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  1. #1

    Default 93rd Sutherland Highlanders

    I am trying to find a record of my 2nd great-grandfather, William Crichton (or Alexander William) in the war. The 1851 Scottish census has him at Edinburgh Castle as a private with the 93rd. Regimental Birth Indexes show the birth of his son, William Palmerston Crichton, at Scutari in 1854. (Family legend has him born aboard the troop ship Palmerston. The wife/mother was Agnes Meek Crichton, supposedly a nurse.)

    I have tried various spellings of "crichton" but cannot come up with any record of him. Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated.

    martha

  2. #2
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    Hello Martha and welcome to the British-Genealogy forums.

    It sounds as if you have landed here with us from the FWR site so reading This will explain some things.

    Is it just William's army records you are looking for?
    I did take a look for your William Crichton to get a little background on him and the first census I came upon was the 1871 where the family is living at
    Alexander Street St Andrew Angus.
    William Crichton 42 Jute Cloth Inspector born Glasgow
    Agnes Crichton 41 Glasgow
    John Crichton 19 Glasgow
    William Crichton 16 Turkey
    James Crichton 12 Gifford Haddingtonshire
    Robert Crichton 9 Haddington Haddingtonshire east Lothian
    Georgina Crichton 14 England
    Agnes Crichton 4 Dundee Forfarshire

    The places of births of the children give a casual time line of William and Agnes' movements.

    Looking at the ages of the children and where born it would appear that William and Agnes met in Glasgow and marrried there, had their first child there then Agnes and John accompanied William to the Scutari Barracks sometime between the birth of John and the birth of William
    Looking at the history of the Barracks they were allocated to the use of British troops on their way to the Crimea 1854-1856 and when the last troops left the barracks became a hospital. Florence Nightingale and her volunteers didn't arrive at Scutari until 1854 and left in 1857.

    I have assumed that this is your family in 1871 because of the name and son born Turkey. Can't be too many of those.

    This has been an interesting history lesson for me but I am still looking for William's records.

    The National Archives has a guide Here to what records are held and where. Some they license out to specific sites so will not be found on any other site.

    Using surname variations I did take a look on Findmypast to see if they have the record for William but it hasn't shown up for me as yet. There is a James Crichton born 1829 in the Gordon Highlanders - 75th and 92nd Foot
    but..?

    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

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    According to the medal roll there was a Sgt. William Crighton (No.2199) serving with the 93rd, who was awarded the clasps 'Alma', 'Balaklava' (The Thin Red Line) and 'Sebastopol' to his Crimea Medal. In addition there are two other men on the roll for the 93rd named Crichton, but neither is a William or Alexander.

    Martin

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    Have you searched the service records on Findmypast which is where they (or at least the digital copies) should be if they have survived?

    You'll find the service record of the chap Martin found there together with others named Crichton or Crighton born in or around Glasgow at about the right time (assuming the census record Christina found is accurate)

  5. #5

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    Thank you so much Christina. Yes, you have the correct family. My great-grandfather was John (age 19 in the census you reference). It's so interesting that Agnes went with William. What would have been the reason if she was not a nurse? (And there was no reference to her having a profession...) And, yes, William Jr.'s birthplace certainly does make it easier for those of us trying to ensure we have the correct information.

    I am happy I "landed" with you from FWR and look forward to availing myself of your kind help. My main interest is to learn the father of John, William, et al. Two people share the birth year and birth place in my searches. One for whom I can find a birth record is Alexander William Crichton, son of William Crichton and Frances Murdoch. In Ancestry.com Public Trees many have chosen Alexander William as the same person as William of the 93rd. However, I see no citations for this assumption. The fact that Alexander William had a rather lofty pedigree makes me think perhaps people seized upon him as a relative to "adopt" some of his titled forbears! If they are correct, so be it. I am not a revolutionary and will embrace those with titles as equally as those without! But....!

    As I'm sure you can tell, I am new to all of this, but want to be as scrupulous as possible. Scotland's People has been of immense help, but I am at a stop until I learn the father of the 93rd's William.

    Again, Christina, thank you so much for taking the time to respond!

    martha

  6. #6

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    Thank you so much, Peter. I have just gotten in and will look at the reference you suggest tomorrow. You are very kind.

    martha

  7. #7

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    Thank you, Martin, taking the time to both respond and research my question. I have just arrived home and will respond when I am able to find the medal roll you reference. How kind you all are to help!

    martha

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    Famous for offering help & advice gortonboy's Avatar
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    Wiulliam Crichton b 1839 Glasgow number 2199 service record is on Findmypast. He was a rope spinner by trade.He did serve in the Crimea. His intended residence on leaving the army was Haddington....which does tie in with the birth details of some of the children.

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    Famous for offering help & advice gortonboy's Avatar
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    is this his marriage ? would the actual certificate not show his parents names ?


    First name(s)
    William

    Last name
    Crichton

    Marriage year
    1859

    Marriage date
    25 Mar 1859

    Marriage place
    Bridgeton,Glasgow,Lanark,Scotland

    Spouse's first name(s)
    Agnes

    Spouse's last name
    Britain

    Place
    Glasgow

    County
    Lanarkshire

    Country
    Scotland

  10. #10
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    Hello Martha
    being scrupulous about your research is an absolute necessity. No use doing it otherwise. We do sometimes go off track if there are too many choices but then we have to pull back and take another look.
    Do you have William Crichton and Agnes Meeks marriage record? (Meeks is Agnes' maiden name?) Statutory registration didn't start in Scotland until 1855 but there are parish register records on ScotlandsPeople pay per view site. I did a basic search and there is a marriage of an Agnes Meek in 1850 to a William Cr*ton which looks interesting. I used the wild card as there is no result if using the Crichton.
    Best to read all the information given on the site as to what to expect from these parish records.
    Oh whilst I remember. Why do you think William used the name Alexander?

    I did find this census record for possible family for William born 1829.But as I say a possible only at this stage.
    1841
    St Ninian Street Gorbals lanarkshire
    Robert Crichton 40 Engine keeper born Ireland
    Janet 35 wife
    Robert 15 Engineer's apprentice
    William 13 gate keeper
    Sarah 9
    Janet 7
    Margaret 5
    John 3
    Alexander 1

    Janet and all children born Glasgow

    1851 186 Maun Street Barony Lanarkshire
    Robert 56 Engine keeper born Ireland
    Janet 48
    Janet 17 cotton drawer
    Margaret 75 dau cotton drawer
    John 23 son message boy
    Alexander 11 pottery assistant
    All children and Janet born Glasgow.

    So Robert age 15, William age 13 and Sarah age 9 in the 1841 census have left home.

    This is just a transcription off the original image and it appears the transcriber couldn't read the ages of the children clearly. Robert and Janet's ages are a little out also but some of that can be accounted for because in 1841 the enumerators were supposed to adjust the ages of anyone over 15 down to the nearest 5. Some did, some didn't.

    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

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