the expert – British Army ancestor

Our resident expert Stephen Rigden, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Eric Brown:

‘Where do I start?

My paternal grandmother was born in Richmond Barracks, Dublin. She married in Northampton and her father is shown on her marriage licence is Sergeant Major. I would like to find out more about her birth and about her father’s army career and history.

My question is: why was she in Northampton? The address shown on her marriage licence is Lawrence St, Northampton, which is opposite the barracks. Can I guess that her father was based in Northampton and his daughter came over with him?

At the time of her birth, would her father have been in the English army or would there have been an Irish Regiment? Are there records at Kew?

The details are:

Father: William Lynn

Daughter: Marion Josephine Lynn, born in 1857 at Richmond Barracks, Dublin. She married Theophilus Brown on 6 December 1877 in Northampton, aged 20.

Thank you for your help.’

Stephen says:

‘Dear Eric

Thanks for your question regarding your great grandfather, William Lynn, who was a Sergeant Major in an unknown regiment in the British Army and alive in 1877.

I have chosen this question this month as it illustrates some of the techniques which we use when trying to resolve problematic points on our family trees. Firstly, I should say that this, like many problems, has no immediate or easy answer – there is no single database in which you can be absolutely sure to find a named individual, and even the most comprehensive countrywide datasets such as the birth, marriage and death indexes, or the decennial censuses, contain many omissions and errors.

This being the case, it is common to approach problems by identifying a range of potential candidates and then progressing by a process of elimination towards a correct answer. Of course, the more distinctive the combination of details available in your starter information, the more conclusive this process is likely to be. Even a rare name, however, won’t guarantee you a result.

In this case, we have a man with a reasonably good combination of names and a precise rank in the army, who was known to have been alive at a particular date. We can also infer that, as his daughter was born in 1857, he was born at least 16 years earlier than that, i.e., before 1841. When we begin to look at online record sets, we are searching for individuals who meet all these criteria (bearing in mind, of course, that in the case of his army career, he would have held a lower rank in earlier years).

The record sets to begin with in this instance are the so-called ‘Chelsea Pensioner‘ records – the pre-WWI British Army service records, good for out-pensioners as well as the very small number of red-coated in-pensioners at the Royal Hospital Chelsea – and the census returns. We must remember that the army service records are for men discharged from the army and, therefore, exclude those who were killed or died in service; and that, with some exceptions, the censuses are primarily a record of who was sleeping where on census night and, therefore, frequently exclude men at sea (even if just out on a fishing boat) or serving overseas with the army or navy. Nevertheless, when we start to consult and compare these records, only one strong candidate emerges for William Lynn.

Firstly, there is only one surviving service record for a Sergeant Major named William Lynn, and none for NCOs of higher rank (and at that date it would be highly unlikely that he would have risen to become a commissioned officer beyond the scope of the Chelsea Pensioner records). The candidate William Lynn was a Sergeant Major in the 1st Btn and then, upon its creation in 1855, the 3rd Btn of the 60th or King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Note that earlier this month findmypast.co.uk published complementary series of British Army service records from the 19th and very early 20th centuries – these include those for the Imperial Yeomanry who served in the 2nd Anglo-Boer War, for example, the records from Royal Kilmainham Hospital in Ireland, and the fascinating volumes relating to the foreign regiments, comprising mostly German (but also Hungarian, Scandinavian etc) soldiers, who fought with the British in the Napoleonic Wars.

Moreover, what is clearly the same man can be found in the census returns for 1851 (when he is a Sergeant), 1871 (by which time he is a Sergeant Major), 1881 and 1891. The 1861 Worldwide Army Index places him in Wellington (in southern India) and Madras in that census year, explaining his absence from that year’s census.

When one pieces together this man’s life and career, one can see that he married twice (firstly to Hannah, between 1840 and 1850, who died 29 May 1862 in Rangoon, Burma; and then secondly to Mary Ann, at some date between 1862 and 1871, who died between 1881 and 1891); that he had at least four children, born between 1848 and 1856 in Tilbury Fort, Chatham and Co Kildare; and that he joined the militia – specifically 2nd Edmonton Royal Rifle Regiment of Militia, based in South Mimms – on leaving the regulars.

Note that these locations and the army service record mostly match the recorded postings of the 60th Royal Rifles, which can be found in various publications such as The King’s Royal Rifle Corps Chronicle (pub 1905). Chatham was the depot for the 1st Btn of the Regiment throughout the early 1850s. The 3rd Btn was in Curragh (Co Kildare) in 1856 and in Dublin in 1855 and again from later in 1856 to 1857 – it then moved overseas and we can plot the movements of Sergeant Major Lynn (and presumably his first wife and children) as follows – 1857: Madras, Bangalore, 1858: Mysore, Bellary, 1860: Jackatalla, 1862: Thayetmyo, Toungoo, 1863: Rangoon, 1865: Madras.

This man would appear to have been the only Sergeant Major William Lynn in the British Army in the mid/late 19th century. We do not have sufficient information to definitively clinch the ID; however, the balance of probability leans persuasively towards this man being your great-grandfather. We discussed this offline, and you mentioned that your grandmother had a son of the same name, Godfrey, as one of the children of William Lynn. Godfrey is a fairly unusual name, good to have in any family tree, and to my mind this additional detail adds further weight to the balance of probability. If one and the same family is involved, then your grandmother named her son Godfrey after an older brother.

To try to secure proof, it would be useful to obtain copy documents, such as the birth certificates of William Lynn’s sons Thomas and Joseph, and also of course the 1857 Dublin birth or baptism of your grandmother Marion (this event doesn’t appear in the army births on findmypast.co.uk and, as civil registration in Ireland did not commence till 1864, your only chance would appear to be the event having been registered locally as a baptism).

If the link can be proven, the British Army pension record gives the precise parish of birth of William Lynn as Bristol St Philip, so you should then be able to advance your research back in time from there.

Good luck, and please let us know if you make a breakthrough!’

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Ask the expert – WWI ancestor?

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, offers advice on how to solve your military family history mysteries.

From Alan Theobald:

‘I have been trying to find any records of my paternal grandfather’s army service for several years, without success, and would be grateful for any advice you can offer.

He was James Theobald, born in 1870, died in 1950/1 in Romford, Essex. He lived all his life within a few miles of Romford except for military service. He was unlikely to have been a commissioned officer. This is all I know about him:

• Found on the 1891 census as a civilian
• Not found on the 1901 census, which could suggest that he was overseas at the time
• Described on the 1911 census and on the 1909 birth certificate of one of his sons as an army pensioner. I know that he was partially paralysed as a result of wounds and/or sunstroke
• Not found in Chelsea Pensioners records, which could suggest that he was not a British Army pensioner. Who else would have paid him an army pension?
• Not found in any 2nd Boer War records. Not found by a researcher in WO97
• Reputed to have described the sun as the Bengal blanket
• Granted the lease of a smallholding in Crow Lane, Romford in around 1930, until his death, under a Royal British Legion scheme for disabled ex-servicemen. RBL say that they have no archive material

Hope you can help.’

Paul says:

‘Hello Alan.

Admittedly he’s a bit of a mystery and you’re really struggling without a regiment.

The survival rate of documents in WO97 for men discharged to pension between 1883 and 1913 is very good; in fact Michael and Christopher Watts, in their book My Ancestor was in the British Army (Society of Genealogists 2009) describe finding a document as ‘a near certainty’.

The fact that nothing appears to survive for your grandfather could suggest a) that he was discharged overseas (the survival rate for these men’s papers is low) or b) that he subsequently served during WWI. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that he could have joined up again in 1914, his papers being moved out of what is now WO97 and into WO363 where they were subsequently destroyed during bombing in WWII.

I’m tempted towards WWI because you mention the Royal British Legion, an organisation formed after WWI to look after WWI veterans and their families. As far as I’m aware they did not concern themselves with veterans of previous conflicts, although it would be worth verifying this with RBL.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

Ask the expert – absent service record

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, offers advice on how to solve your military family history mysteries.

From Mary Gregg:

‘My father served in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps in WWI. His name and number was Pte George Brunt 44919 – he later joined the 6th London regt. number 348277. I have his card but it gives no details of his actual service and I cannot trace his service records anywhere. I do know he served in France and was mentioned in two despatches as I saw the typed out pages which said he had captured a German trench. I also saw one that said he had captured some Germans single-handedly but these were lost by my family in the move to Australia. I would be most grateful for any information you can discover.’

Paul says:

‘Hello Mary. Thanks for writing to me.

The numbers date to quite late on in the war. 44919 for the King’s Royal Rifle Corps dates to March 1918 (almost certainly the first half of the month) and 348277 for the 6th London Regiment is a month or two after that. It’s possible that he was transferred from the KRRC to the 6th London Regiment under Army Order 204/1916, which dealt with compulsory transfers.

In the absence of a service record (which could have been destroyed as a result of enemy bombing during WWII) you could at least obtain a copy of the 6th London Regiment’s war diary from April 1918. This would give you an idea of what the battalion was up to at this time. The diaries are held at The National Archives in Kew but you could ask a researcher to obtain copies for you. As far as I know, this particular war diary is not available via documents online at TNA, although many are.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

Ask the expert – missing military information

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, offers advice on how to solve your military family history mysteries.

From Grahame Reed:

‘I am trying to trace the military history of my great-great-grandfather but have only been partially successful.

His name is Charles Reed, born in 1808 and died on 27 October 1884 in Harpenden, St Albans, Hertfordshire.

Charles married his second wife Eliza Moorcroft on 10 July 1850 – the certificate shows his profession as ‘Colour Sgt 60th Rifles’. From the information given below in the 1851 census, Charles probably previously served in Ireland. The details of his first wife are not known.

The 1851 census shows Charles Reed, his wife Eliza, daughter Adelaide (born 1836 in Ireland), son Charles (born 1840 in Ireland) and daughter Caroline (born 1841 in Windsor, Berkshire) – these three children are by his first wife.

The birth certificates of his sons born to Eliza show the following:

• Arthur (born 21 April 51) shows Charles as a labourer – this is my great-grandfather.
• Walter (born 2 August 1852) shows Charles as an Army pensioner.
• Certificates for Edward (born 19 April 1856), Joseph (born 25 May 1861) and Frederick (born 26 March 1863) indicate that Charles was a Staff Sgt in the 2nd Royal Middlesex Rifles living at No 7 Militia Storehouse, Barnet, South Mimms.

Other census documents show Charles as a Chelsea out-pensioner in 1852.

We have been unable to trace any military or pension records or any details of his first wife or the record of Caroline’s birth at Windsor in 1841.

Your help would be appreciated in pointing out the path we should take to fill in the gaps detailed above.’

Paul says:

‘Thanks for your email.

Do bear in mind that there is a wealth of military information that has not been published online. In the absence of a pension record in the WO97 Chelsea Pensioners’ Service Records, you need to look at WO12 (general muster books and pay lists) and also WO25/266-688 (regimental description books 1756-1878). First of all, find Charles Reed in WO12 and then work backwards until you get to the description (on enlistment) in WO25.

If he was born in 1808 he could well have joined up around 1826, or even earlier if he enlisted as a boy. The description books give a physical description of the soldier and are generally arranged by initial letter of the soldier’s name in the various regimental volumes. You’ll get physical characteristics plus age, where born, former trade, former service etc.

A further offline source is WO23/26-65 which are the admission registers of Chelsea out-pensioners between 1820 and 1875. These are arranged by regiment, each volume containing a number of regiments. All of these WO (War Office) series can be requested at The National Archives in Kew, London. You can do that yourself or hire a researcher to do it for you.

Unfortunately, no personnel records survive for the Volunteer Force (the precursor to the Territorial Force) so you’ll be unlikely to find anything specific about his time in the 2nd Royal Middlesex Rifles, although you could of course gen up on this battalion and also the 60th Foot (King’s Royal Rifle Corps) to plot his likely career path. Good luck!’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

Ask the Expert – Somerset soldier

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Wendy Thomas in Australia:

‘I would like to obtain the Service Record for Elijah Francis who died and was buried on 27 July 1852 in Dinapore, Bengal, India. Elijah was aged 30 and his date of birth was given as 1822. He was a Corporal in HM 29th Regiment. I would like to find out if this Elijah Francis was born in Stoke Lane (Stoke St Michael) in Somerset on 16 January 1823 and baptised in that parish on 23 February 1823. His parents, Samuel and Ann Francis, moved to Bath in around 1830.

I obtained this information about his death and the film (number 98990) hoping it may provide more identifying information, but it did not. I would appreciate any assistance you may provide.’

Paul says:

‘Hello Wendy, thanks for your query. The 29th Regiment of Foot had been in India since 1842 and would only return to England in September 1859. In the interim, as well as venturing into Burma, the regiment took part in operations now known as the 1st Sikh War (1845-46), 2nd Sikh War (1848-49) and Indian Mutiny (1857-59).

Assuming that Elijah joined the regiment as a young man, the majority of his service would have been overseas and he may well have qualified for the Sutlej Campaign Medal and the Punjab Campaign Medal. Without a surviving service record for him you’ll need to see if he’s mentioned in a regimental description book. These survive in WO25 at The National Archives in England, pieces 266-688 covering Infantry of the Line, among others.

Descriptions typically give name, rank, regiment, height, age, description (complexion, hair colour, eye colour and sometimes “visage”), county where born, parish where born, trade and former service (where applicable). Here, it’s the where born and age which will enable you to tie him in to Stoke Lane in Somerset. You can call up these National Archives files yourself or engage a researcher to do this for you. While you’re at it, also have a look at WO12, the muster books and pay lists, as you’ll be able to track his career with the 29th through these.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

Ask the Expert – missing battalion

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Ian McIntosh in Cambridgeshire:

‘Please can you help? My grandfather was in the Liverpool Regiment in WW1. I have his medals which are inscribed on the edge. What I am looking for is which Battalion he was in and where he went during his service period.

His name was Otto Dorer McIntosh. From the information I have on the paperwork that accompanied the medal he was a Sergeant. The number on the medal is 57981.

I believe he was injured and in hospital at one point in Arras, France. I look forward to hearing from you and hope you can guide me to the correct information.’

Paul says:

‘Determining a battalion from numbers can sometimes be done but I’m afraid not in this case. The number does, however, indicate that it was given to him in late 1916; probably November or December of that year. He may have attested earlier, however, and been called up at this time. I see that he married in early 1916 and this would have placed him in a lower call-up category than he would have been in had he been single.

If he had attested under the Derby Scheme, he would have been placed into one of 46 groups. Group 1 was for single 18-year-olds, Group 2 for single 19-year-olds right up to Group 23 for single 40-year-olds. Group 24 was for married 18-year-olds, Group 25 for married 19-year-olds and so on. In early 1916, Otto would have been married and 23-years old so he could have been in Group 29. Alternatively, had he been conscripted he would have fallen into Class 6, which was for those men born in 1892. Without seeing a service record, it’s difficult to know whether he was a Derby Scheme man or a conscript.

Your best bet in trying to track down a battalion would be to have somebody check the medal rolls at The National Archives. As you know, he was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals and at some point transferred to the RAF. Details of his medals are in the RAF rolls: RAF/101 B16 Page 314. It may also be worth contacting the RAF museum at Hendon to see if they hold any additional information about your grandfather.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

Ask the Expert – military Malta mystery

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.

From M Marshall in Barnet, Hertfordshire:

‘A relative called John Telford Graham (born 1890/91) came from Newcastle upon Tyne and served in the First World War. He belonged to The Army Medical Corps (Territorial Force) and died on 15 July 1917 in Malta. His army number was 386384 and his rank was Private.

What was the cause of John’s death? Where was he buried in Malta? Why was his unit serving in Malta? I would be most grateful if you could answer these questions.’

Paul says:

‘Soldiers Died in The Great War notes simply ‘died’ which probably means that he died as a result of sickness or accident; probably the former, as Pieta Military Cemetery dealt with the sick and wounded from Gallipoli and Salonika. The Commonwealth war Graves Commission gives the following information:

Name: GRAHAM, JOHN TELFORD
Initials: J T
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Royal Army Medical Corps
Unit Text: 2nd/1st Northumbrian Field Amb
Age: 26
Date of Death: 15/07/1917
Service No: 386384
Additional information: Son of John Sewell Graham and Margaret Ann Graham, of “Holmside,” Armstrong Rd., Benwell, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: C. XIV. 5.
Cemetery: PIETA MILITARY CEMETERY

The 2/1st Northumbrian FA was initially part of the 63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division and you can read more about this Division on The Long, Long Trail website. From the information contained here, the unit had moved to Salonika as Army Troops in September 1916.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!