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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: Tambrisha on Friday 10 March 17 05:06 GMT (UK)
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Hello all,
I've hit a roadblock down this branch. I found the baptismal record for my ancestor Maria Watts Richmond - I'm wondering if the "Watts" was her mother's maiden name??
Name Maria Watts Richmond
Gender Female
Christening Date 01 Feb 1811
Christening Place CHAPEL STREET INDEPENDENT,BLACKBURN,LANCASHIRE,ENGLAND
Father's Name John Richmond
Mother's Name Maria
In the actual image there is an asterisk by John's name with a corresponding comment on the opposite page that looks like: "Quarter Master to the Reg. of Dragoons (Scotch Greys)".
So, I have not been able to dig deeper in John or Maria's ancestry, since my usual sleuthing methods for finding her maiden name have struck out as I do not know if they were natives of Lancashire or if they moved there with the 2nd Dragoons/Scots Greys. The information of the movements of the Scots Greys leading up to 1811 that I have found are rather vague, where might I mind more detailed information?
Thanks in advance!
Tambrisha
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This book might help (click the pages to turn them) https://archive.org/details/cihm_48381
maxD
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In error
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The history notes that in June 1810 the regiment left Dublin for "quarters in Yorkshire and Lancashire" so the Lancashire location would seem to fit.
maxD
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There's an earlier (1801) baptism at a Presbyterian chapel (Pease Lane Meeting House ) in Dorchester, Dorset:
Maria Watts Richmond son (sic) of Capn James Richmond and Mary his wife
born 19 August, baptised 3 September 1801
Per the 1806 Army List, James Richmond was then a Major in the 2nd Dragoons (Scots Greys)
EDIT Major James Richmond died in Glasgow in 1808. This is all very strange
The snip below is from http://www.electricscotland.com/history/scotreg/historyofsecondd00almarich.pdf
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National Archives has a record for John Richmond, Quartermaster, 2nd Dragoons
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C13321642
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From the army record which was created in December 1828, John Richmond enlisted on 1 September 1787 and was appointed quartermaster in 2nd Dragoons on 25 August 1799 without purchase. By December 1828 he had served 24 years on full pay and 17.5 years on half pay (due to ill health). He lived in Huntingdon.
Detail re marriage and children below.
If you are downloading the record from National Archives (it's free of charge), there are two very large pdf files. You need volume 1, pages 306 and 307.
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Per "Huntingdonshire marriages", Jn Richmond of the "Scotch Greys" married Maria Watts at Hemingford Grey in 1800
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Possible burial at St Mary and St Benedict, Huntingdon on 25 March 1832; John Richmond aged 63.
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I'm now wondering what the relationship was (if any) between James and John Richmond and why the former named his daughter after the latter's wife.
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Pretty fine bit of detective work ShaunJ
maxD
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Scotlands People has an 1808 will and inventory for James Richmond, Major of Royal North British Dragoons, spouse of Janet Smith. Also a James Richmond/Janet Smith marriage at Loudoun in 1784.
Hmmm so who was the mother Mary in that 1801 baptism ? Or was that really a child of John and Maria ? That would make more sense, and there is a 4-year gap between the 1800 marriage and the first child listed on the army record.
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Thank you so much ShaunJ and MaxD – this information is fantastic. I’m always blown away by the helpfulness and knowledge of the RootsChat people.
The 1811 baptism I found in Lancashire fits for my ancestor, as she lived long enough to appear in census records and her place of birth was listed as Blackburn, Lancashire. The 1801 baptism, especially listing the child as a boy, is confounding and has certainly got my interest. I wonder if James and John were related and/or their wives.
ShaunJ – the “Huntingdonshire Marriage” record that you reference, is this the listing you are referring to (http://search.findmypast.com/search-world-images/huntingdonshire-marriages-1754-1837) or are their images of the original parish records available that I have not found?
Now, I’m wondering how impossible it may be to find when and where John Richmond and Maria Watts were born.
Thank you!
Tambrisha
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There's a death for a Maria Richmond in Huntingdon in 1840 which seems a possible for Maria Watts. Aged 68 so born circa 1772.
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My Maria Watts Richmond married a Charles Freeman, Innkeeper and I have found a death record for a Maria Freeman in 1871 in Huntingdonshire; I'm also reasonably confident of having found her in the 1841, 1851 and 1861 census returns... of course, it looks like she missed the 1871 census by a couple of months.
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Perhaps someone with a better grasp on the military practices/history of the time could shed some further light on this for me... Is it likely that John Richmond joined the Scots Greys at a location where they were encamped? Or would he have been from Scotland and joined their ranks at their home location?
Thank you in advance.
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He had enlisted in 1787 and served in the ranks, being appointed Quartermaster in 1799. In 1787 the regiment were in Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire (in June 1787 they arrived in Winchester and remained for the summer) and my inclination would be to suggest he came from that part of the country and joined them somewhere in that neck of the woods.
maxD