Clarence and Forehouse Barracks

[prinnyroyalz]

Richard Holden (born abt.1817 in Bolton Lancs.) was stationed at the above named barracks in Portsmouth, at the time of the 1851 census. Can anyone tell me if he was in the army or navy? Or, how can I find out? By the 1861 census he was a Chelsea pensioner.

Janet.

[Peter Goodey]

The people listed in the census in those barracks all bear army ranks and Chelsea Pensioners were all soldiers (pensions for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines were paid by Greenwich Hospital). So the answer is Army.

[SueNSW]

A little bit more information - by checking on the careers of the officers (on the 1st couple of the census pages) via the London Gazette it seems very likely his regiment was the 7th Regiment of Foot who later evolved into the Royal Fusiliers

Cheers
Sue

[Peter Goodey]

Janet's next job is to get hold of his army discharge papers see
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/c...?sLeafletID=14

Series WO 97 is indexed by name (in the catalogue) up to 1854. There is no Richard Holden fitting the given description listed so presumably he was discharged after 1854 and before 1861.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/search.asp

This portion of WO 97 is filed by regiment so it is indeed necessary to first identify the regiment as in Sue's message above (I haven't tried second guessing Sue but the Army List will be an important source here).

[Geoffers]

There are two threads relating to this chap and it will get confusing having them both open. I will close this thread.

The second thread which remains open can be found here.