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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: kmdryd on Friday 11 September 15 13:54 BST (UK)
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Trying to locate where the Royal Artillery were stationed in 1838 to 1843.
Particularly Gibraltar.
Thanks for any help.
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That's a big ask! At that time there were something like 190 batteries stationed all over the place. You might be better focussing on a place and time frame.
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Thank you maxD. I am interested in places in Gibraltar/Spain late 1830's. Hoping to narrow down an area where my Spanish 3xg grandmother was born or lived. Somehow she and my gx3 grandfather ended up in England and married in Leicestershire in 1840 but they were back in Gibraltar in 1844 when my 2xg grandfather was born. My gx3 grandfather was a member of the R.A. Regards
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Try the Royal Artillery museum
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Thank you Scouseboy. I have had a look but nothing seems to be on the net. I live in Australia so I can't visit. :(
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You can plough through WO 10 online if you only need locations of battallions
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/h/C14221
You can probably narrow it down if you include "Gibraltar" and dates in the search (there's over 2800 sets in this series)
But it's only going to show which battalions are stationed there
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I'll ferret around a bit
maxD
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Thank you Stevie Steve. I will try this.
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They did not serve in Spain, but (like today) Spanish people crossed the border to work in Gibraltar. Someone on the Gibraltar section may be able to tell you if the army would recognize a marriage in a Spanish church. If he did not get permission to marry from the army he would have had to leave her there when he was transferred away from Gibraltar. So it is worth looking for a marriage in a Gibraltar church. If you find it there is a good chance they recorded his Company/Battalion.
You will need to employ a researcher to look at about four musters in the National Archives assuming you pick a year he was there. With a common name even that may not be enough. I would not bother asking the NA for a quote. All they want to do is copy the whole item at a cost of many hundreds of pounds.
Company equals the later Battery. Battalion equals the later Brigade. A Brigade/Battalion usually consisted of eight Companies/Batteries. They were usually split up and spread across the Empire. A further complication is that men changed Company/Battery often. So following a soldier's service using muster books is not easy/cheap. You need to post his name and details to ensure that there is not an easier way available.
Ken
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Ken's advice to chase the name is, as usual, right on the money. History books will tend to have snapshots of time at the author's discretion. For example, a splendid history of the Royal Regiment written in 1908 has a table showing that in 1848 there were 5 Companies in Gibraltar. It doesn't say which they were or show how the numbers are different say 10 years previously.
maxD
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Thanks Ken and mazD. Sure does look like I have a task ahead of me. I will keep searching and thanks again for your help.
Kathleen