Royal marines:finding info on births and deaths

[Tinker]

I am struggling to find info relating to James Moyse (a Private in the Royal Marines, in 1851) and his wife Maria, nee Smale. James, born in Cornwall, was based in Plymouth (East Stonehouse): he married there in 1845, and it is thought he may have died in China, circa 1857. I have the names of four children: Thomas, Eliza, Mary and James, but I have only been able to trace the birth of the youngest one with any certainty. I'm wondering if the older children's births (and his death) were entered in a Royal Marines register, rather than in the GRO, if he was indeed on overseas service.

If this is the case, is there any way that I could find the details I need without visiting Kew, or hiring a researcher? I've tried everything I can think of, without so much as a sniff of success, and have even drawn a blank with tracing his parentage, so I'm rather desperate!! I'd be really grateful for any help with this one.

[Geoffers]

James Moyse (a Private in the Royal Marines, in 1851) and his wife Maria, nee Smale. James, born in Cornwall, was based in Plymouth (East Stonehouse): he married there in 1845, and it is thought he may have died in China, circa 1857. I have the names of four children: Thomas, Eliza, Mary and James, but I have only been able to trace the birth of the youngest one with any certainty. I'm wondering if the older children's births (and his death) were entered in a Royal Marines register, rather than in the GRO, if he was indeed on overseas service.

I believe the Plymouth registers of BMD for the RM begin in 1862 but do double check in TNA's research guides on the Royal Marines

If this is the case, is there any way that I could find the details I need without visiting Kew, or hiring a researcher?

There are some RM entries indexed on TNA's catalogue, so it's always worth a search on the offchance. Enter a surname in the word or phrase field (try all variant spellings of MOYSE, MOYES, etc) and in the department or series code, enter ADM.

[Tinker]

Thank you for those links, Geoffers. As you say, the Plymouth records only run from 1862, but I tried a search on TNA anyway, and came up with a number of Moyses, including James' youngest son James, BUT not James senior, sadly. Interestingly, though, there is a Thomas Moyse who joined the Royal Marines at the tender age of 12, and I'm wondering if that's not his eldest son who has also been difficult to trace on the censuses.

[bumblebee]

I don't know the dates for the childrens births but could this be Eliza with a surname variant.

Elizabeth Jane Moise, 1853 Q2 Plymouth Devon 5b 269

Bumblebee

[Tinker]

Thank you, Bumblebee. It could very well be! Frustratingly, the names Eliza(beth) and Mary aren't exactly unusual, and there are several Moyse families on both the Devon and Cornwall sides of Plymouth. Most of Thomas(the oldest son)'s children are registered in E. Stonehouse, which has made them considerably easier to identify, as was James, Thomas' youngest brother.

Thomas was supposedly born around 1844, Eliza, circa 1852, and Mary, circa 1855. I think I should try searching for them again using 'Moise,' given what you've just found! (I did try Moyes but had no joy with that variant.)

[Tinker]

I did have a look for other Moises but there were only 3 in total (2 not counting the Elizabeth you found, Bumblebee) for the period I needed and none of them were 'mine.' Still, it was worth the look!