Jarman John Alfred

[SloopJB]

My greatgrandfather was a soldier in the Kings Own 4th of Foot ( 2nd Battalion ).

I know this because he was in the 1881 Census on board Serrapis at Home port.

I think the home port was Portsmouth. Can anyone confirm this for certain ?

Serrapis was a troop ship that often travelled to India.

I found that my greatgrandfather's service covered the Zulu wars and also service in India.

Can anyone advise me more about the history of this battalion at this time approx. 1877 - 1885 ?

Also where I could find more information ?

I think the first battalion saw more action in the Zulu wars and the second Battalion were looking after the baggage and regimental silver ?

Any information or advice would be most welcome.

[neil1821]

It was the 2nd battalion only involved in the Zulu War.

He appears on the Zulu War medal roll: 2797 Pte J.Jarman, 2/4th Regt
He was serving at the regimental depot at the time the roll was compiled in Jan 1881.

[SloopJB]

Neil

Thanks this is great ! May I ask how you found this information ?

And so quickly thank you. It is good to have a record of your original sources.
Do you know where the Regimental Depot was at this time ?

Please can you advise where I can find more about the Battalions involvement in various campaigns ?

I found his service records at Kew, but this seems to be mainly medical, pay and the odd misdemeanor.

[Geoffers]

Please can you advise where I can find more about the Battalions involvement in various campaigns ?

Commading Officers wrote despatches which appear in the London Gazette (http://www.londongazette.co.uk/home.aspx?geotype=London)
These tend to be fairly lengthy but provide good accounts.

If your chap was mentioned in despatches he should appear by name, but just use his surname in the serch to begin with and if you get too many hits, build up the detail included to narrow things down.

To find out what the regiment was doing, just search by its name; again start wth something simple such as 'Kings Own' and build up the detail of the search if you get too many hits. Remember in serching for despatches that you may have to seach for 2-3 months after the end of a campaign in order to find the despatches - they didn't have e-mail then.