79th Cameron Highlanders

[Richard A Pugh]

Hi
I have just signed up for another year, having been away for some time.

This is my first dip into the Napoleonic era, so a bit green on locating useful records.

I am researching a Maritime Disaster of 1807. (Saturday 18th April 1807, at 2.30pm)
The 79th Cameron Highlanders, (one Company), complete with wives and children, were crossing the estuary at HARWICH Essex, from LANDGUARD FORT. The ferry upset due to a squall, and went under. Rougly 98 souls on board, only 15 survived.

Drowned (D), Saved (S)

Only names I have are:

Captain Dawson (D)
Lieut. McCrummin (S)
Ensign McLean (S)
Serg. Sutherland (D)
Serg. Thompson (D)
Serg. McGowan (D)

I have a bit of the Service History of the three Officers from the History of the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders.
However, I can find nothing on the 3 Sergeants.

A number of bodies were found during the following days. The majority were buried in the Burial Ground at the Fort. The Burial Ground was washed away by a storm about 40 years later.
The Fort had its own Chapel, but this was left as derilict in Victorian times, the Register Books seemed to have vanished. So no records of Burials.

2 un-named bodies, identified as from the 79th Regiment, washed ashore at Harwich, (a man and a Woman) and were buried at Harwich, 31 May 1807.

I am not trying to write the history of the regiment, just a bit of the history from say the year before and the year after.

I am trying to put the story of the disaster together, and am looking for any human interest material.

Would the list of deaths have been sent to the Regiment HQ,? which I believe was Scotland, so it may have survived?

I do have the names of 2 other officers in the same regiment at the time.
Capt Samuell McDouall, was getting married at Dovercourt, near Harwich, 28th July 1807, a fellow Officer who was a witness at the marriage was Capt. William Imlach.

I do have some Military History for these two officers.

However I would be interested in the later life history of Capt. McDouall, believed to have resigned his commission, and then died in West Indies.

Any hints or suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Best Regards
Richard

[Pam Downes]

First (and, in truth, the only thing ) which springs to mind is - have you checked the British Newspaper Archive (also mainly available on Findmypast)? I haven't checked for local and national coverage for the dates you're looking at.
Obviously the newspapers are unlikely to give any regimental history but they might give you names.

Pam

[wimsey]

I'm guessing you will be aware of (or even the author of) this piece about McDouall's marriage to Tregent

https://www.essexrecordofficeblog.co.uk/tag/war/

likewise I'm sure you will have seen this pdf version of a history of the regiment which gives a tiny bit of detail of what they were doing in 1806 and 1808

https://electricscotland.com/history...00grearich.pdf

looks like that essex record office link might not work (why?) in which case try this and scroll down to "Married by Licence"

https://www.essexrecordofficeblog.co.uk/2016/01/

[wimsey]

findmypast has a record for Samuel McDouall being promoted to "Deputy Assistant Commissary-General to the Forces" on 5 September 1814

[Pam Downes]

I'm guessing you will be aware of (or even the author of) this piece about McDouall's marriage to Tregent

https://www.essexrecordofficeblog.co.uk/tag/war/

likewise I'm sure you will have seen this pdf version of a history of the regiment which gives a tiny bit of detail of what they were doing in 1806 and 1808

https://electricscotland.com/history...00grearich.pdf

looks like that essex record office link might not work (why?) in which case try this and scroll down to "Married by Licence"

https://www.essexrecordofficeblog.co.uk/2016/01/

That one didn't work for me either wimsey, so I did
https://www.essexrecordofficeblog.co.uk/
and then typed Tregent in the search box in the top right-hand corner. Interesting read.

Pam

[wimsey]

thanks Pam !!!

[wimsey]

McDouall or MacDouall is a pretty unusual name. I notice that a Samuel McDouall married on the Isle of Man in October 1820.

[wimsey]

on findmypast - if I go to parish burials, put 1807 as year of death and use the data collection Essex Burial Index 1530-1994 and put "79th" in the Optional Keywords box I get 23 results and they all have Weeley as location

if I don't specify the data collection, leave 79th in keywords and put Weeley as location I get the same 23 results

[wimsey]

on findmypast - if I go to parish burials, put 1807 as year of death and use the data collection Essex Burial Index 1530-1994 and put "79th" in the Optional Keywords box I get 23 results and they all have Weeley as location

if I don't specify the data collection, leave 79th in keywords and put Weeley as location I get the same 23 results

of course even though they are 1807 they may well be deaths unconnected to the ship sinking

[Lesley Robertson]

Have you asked the Cameron Highlanders Museum? They have an archive.
Thehighlandersmuseum.com