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Could Alexander have made his fortune?

From Westport Times 7 August 1869.

A nugget was brought into the Union Bank, Rockhampton, on July 15th, from Mount Wheeler, Cawarral; it was found one foot from the surface and contains 258 ounces 11dwts. pure gold. This splendid nugget was discovered by a boy named Cadden, working with his father. Another nugget was found just under the ground in an adjoining claim, by a lad named Luckman, weighing 180 ounces and also placed in the Bank.

Good Evening/Morning,

I'm hoping to find any information available about my gt grandfather who served in the 25th foot.

He was born in Beaford, Devon in Jan 1858.
Served a five year apprenticeship as a shoemaker. Then joined the 25th foot, so would assume he was about 18 making it approximately 1876. His service no. was 2815
On 28 July 1880 he deserted the regiment in Devonport. Listed in the Police Gazette.

He laid low for nearly year (though there is a tangible record in the 1881 census). He then joined the newly amalgamated Devonshire Regiment on 13 July 1881 under an assumed name of Francis  (Frank) Dawson. I have his service record in the Devonshires in which he claimed he had previously served in the militia. In 1888 while serving in India he revealed his true identity and signed an affidavit confirming it. He went on to serve for nearly 30 years in the Devonshires, finally discharged in 1910. My grandfather recollected in his writings, as a child he would sleep in the rolled hides in his workshop, so it seems he continued his trade within the regiment. In "A REGIMENTAL HISTORY OF THE 1ST BATTALION DEVONSHIRE REGIMENT DURING THE BOER WAR 1899-1902 BY COLONEL M. JACSON"

"We have all read realistic descriptions of troops on the march in South Africa, the writer using all his cunning to depict the war-worn dirty condition of his heroes, seeming to glean satisfaction from their grease-stained khaki. It must be admitted that the South African War is responsible for a somewhat changed condition of thought as regards cleanliness and its relation to smartness. No such abstraction disturbed the Devons; a Devon man was always clean. Individuals of some corps could be readily identified by their battered helmets or split boots; not so the Devons."

I like to think of that as a personal tribute to him.

Any information that anyone has from the 25th foot's  musters would be very welcome.

Any ideas why the 25th foot was in Devonport and where he was likely to have served in the preceding years, I am still reading around the subject but believe the 25th were part of the Peshwar Valley Field Force around the time he would have been serving. Any pointers to texts to read would be great too.

Most of this information was gleaned by my uncle, his grandson and namesake, John Bennett who is a contributor on these boards.

Merry Christmas.

trikidiki


P.S. My uncle has previously made a request on this forum:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=299177.0

This was before he found the details of the desertion and hence the correct regiment, so I feel it is more at home being asked in this topic.

I am trying to find information relating to the death in Cambridge of Herbert Maule aged one in Q2 1916 (Registration district: Cambridge, Volume: 3b, Page: 546).

I am researching the Webber family in Cornwall, Birkenhead and Southampton in the early 1900s. My Great Aunt, Eliza (Lilia) Webber, married a Herbert Maule on 26 Dec 1913 in Southampton. Herbert was born in Southampton and had been in the Royal Garrison Artillery since 1909. In Q4 1914 they had a son, also named Herbert but referred to as ‘Sonny’.

In 1915 Herbert senior contracted influenza which was later diagnosed as Tuberculosis. He was discharged as ‘Unfit for Service’ just prior to his unit being sent to France. While hospitalised in Southampton it is said that his wife and child visited him in hospital where Sonny is said to have picked up an infection from which he died. Herbert senior then died in Q3 1918. It was stated in a family story that both Herberts were buried in the same grave in Hollybrook Cemetery in Southampton along with Lilia’s father. Recent research has shown this to be incorrect and that only Herbert senior and his father-in-law are buried in that grave. Further searches of all available death and burial records show no trace of Sonny’s death or burial in Southampton.

A wider search has revealed that an infant aged one year was registered as dying in Cambridge in Q2 1916 but no record of a corresponding birth in Cambridge can be found.

I suspect that the Herbert Maule whose death was registered in Cambridge may be Sonny. This, however, raises the question as to why he would have been in Cambridge as there are no family connections in the area and it is unlikely to have been a family holiday as Herbert senior was “Totally incapacitated”. I am lead to believe that at the time Addenbrookes Hospital had a specialist infectious diseases department and I wonder if Sonny was taken there for treatment but eventually died.

Any help from local records would be appreciated, I have contacted Addenbrookes Archivist to see if they are able to find any record of him at the hospital.

Thanks

Richard

After John Leat's death. In the 1851 census, Mary Leat and her two daughters are listed as occupation "Hangling".
Does anyone have any idea what this is?

superspark: "The 1851 census shows Emily Leat to be supposed a 19 year old servant to a Plymouth family whereas the 1841 census shows her to be age 5 living in East Stonehouse with her twin sister Caroline mentioned earlier in this blog."

The anomaly of the ages may be due to over-zealous 'rounding down' of ages to the nearest 5 years in the 1841 census. It was only supposed to apply to those aged over 15 but I have encountered similar mistakes on the part of the enumerator before. Note that the older sister happens to be 10 in 1841, this could mean that Emily and Caroline were not twins but both aged between 5 and 10 at the time of the census and both their ages rounded down to 5. It might be worth looking at adjacent addresses in the census and see if there is a pattern of children being aged 5 and 10. Also someone was not very accurate with Kate's age as can be seen from the census dates and her recorded age on those dates.

6 June 1841 -  5
30 Mar 1851 - ?
7 April 1861 - 25
2 April 1871 - 36
3 April 1881 - 44
5 April 1891 - 54
31 Mar 1901 - 65
2 April 1911 - 76

So if Emily was 19 in 1851 then she would have been 9 in 1841 and possibly rounded down to 5 (Emily's age would also then tie in better with her being 22 in 1853). Kate's age in the other censuses would suggest she was 5 or 6 in 1841 so also rounded down to 5. Therefore probably not twins.