Captain Thomas M'Donagh, died 1898

[grisel]

FMP have discharge papers 1870 for a Thomas McDonagh b 1830, inspector of musketry.
He was a labourer b Roscommon, attested for school of musketry at Hythe Kent 1858.
Later in the 30th Foot 3769.
Served in Mediterranean, Crimea, Mediterranean, China, India.
Intended place of residence Kinsale
Sounds quite like your man, either not actually being discharged or re-enlisting.
I'm on my phone and the print is small so can't read all the details

[Sinabhfuil]

Thinking about it, though, the Freeman's Journal should have its facts right?

[Sinabhfuil]

FMP have discharge papers 1870 for a Thomas McDonagh b 1830, inspector of musketry.
He was a labourer b Roscommon, attested for school of musketry at Hythe Kent 1858.
Later in the 30th Foot 3769.
Served in Mediterranean, Crimea, Mediterranean, China, India.
Intended place of residence Kinsale
Sounds quite like your man, either not actually being discharged or re-enlisting.
I'm on my phone and the print is small so can't read all the details

It does sound like him. Ah, so he was born in Roscommon, very interesting. I'm wondering if he was a brother of a hedge schoolmaster called Red Patt McDonogh (spelling of the name varies…) But I suppose it's impossible to find that out.

[Jomot1]

Nice find! Squinting my eyes at some of the writing it gives three different service numbers and regiments by the looks of things

2769 in the 30th Regiment (awarded the Crimea medals in this regiment / number)
1012 in the 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment of Foot (awarded the Second China War Medal in this regiment/number)
184 in a regiment I can't make out

So the service / medals for Inkerman, Sebastopol, Alma, and the far east all tally with this man, as does the musketry.

[Sinabhfuil]

Nice find! Squinting my eyes at some of the writing it gives three different service numbers and regiments by the looks of things

2769 in the 30th Regiment (awarded the Crimea medals in this regiment / number)
1012 in the 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment of Foot (awarded the Second China War Medal in this regiment/number)
184 in a regiment I can't make out

So the service / medals for Inkerman, Sebastopol, Alma, and the far east all tally with this man, as does the musketry.

Oooh, this is exciting! If it's on your phone, can you save it down and blow the image up on the computer?

[Jomot1]

I think for Service No. 184 it says ‘S of M’, which is School of Musketry

Reading his discharge record as best as I can, he served 10 years and 66 days with the 30th Regiment (no dates given, but it included the Crimean Wars), rising from Private to Colour Sergeant. This total is under the column amount of service towards good conduct pay & pension. It then says:

• Posted to 2nd Battalion 1st Regiment on attestation, 2nd Class Sergeant Instructor 21 Sep 1858 – 31 Aug 1860, a total of 1 year 346 days.
• Transferred to 2nd Battalion 1st Regiment 31 Aug 1860
• 2/1 Foot. Transferred. 2nd Class Sergeant Instructor of Musketry 1 Sep 1860 – 7 Dec 1860. 98 days
• Tried and imprisoned and reduced for absence and drunkenness 8 Dec 1860 – 13 Dec 1860. 6 days
• Private 14 Dec 1860 – 2 Jan 1862. 1 yr 20 days
• Corporal 3 Jan 1862 – 7 Mar 1862. 64 days
• Promoted Sergeant 8 Mar 1862 – 9 Sep 1862. 186 days
• Appointed Sergeant Instructor of Musketry 10 Sep 1862 – 19 Oct 1869. 7 yrs 40 days
• Further service 20 Oct 1869 – 18 Apr 1870. 181 days
• Further service 19 Apr 1870 – 14 Sep 1870. 57 days

All of the service from 21 Sep 1858 onwards is in the same column as mentioned above and also in a second column headed ‘amount of service towards completion of limited engagement’. The final totals were:

Service towards good conduct pay & pension: 21 yrs 90 days
Service towards completion of limited engagement: 11 years 87 days

On the back cover it says he attested for the School of Musketry Regiment at Hythe 21 Sep 1858 aged 28 years & 2 months.

This was his second period of service having already served in the 30th Regiment, so if I'm reading it right he spent 10 years with the 30th Regiment of Foot under Service No. 2769, which I would assume was 1848-1858

On 21 Sep 1858 he attested into the School of Musketry Regiment under service no. 184 and was posted to 2nd Battalion 1st Regiment of Foot (but still serving with the School of Musketry)

On 31 Aug 1860 he was permanently transferred to the 2nd Battalion 1st Regiment under service number 1012 until he was discharged on 14 Sept 1870.

At some point shortly afterwards he must have joined the Royal Cumberland Militia / 3rd Border Regiment, and this is where we are missing any records. The first definite so far is the newspaper mention in July 1873.

The Militia were what we would now call the territorials or the reserves, so whether this was a full-time or part-time position I really don’t know.

[grisel]

Thanks for transcribing the details Jomot!

[Sinabhfuil]

This is fantastic - you are such sleuths! So if he was a captain, he was a captain in the reserves. Unless he promoted himself! Are those medals purely for being there at the time or were they for any heroic actions (generally speaking)?

[Jomot1]

The medals were for being there, and in the Crimean War men also received a clasp to indicate the specific battles they participated in, such as Inkerman. If you google you'll see plenty of examples.

I can't see any official mention of him being a captain. The only paperwork I can see for the Royal Cumberland Militia / 3rd Border Regiment are the pensions ledger books (FmP has two). Within these there are headings for Army Rank and Substantive Rank and in both books the Army Rank is blank and the Substantive rank is Quartermaster.

I'm still looking for confirmation, but his role in the Militia may still have been full-time. My cousin was an army captain and retired in his 50s due to ill health, but was then was re-engaged by the army in various full-time posts, including one with the reserves.

[Jomot1]

Still not finding a service record for the Cumberland Militia / 3rd Border Regiment so I’ve searched the newspapers and there’s no mention of him being a Captain.

The Cumberland & Westmorland Herald of 4 August 1883 carries a report of the annual training week and lists the officers in attendance. The Captains were Bain, Le-Fleming, Ritson, Thompson, Blencowe and Irwin, with Thomas recorded as Quarter-master T. McDonagh

The Cumberland & Westmorland Herald of 10 May 1884 reports on a month’s annual training and lists the officers in attendance as Captains Glencowe, Irwin, Bain, Lacey Thompson, Le-Fleming and Quartermaster Mc.Donagh. Captains Atkinson and Butler were also temporarily with the regiment.

We know Thomas retired in 1885 and the Army and Navy Gazette dated 28 March 1885 says:
3RD BATTALION, THE BORDER REGIMENT. – Qrmr. T. McDonagh is placed on a retired allowance (April 1)

Army and Navy Gazette 11 April 1885
THE BORDER REGIMENT. – Qrmr.-Serjt James Edward Bonner to be Qrmr. vice T. McDonagh, retired (April 1)

So it looks very much like the 'Captain' part was an embellishment by someone once he was back in Ireland.