James GRAHAM Royal Artillery Sergeant, Canterbury 1803, Malta 1807 - 1812

[Joanna Tolhurst]

James GRAHAM married Christian MCINTOCH in Cupar Fife 7 Dec 1800: he was described as 'of the Royal Artillery'.

 At his son James's birth he was a Sergeant Royal Artillery 8th brigade in Canterbury June 1803.
 At his daughter Christian's birth he was Sergeant Royal Artillery 8th Battalion in Malta May 1812.

Son James enlisted in Royal Artillery in 1822 at Cupar Fife.

A memorial stone in Collessie, Fife churchyard:
'In memory of James Graham age 63 1815
and Margaret Stewart his spouse who died 1798 age 42 years and Christian Graham their daughter who died 1822 age 27 years.'
On the reverse:
'In memory of James Graham Serjeant Royal Artillery who died August 8th 1827 age 51 years.'

Collessie parish death register has 'Serjeant James Graham aged 51 date of death 8 August 1827 soldier of Lord Leven's Lodges Collessie.'

James was referred to as the late James Graham pensioner in the parish of Collessie on daughter Christian's marriage to Michael Dewar 1840 in Edinburgh.

Daughter Christian's death certificate 1871 gives:
father - James Graham key and colour serjeant Royal Artillery
mother- Christian Graham (McIntosh)

Trying to find James in the Royal Artillery records at Kew a couple of years ago I found:
WO10/481 a James Graham at Deal but paid at Canterbury between July and Dec 1803.  In Dec he was promoted from bombadier to corporal of 8th battalion.
WO10/501, WO10/522, WO10/542, WO10/564 1804 - 1805 he was at Woolwich.
WO10/587 Jan - June 1806 at Woolwich but then Warley.
WO10/609 June - Dec 1806 at Warley, then Downs, then Plymouth and then on board defence transport in Oct, Nov and Dec when his pay was reduced 'for his wife'. There was here a note of his enlistment - 7 Jan 1793.
WO10/633 Jan - June 1807 in Malta pay still reduced for wife
WO10/653 July - Dec 1807 in Malta, pay reduced for wife until Dec when there was no reduction.

His presence in Woolwich ties in with a baptism from parish records on the IGI of Jane Elizabeth GRAHAM daughter of James GRAHAM and Christian  30 June 1805 at the Scots Church, Woolwich.

I couldn't find his service records at Kew, having to look through the battalion records to find him.
Not knowing anything about the Royal Artillery and the ranks, could James have been a sergeant in 1803 then bombadier, then corporal at the end of 1803, and then sergeant by 1812?  Could the register in 1803 be a mistake?

Are his service records somewhere at Kew and I just didn't find them?
Any help or suggestions where to find more infomation would be appreciated.
Thanks
Jo

[km1971]

Hi Jo

There is a record for a James Graham who would have been 58 in 1827 in Kew - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=-4062553&CATLN=7&Highlight=%2CJAMES%2CGRAHAM%2CARTILLERY&accessmethod=0

The date of 1800 should be when he enlisted, so it does not match. So you really need to get this, if only to eliminate him. The only other issue is the use of brigade and battalion. If there is no muster book for an 8th Brigade I would assume you have the right man, and the vicar has mistaken brigade for battalion. You could also look at WO10 for entries after 1807. Firstly to find when he was discharged; and secondly to find why the deductions for his wife stopped. If he wasn’t transferred back to the UK, she may have died, or she may have joined him. Where there any more births later on?

It is entirely possible that he was reduced in the ranks. These were often reviewed after a year, so he could have regained some if not all of his rank. What do you mean by ‘register’, as you quote two for 1803 – the baptism record and the muster book. Of the two the muster book will be correct.

Whoever registered His daughter death was gilding the lily as the RA did not have colour sergeants. The guns are the colours in the artillery. And what does 'key' mean?

Ken

[Joanna Tolhurst]

The record in the link is for a James Graham born AUGHALAHAR, Fermanagh. My James was definitely getting married in Cupar Fife in 1800 so unlikely to have enlisted in Ireland that year. As his son enlisted in Cupar in 1822, James and family must have returned there.  He was described as a pensioner in Collessie on his daughter's marriage. I think its therefore highly unlikely that my James was born in Ireland, but rather in Fife.

I presume that his wife and children joined him in Malta at the end of 1807.  As daughter was born there in 1812, they were there for a while.  His wife Christian was a widow with their daughter in 1841 in Glasgow.

My time at Kew ran out unfortunately to continue through the muster records to find when they returned to the UK.

[Barney8000]

Am researching Corporal George Slater 8th Battalion RA.
He was in the Med (probably Gibraltar/Ibetha) around 1814.
His son William was born there in c1814.
The RA museum have suggested that WO 69 can help.
I googled 8th Battalion and WO/309 came up.
Apparently this covers 1796-1830.