Ancestry has recently added many military records which they have filed under Canada. Some seem to have come directly from records at The National Archives, Kew, and others from copies of these records in Canada. I have looked at some samples, from which I have concluded that there is much here which isn't about Canada. Here are just a few examples, taken from some (but not all!) of the new datasets. I hope this encourages you to (a) take Ancestry's descriptions with a large pinch of salt and (b) explore these records further. P.S. Though I have posted this in the 'British Army' forum, the last item is about the Navy and R.N. dockyards. 'Canada, Pension Applications for Widows and Family of British Military Officers, 1776-1881' From TNA, WO 42/52–63. If you go into 'Browse this collection' you are can choose between 'King's German Legion and other German Corps' and 'Loyal American and Canadian Corps'. Just looking at a few random images, it is clear that these papers contain much information about events happening outside of Canada. For example, image 297 of the 'Loyal American and Canadian Corps' describes the plight of Ann Brownrigg, 'now residing in the County of Dublin', widow of Richard Fleetwood Brownrigg, 'a Captain on the Halfpay of the Loyal American Ranger Regiment of Infantry, who died at Kilmainham near Dublin on or about the third day of September 1794' leaving her with '5 Infant Children in very limitted circumstances'. They had only been married since 1789. With the letter, dated 1818, are copies of their marriage licence and a record of his burial. In the 'King's German Legion' set a lot of the documents were in German and so beyond my comprehension, but the ones that are in English again include baptism, marriage and death certificates: papers I'm looking at now relate to a Lieutenant Christian Adolph Ernst Werne Grahn who died in Hanover in 1831. 'Canada, British Army and Canadian Militia Muster Rolls and Pay Lists, 1795-1850' TNA refs WO 12/11960–11967, 11972, 12018–12033, 13295 and WO 13/3673–3717 Ancestry notes that these include 'records of the "de Meuron" and "de Watteville" regiments . . . of Swiss mercenaries who contracted to serve with the British Army in the 1790s' [dates covered: 1790s-1816] as well as 'records for a number of Upper and Lower Canada militia units' [1830s/1840s]. Also includes copies of CO 880/1 and CO 880/2 (taken from a copy made for the Public Archives of Canada) (the ones that I looked at weren't muster rolls or pay lists at all, but printed despatches of Earl Grey.) 'Canada, British Army Regimental Rolls of Non-commissioned Officers and Soldiers, 1806-1892' From TNA, WO 67/7–20 The example I looked at (for 17th and 20th Foot in the 1830s) is labelled 'East Indies' which doesn't sound like Canada! It shows number, name, age at enlistment, height, hair colour, eye colour, complexion, trade, county, parish, date & place of enlistment, date & place of attestation, date of joining, other columns for dates of extension of service/re-engagement, and details of transfer to other corps, desertion and discharge. 'Canada, British Regimental Registers of Service, 1756-1900' From TNA, WO 25/266–558, 632–634, 677–683, 686–688, 3913–3914, 5411-5516 Browse the collection to see a list of regiments included. The volume I looked at is WO 25/3914, which Ancestry shows as for the Royal Engineers, 1866-1873. The random page I selected to look at (image 300) is a 'Statement of the Services of Maule Campbell Brackenbury', which gives his date and place of birth (20 September 1844, Cadiz), a summary of his various promotions) and some details of his service in the Afghan Campaign. Image 302 has the facing page, with a long list of 'Instances in which the Officer has distinguished himself by Gallant or Skilful Conduct), details of medals received, and summary of service at home and abroad (none of the latter in Canada, as far as I can see; he joined before 1866 and served well after 1873 so the covering dates given by Ancestry are a bit odd). 'Canada, British Navy Ship Muster Rolls and Pay Lists, 1757-1836' - Ships' pay books and records from naval establishment, Lake Ontario, from ADM 32/254 - Royal Navy ships' musters from ADM 36/15490, 17229; ADM 37/5000–5002, 5631–5632, 5638, 5640–5643, 8602–8605, 8607 and ADM 38/2294–2303 - Yard pay books from ADM 42/2147–2202, 2233 (I had a look at one of these, labelled by Ancestry as 'Gibraltar, Halifax and Martinique with index (1775-1815)'; it has all sorts of fascinating detail, e.g. with names of next of kin of men to whom wages were paid while they were overseas.)
I don't have an Ancestry subscription at all: I am at the library at the moment taking advantage of their free worldwide Ancestry. (I am supposed to be running a family history surgery, but nobody's come today. I expect they are all watching the tennis or out enjoying the sunshine.)
What!? you mean there aren't millions of people clamouring for you to knock down brick walls etc etc. What has happened to the nation's favourite hobby? ... oh, yeah the sun's out , the nation's favourite hobby is now slowly roasting on any spare bit of grass and eating ice-cream. I can get worldwide access at the Society of Genealogists but i haven't been for a while, and I don't go there to browse ... hmmm, maybe I should though
I see your in Oxfordshire.....which Library do you give your time to? I live in North Oxfordshire........sandie PS thanks for headup on new records
Hi Sandie I'm in Witney, in what has been christened the 'Oxfordshire Cotswolds' (the Cotswolds have been extended, for the purposes of tourism). If you're in this area on a Friday afternoon, do pop into the library and say hello.
I will certainly do that, not often in Witney but its not far I am in Bloxham Was watching a programme the other day that put up a map of Cotswolds that seem to take whole of the Midlands in!!!
Witney. The home of the "Fabulous Bakin' Boys" brand at Avenue Two. I used to have to 'load' out of there of an evening and it was always an extended wait. Eventually, I found that if I parked in the bus stop in Ducklington Lane, I could walk to the 'chippie' in the row of shops off, I think, Burwell Drive. There was no way that I was going to take a six axle artic through the estate onto the car park.
Your post has been made into a new thread, called 'KING family of Quebec', and can now be found in Non UK Questions > Empire & Commonwealth. Here's a link, I hope: http://www.genealogy-specialists.com/threads/king-family-of-quebec.1924/#post-22543 P.S. thank you Daft Bat for moving the thread. P.P.S. oops, sorry didn't see your reply, Jan
