83rd Regiment of the Foot soldier

[Terese]

Hello to all
I'm relative new to this so please bear with me. |help|
I've found my G G G Grandparents graves and it has details of my G G G grandfathers engagements (1809-1814) in the Peninsular Wars with the 83rd Regiment of the Foot.
As he was only a private can I obtain any records for his service?
I would be fascinated to know when he enlisted and was discharged etc.
I'm in Australia and would appreciate any assistance you can offer. I'm not sure where to start my search.
Terese
NSW Australia

[Geoffers]

The main web-site that you will need is The National Archives
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ which is at Kew London

The have a load of research guides to help
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/researchguidesindex.asp?j=1
(Scroll down to 'B' and look at the links prefixed 'British Army')

And copies of some documents can be ordered online
Go to 'The Catalogue'
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/default.asp
In the first field 'Word or 'phrase' enter your chap's name - you may just have to try his surname and possibly variant spellings

In the last field, 'Department or Series' code, enter WO.
If you get too many hits, try restricting the dates to search.

You are looking for any record prefixed WO97 or WO121

You can order a copy of the record from TNA

Geoffers

[Terese]

Thank you Geoffers
I used the links you gave and now I have a real problem.
There are 3 possibilities and none really tie in with the information I have.
On the "Find my Past" site I have a record for David Lynch, serving in the 83rd, which lists the number of clasps. These match in with our knowledge of the battles he was in.
The David Lynch's on the Archives site are not listed as having been in the 83rd.
I realize the soldiers would have moved into different regiments at times so I guess I'll have to take a punt on the only Irish born David Lynch and hope he didn't fib about his country of birth on later census. |banghead|
From the dates in the Archives I also assume he married whilst still a soldier, will there be a record of this somewhere?
Many thanks for your help
Terese

[Geoffers]

Your best hope for a marriage is to search the Amry Chaplains Returns of Marriages 1796-1880, available on the site you mentioned. Apart from that, he could have married anywhere.

As to TNA, try seacrhing using the phrase 'Lynch AND 83' in the word or phrase field. Is it possible that your chap had more than one forename, or sometimes Daniel/David can be hard to interpret.

Geoffers

[Peter Goodey]

I guess I'll have to take a punt on the only Irish born David Lynch and hope he didn't fib about his country of birth on later census.

Before you pursue that one, hang on a minute.

It sounds as if you know his approximate date of birth from census records. Can you estimate approximately when he was discharged (eg from census and BMD records)?

The dates for the Killarney man don't tie up with what you said about the Peninsula war.

You realise they are only indexed by name in the catalogue up to 1854 discharge dates?

[Terese]

Hi Peter
I am completely ignorant of how these army records are listed.
Fortunately when David died his family erected an amazing headstone which still survives today in Phillips Park Cemetery, Manchester.
The headstone gives his birth as 16 April 1794. On census his country of birth is given as Ireland. His occupation in the 1841 census is Weaver.He died 27 Feb 1871, Manchester.
His headstone is where I got his military information from. The battles he fought in are on the stone.
I can trace the christenings of his children, the first in 1821 Leeds, and I have the family in all the census'.
So I assume he was discharged sometime after the last recorded battle, Toulouse 1814 and the birth of his first child in 1821. I have not found a marriage record for David and Eleanor Francis ??? but assume it was around 1820. They were Roman Catholic and their children were christened at St Patricks C C York RD Leeds.
I know this is like an essay . I have a lot on his later life but would like to know about this period in the hope I might be able to trace his Irish family as well.
Many thanks for all your input. I really appreciate it
Terese

[Peter Goodey]

I'm getting a bit of a bad feeling about his army records. Was he never described as a pensioner?

If he wasn't discharged to pension, it could be a bit of a killer. On the other hand, he could be listed in the 'misfiled' section of the files (WO 97/6323 -WO 97/6383) or in the Irish chunk up to 1822 (WO 119 & WO 118).

Medal rolls are a possibility - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=37 - but they don't provide a lot of information. It looks as if the records for the 83rd Foot should be in WO 100/8.

I wonder if Geoffers has any further thoughts about this?

[Geoffers]

I'd be inclined to suggest using the regimental musters
See this TNA guide for an explantion:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=16

It will mean a trip to Kew, or having family/friends who can check for you, or hiring someone to check out this source.

Geoffers

[Geoffers]

Part 2......

Use TNA's catalogue
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/default.asp

in the first field, 'word or phrase' enter 83rd
restrict the dates to something suitable (he was born 1794, so joined about 1810, possibly served until 1814)
In field three, 'department or series' code, enter WO12

Then search, you'll find five hits. Do you know which battalion he served in? If you do, you can narrow things down further.
Photocopying by TNA is expensive but cheaper than a return fllight; if you are interested, you might ask TNA if they can copy all or part of the muster for you (you know he was present at certain battles which will give you dates) - TNA should quote a price and this will probably induce a sharp intake of breath.

Geoffers

[Geoffers]

Part 3.....

The Regiments web-site
http://regiments.org/
Shows that it was the 2nd battalion that served in the Peninsula War.

Geoffers

[Terese]

Peter and Geoffers
Thank you so much for your thoughts. I will contact TNA and ask for a price for the copying -you've prepared me for the shock so I'll make sure I'm sitting down when I get the quote.
I have also emailed an Irish Military Museum and they have responded as well as passed my email on to the Regiment. So with luck, some how some way, I may get the information I hope for.
Many thanks in helping me sort out this very intricate system....the Australian War Memorial site is so easy (and free) and thats the only experience I've had tracing Military Records until now. Well that'll teach me to be so inquisitive. :D
Many Thanks
Terese