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Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: Mamac on Tuesday 19 November 19 04:21 GMT (UK)
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I am looking for any military records which might prove that William Colston b abt 1852 in Bristol, England, served in the Royal Engineers for 6 years around 1870s and was discharged in China. He next went to NSW where he joined the Artillery and rose to the rank of Sergeant. Is it possible that some records have survived?
I have been unable to find him in the Gloucestershire births/baptisms, or the 1861 England census.
As background, he was convicted of the murder of William Davis and his wife of Narbethong, Victoria and hanged in 1891. He was a carpenter by trade. Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 4 April 1891, page 25 https://trove.nla.gov.au Any help would be appreciated.
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National Library of Australia's online catalogue includes:
J K HAKEN's book : Lineage and officers of New South Wales Military Forces 1854-1903 https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1890903
James Hugh DONOHOE's book (and CD) The British Army in Australia : index of personnel
https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2925708
And the Australian War Memorial, and the NSW state Library, and the National Archives of Australia should be able to help with tips on where to seek records...
NLA : https://www.nla.gov.au/
AWM : https://www.awm.gov.au/
NSW state Library : https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/
NAA: https://www.naa.gov.au/
Also, very well researched and referenced article here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_forces_of_Australia#New_South_Wales
Re Sgt Wm COLSTON - do you have localities for him in the 1870s, 1880s ... when did he move to Victoria etc ...
JM
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I don’t understand what it is you are wishing to ‘prove’.
The search for him, 3rd column: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12714195
Here is a link for the execution, 2nd last column: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65304831
Jamjar
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Hi majm,
thank you for pointing me in the right direction regarding reference material. I will certainly follow up.
Regarding localities for Sgt Wm Colston, I have no other information as to when he moved to Victoria. I understand from the newspaper articles that he may have been employed as a ship's carpenter, but my understanding is that he he worked as a carpenter building bridges.
He was ironically noticed as a suspect to the murders when he couldn't be found after an inquiry to build the coffins of the couple he had murdered.
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Hi Jamjar,
I'm trying to establish exactly when he joined the Royal Engineers and when he arrived (possibly working his passage from China after discharge) in NSW and joined the NSW Artillery.
Yes, I have much information about his murder, trial and subsequent hanging.
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Which Battery in the NSW Artillery did he join?
Different Batteries at different locations... No. 11 was at Balmain (in Sydney), No. 6 was at Wollongong, No. 8 at Bega, and No. 3 at Fort Scratchley, just up from Nobbys Beach...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Scratchley
JM
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At this site -
http://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au/public/component/daPublicBaseContainer?component=daSearchWithinSeries&componentLabel=Search%20Within%20Series&breadcrumbPath=Home/Access%20the%20Collection/Search%20Within%20Series
search....VPRS....... 515.......COLSTON to see gaol record for William
...arrived "Tyverhouse" 1880
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I'm afraid I don't have that information. I have attached a snippet from the police gazette of 1891 offering a reward for his capture, mentioning his military involvement.
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I’m sure you do have articles about him. I post them for others who may be interested in the events.
A most interesting confession, 3rd column: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article235880686
Jamjar
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Evening News 15 Feb 1886
The Soudan Medals ....
FIELD BATTERY ....
Sergeant Colston....
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/111193638
JM
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TT18910805.2.41?end_date=05-08-1891&query=Narbethong+Murder&snippet=true&start_date=05-08-1891&title=TT
This article is also interesting.
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https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/atwar/sudan
Sudan (New South Wales Contingent) March-June 1885 ...
The contingent, an infantry battalion of 522 men and 24 officers, and an artillery battery of 212 men, was ready to sail on 3 March 1885. It left Sydney amid much public fanfare, generated in part by the holiday declared to farewell the troops. The send-off was described as the most festive occasion in the colony's history....
...
The artillery saw even less action than the infantry. They were posted to Handoub where, having no enemy close enough to engage, they drilled for a month. On 15 May they rejoined the camp at Suakin. Not having participated in any battles, Australian casualties were few: those who died fell to disease rather than enemy action. By May 1885 the British government had decided to abandon the campaign and left only a garrison in Suakin. The Australian contingent sailed for home on 17 May 1885.
The contingent arrived in Sydney on 19 June. They were expecting to land at Port Jackson and were surprised to disembark at the quarantine station on North Head near Manly as a precaution against disease. ...
JM
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Aaaah, you're a wonder majam! Thank you so much. I would love to know your methodology in researching :-)
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I think he arrived on the CLAVERHOUSE, not the TYVEHOUSE, as recorded on his VIC PROV record.
The Claverhouse house can be connected to Hong Kong.
Jamjar
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Thank you Jamjar, I did see the VIC PROV entry for TYVEHOUSE and dismissed it. The CLAVERHOUSE makes much more sense if it can be connected to Hong Kong.
Truly thank you to both you and majm.
Now if only I could find his birth in Bristol abt 1852. There are a couple of entries in the 1861 England census but I may now look at the 1871 also.
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I treat the internet as though it is simply the 21st century replacement for my 6 x 4 tickler box (which still sits on my desk, in front of my keyboard. Mr Tickler Box is actually three boxes, set up as indexes; likely I am a tad familiar with the cards and the dividers held within. Of course, my trusty reference book (296 page botany book !) is also a vital tool.
I am a tad NSW centric, and my first tickler box came into my collection (in the 1960s :) ) as an inherited system from a grandparent who was born in NSW in 1870s, and in his own hand he noted he was 5th generation N. S. Waler. He was a career public servant, in the Registrar General's Office, and various of his descendants down through several generations followed that path. All my migrating NSW ancestors had arrived in NSW long before federation.
But don't press me to step outside of NSW unless for general thoughts about researching in general.
JM
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Oh wow! How wonderful to have such a knowledgeable person on this forum. I bet you have some wonderful stories gleaned from your Tickler Box. Have you published at all?
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Sydney Daily Telegraph 29 Nov 1882
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/238479447
Artillery Garrison Gun Match ... NSW Rifle Association, Battery of George's Head, .... first time Permanent and Volunteer Artillery have competed ....
Sergeant Colston, 2A Battery ....
Notice the Volunteer Artillery are (a battery number number followed by ) 'V.A.' and the Permanent Artillery are (a battery number followed only by) 'A'
Add, he was awarded 5th prize, £5
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/161924896 Sydney Mail.
Colston, Sergeant, Second Battery NSW A. :)
JM
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Not only was William Colston an articulate man (see earlier post regarding the trial proceedings published in the Papers Past article - I thought he may have come to Australia via NZ, hence looking there) but also a sportsman! He was by all accounts a very competent carpenter and his undoing seems once again to be the demon drink.
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"... rose to the rank of Sergeant."
Where do you see this information ie William COLSTON joined the Artillery, NSW with the rank of...... ? ...and attained the rank of Sergeant.
Did William COLSTON marry?. Did he have children?
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It was published in the state police gazettes (I posted the snippet on the first page of this string about 8 posts down) while they were looking for him.
I have not found any marriage or children. The index of of his death does not provide the names of his parents either.
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I found an article published in the Argus that describes William Colston's military history thus:
..."It appears he enlisted in the Royal Engineers in 1872, served in the Ashantee War and received a medal for his conduct at the battle of Coomassie. He obtained his discharge at Hong Kong on September 26th 1878 but nothing further is known of his career until July 1880 when he joined the NSW Artillery. In 1885 having meantime risen to the rank of Sergeant he was discharged at his own request... for three years he was in the neighbourhood of Walhalla and from there seems to have come straight to Marysville..."
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8482646?searchTerm=%22William%20Colston%22&searchLimits=sortby=dateAsc|||l-decade=189
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Why are you interested in William COLSTON?
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I have no familial connection, just a curiosity as to finding out his ancestral line, which I thought I may be able to trace through his military career. I have been unable to find any birth record for him. I was side tracked by his story while researching my immigrant ancestor.
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From a local history perspective, no.2 battery was likely at Dawes Point, (Sydney), so historically that would be a significant site, 1800s records may refer to Lower George St if seeking Wm Colston.
If standing there today, you will see the built environment including a busy commercial harbour, Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Cadman's Cottage, Admiralty House, Luna Park, Campbells Wharf and Warehouses, The Rocks, Millers Point, and of course, Dawes Point. But you will also see the convergence of the waters of the rivers and creeks entering The Harbour, just as the Aboriginal Peoples did for generations upon generations, just as did the convicts, marines, governor and his admin team and the transport ships's crew in January 1788.
ADD
See #25 ... convergence is wrong word. CONFLUENCE is better option. 6.23pm NSW time
JM
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Yes, well my ancient living rellies have all been on the phone. The word is confluence. I apologise for typing 'convergence' instead of 'confluence'. Yes, my mistake.
I blame my genetics...
::)
JM
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Pfft! I wouldn't have noticed until you pointed it out :)
I found a record for William Colston here https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10046412 so thanks for the tip! It confirms his involvement in Sudan, but also gives his birthplace and that he was also known as CALSTON. That gives me a few more leads to find his lineage. There was an article in TROVE that was published when Colston Hall in Bristol burnt down, some 7 or 8 years after the hanging. It was hinting at a possible connection to the philanthropist, merchant, slave trader and member of parliament Edward Colston, who founded Colston School.
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I have just read an online article about the bluestone used in the seawall at Brighton Beach in Victoria Australia. They were grave markers from prisoners who had been executed in Old Melbourne Gaol and buried in the prison grounds. That prison was closed in the 1920s and re-interments to Pentridge prison. The article mentions that only about 30 prisoners at the Old Melbourne Gaol had their graves marked. And the article noted that among the grave markers was one for ‘William Colston, executed for the double murder of a couple at Narbethong in 1891.’
Relics of Victoria’s criminal history are being buried in sand at Melbourne’s Brighton Beach … Thurs 9 January 2020.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-09/relics-of-victorian-criminal-history-undergoing-sandy-burial/11793906
here is a live link to Heritage Victoria’s ‘Statement of Significance’ 19 July 2012 re the bluestone sea wall at Brighton beach foreshore:
https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/104594
JM
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Thanks so much for posting majm :) I made inquiries with PROV to get the court transcripts digitized, but it was going to cost $200. It is a very large file. My curiosity did not stretch to satisfy my itch for that kind of fee. Particularly as he is not a relative and I only came across his story while searching for one of my immigrant ancestors.
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:D Yes, well I understand :D
JM