William Henry Buckley in Suffolk, 1830s

[Lenore]

Hello folks,

I am trying to fill in a gap in the life of William Henry Buckley. He was a Lieutenant of the 82nd Regiment of Foot who went on half pay in November 1832 and never returned to the army. I can trace his whereabouts through the births of his children: In 1831 he was in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland. in 1834 and 1837 two children were born in Ipswich, Suffolk, and in 1839 another in Copdock, Suffolk.

In 1839 he and the family took a passage to the Port Phillip District. I would like to know what occupation, if any, he pursued in Suffolk, during the period from about 1833 to 1839.

In the Army his last posting was as a pay-master for the 82nd Regiment. When he arrived in Melbourne in 1839 he took a position in 1840 as a draftsman in the Surveyor General's Department, and rose to be the Chief Clerk.

None of that suggests that he was likely to be farming in Suffolk - but he might have tried and thought better of it. His talents were clearly in administration. I've wondered if he was perhaps working as a draftsman/surveyor? I don't think he was a gentleman of leisure. Nothing in his career before or after the interlude in Suffolk would suggest that he didn't have to work hard for a living.

I have checked as many digitised Suffolk directories as I can find online for the 1830s to see if I could find him, but have had no luck with that. I searched the catalogue of the Suffolk Record Office with no useful results. I've been through the Times Digital Archive and the 19th Century British Newspapers in the Gale Vault, also with no useful results.

I haven't looked at the actual (or virtual) Suffolk christening records - would these give the father's occupation in this period?

Is there any other record that could be consulted to discover what William Henry Buckley (or Lieutenant Buckley) was doing in Suffolk in the 1830s?


Best wishes,

Lenore

[Nicolina]

what were the names of his children? Sometimes father's occupations were given on Baptism records.

[Nicolina]

I think I may have found something.
1st March 1837 John & William, the sons of William Henry & Elizabeth BUCKLEY, were christened at St Matthew's, Ipswich (John born 28 March 1833 and William born 14th November 1835. The notes state that William Henry was on "Half Pay from the Army". So it looks as though he didn't have any other occupation.

[Lenore]

Hi Nicolina,

Goodness, I wasn't expecting that, just an opinion on whether I was likely to find an occupation in the christening records, so thank you very much for that.

I'm afraid Lieut Buckley has outsmarted me with his 'Half Pay from the Army' story. He was on half pay from 1832 until his death, and from the time he arrived in Australia until he retired many years later, he worked as well as taking his half-pay, so I'm not entirely convinced half pay was all he was living on in Suffolk. He always seemed to require more to live on, and I think he probably left the army for financial reasons. Being a half pay officer was an important indicator of his status, so if he was working in a counting house, counting out the money, he would be more inclined to mention being in the army than being a bean-counter. Probably. I'm having a think about that, but thank you so much for looking at those records for me. May I ask what you were able to consult?

Best wishes,

Lenore

[Nicolina]

Find My Past has some early Suffolk records online. (Saved me from nipping along to Ipswich Record Office.)

[Lenore]

Hello all,

I suppose the question arises as to why exactly the Buckleys were living at Ipswich, Suffolk, and later Copdock. I don't understand the nature of these places, what type of communities they were, and I don't know whether the Buckleys had any connections there. Perhaps they did. Buckley was a bit of an army brat and would be hard-pressed to call anywhere in England 'home'. He was born in the West Indies. His wife I suspect may also have been an Army brat - she was born in Chatham about 1807, the daughter of John Clarke, occupation not known.

Looking at a map showing both Ipswich and Chatham, there is nothing obvious that I can see that would take them there - for instance, having passed through on the way to Chatham - their last known place of residence was in Northumberland. So it would be either work or friends or family that encouraged them to go to Ipswich, you would think.

Buckley received the difference of the cost of his Lieutenant's commission when he moved from full to half pay, so that would represent a small amount of capital. Would he have wasted that by just renting a nice house like Mr Bingham and living the life of a gentleman? He might have done, but he was used to an active, busy life, so somehow I doubt it. I think he was trying to figure out how to set his family up, and in the end the answer was emigration.

So if you were an officer on a Lieutenant's half pay, why would you go to Ipswich? Was there a source of work there at the time? Would he have tried his hand at being a gentleman farmer? What would he farm in Ipswich? I am assuming grazing rather than tilling, about which he would have been as knowledgeable as a baby. Can't see him keeping poultry. Though he was a bit of a gardener in Port Phillip. When he first arrived in Port Phillip he did head off to the "country" (about six miles from Melbourne) and maybe that also entailed a bit of gentleman farming, but within 12 months or so he had moved back to Melbourne and set his cap at locating a public service position, and having obtained one, he worked at it assiduously for the next 17 years.

Although the Buckleys left Suffolk by 1839, I'll have a look at the 1841 Census and see if I can see anyone who might possibly have been a relative.

Best wishes,

Lenore

[Nicolina]

I've newspaper articles about him:
London Gazette:
9th Jan 1924 - 24th Regiment of Foot - Ensign William Henry BUCKLEY from half pay with the Regiment to Ensign, without Purchase
12th March 1824 - Ensign William Henry BUCKLEY, from 24th Foot, to Ensign
2nd November 1832 - Ireland - 82nd Foot - Lieutenant Charles Leonard EUSTACE, from half pay Unattached to be Lieutenant, vice William Henry BUCKLEY, who exchanges, receiving the difference.

there is also this
Morning Cronicle - 10 March 1808
Master William Henry BUCKLEY, upon his being appointed a Page of Honour to the King, in the room of Master Stanhope, promoted to an Ensigncy in the Guards.

[Lenore]

Hi Nicolina,

Thank you, but please don't spend any time on the newspapers, I've given them a good going over, and I believe I am on top of his army career. I don't think the second reference is him, he'd have been a pretty precocious Ensign at the age of four! It's the period in Suffolk that I'm interested in learning more about, but it is past my bedtime for now.

Best wishes,

Lenore

[helachau]

Re the newspapers, when/where did William's son John marry? Have seen a reference to the "late Captain W H Buckley, 82nd Regt", and the marriage of his son John, 29 Jan 1874.

[Lenore]

Re the newspapers, when/where did William's son John marry? Have seen a reference to the "late Captain W H Buckley, 82nd Regt", and the marriage of his son John, 29 Jan 1874.

Hi helachau,

Yes, I've seen that too. He married in Bedford. I've done extensive work on this family and don't really need any help with that, it is this interlude in Ipswich and Copdock in Suffolk in the 1830s which interests me. I would like to understand what might have drawn him there. Was it a well-known retirement resort for people from the Chatham Barracks? Was there infrastructure being built which would provide work opportunities? Did people rent small farms and keep black-faced sheep? In all the work I have done on the family tree nothing has turned up which indicates a family connection there - though I can't rule that out.

Best wishes,

Lenore