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And one other question maybe someone can help me with.

When William Henry McGuire arrived in the Colony (1836) he had "WHMMM" in a heart on which was a plume of feathers, tattooed inside lower right arm.

I can only conclude the "tatt" was most likely acquired on the voyage out; WHM is obviously his initials; and MM has me stumped. Must be the initials of some lady he had befriended during his final years in the Scottish Regiment on the rare occasion he had leave. He ended up marrying Isabella Duncan Aitken, a resident of Edinburgh, Candlemakers' Row, reasonable close to Edinburgh Castle.

And would the plume of feathers relate to the Scottish regiment?

Any suggestions/ideas would be most appreciated.

Colin.S

Thanks 4HORSEMEN-
and thanks for the message about Stan. I'll chase that up. Yes Alexander was a teenager when Thunderbolt was in his prime 1863-70. Alexander later (1880) took up a selection at the base of Mount Duval not very far away from "Thunderbolt's Cave". Alexander's (later) wife, Margaret McNeven, who was 106 when she died in 1960, claimed to have met Thunderbolt, stating he was a friendly, harmless wronged settler. Family folklore went further to say that she had offered him shelter, meal and bed for the night on several occasions, however given that she was born in 1854 this offer would have had to describe the actions of her parents, Donald and Mary McNeven. Colin.S

Thank you for the helpful replies. Certainly helps fill in the background, and raises some more questions. Would there be a list of soldiers in the Scottish regiment involved in the Napoleonic War? And if so, where? And where would Court Martial records be kept? William Henry's was on the 21st January, 1835. His sentence... 14 years and some sources also add, 200 lashes. I assume if this is correct, the lashes would have been administered in the next six months before he set sail for the land downunder!

Just for the record, WHMcG ended up a shepherd for some time... and during that time, in 1859, as a free man in fact, sent in a Petition to the NSW Colonial Government claiming the success of the candidate in the election for New England was based on fraudulent voting- multiple voting in fact. His petition failed but next election the candidate moved on to another electorate. WHMcG also ended up buying 170 acres (68ha) of land (sheep farming) near Armidale in NSW.

Born about 1804 Glasgow. Seeking any information about William Henry's parents and his Court Martial on January 21, 1835.