Service Records for the Royal Engineers – Early 1800’s

[nugget]

Hi,
   Was wondering if anyone knows about service records for the Royal Engineers for the early 1800's.

My wife’s ggg grandfather George Forbes Thompson was in the Royal Engineers and we have found him in few army lists from 1809 as a 1st Lieutenant to 1841 where he was a Lieutenant Colonel. Although he was born and died in England we know that he must have spent some time in Ireland as one of his children Mary Ann Elizabeth Thompson was born in Ireland in 1845 and his wife Mary Fitzgerald comes from Waterford in Ireland. This much we got from the 1851 England Census.

I think I remember reading somewhere that the Royal Engineers were involved in some mapping project in Ireland at the time and I presume that's why he may have been there. It would be nice though to see his service record to see exactly why he was there, where and when.

If anyone knows whether the records exist and what access there is to them I would appreciate any feedback you can give. (Visiting any records office is out of the question for us being down in Australia)

Richard

[km1971]

Hi Richard

As Ireland was part of the UK he was as likely to serve there as in England or Scotland. The only information available is a card index on microfilm in Kew. So you will have to use a researcher, and I would not expect much in the way of useful information. It may only record his Company and dates and not even where he was, and certainly not his 'duties', and no information at all about his family. However if he was one of the small number of RE officers involved in surveying it may say so. You could also try contacting the Ordnance Survey of Ireland in case they have information on the RE seconded to them.

Like the RA the motto of the RE is 'Everywhere' meaning there are small numbers of them where ever there are other troops. And we are not helped by the fact that army lists do not even list officer's Companies.

Here is a link on the London Gazette about him moving to Canada - http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/20467/pages/1324 - so if you think he was a surveyor, you could also try the Canadian equivalent of the OS, as well as checking passenger lists.

Have you found the marriage record? If he was C of E, marriages in Ireland were certified before it became universal in 1864. So a post on the Ireland board may help.

Ken

[nugget]

Hi Ken,
   Thanks so much for the information about the records and other sources to check. I may think about a researcher at some stage in the future but if the details in the records are not there then it may not be worth it for the moment.
 
I hadn’t gotten as far as finding his marriage yet and to be honest I didn’t know where to start with Irish records in general so I’ll definitely give the Irish board a go as well.

I noted in the reference in the London Gazette that he has “been permitted to retire from the army, with the sale of an unattached Lieutenant Colonelcy, he being about to become a settler in New Brunswick”
Can you shed any light on what is meant by “sale of an unattached Lieutenant Colonelcy”. Sounds a bit like they had to buy their way out?

Richard

[km1971]

Hi Richard

... Sounds a bit like they had to buy their way out?

In fact the opposite. When an infantry or cavalry officer 'retired' he had the option of selling his commission outright, or going onto the 'half-pay' list and pocketing the difference between a full-pay colonelcy and a 'half-pay' one, while still recieving reduced pay. The RE did not have purchased commisions so he seems to have gone from the RE list to the unattached list at some stage, and then into retirement. Maybe that was the way RE officers received a nest egg upon retirement. I don't know?

Ken

[annswabey]

There may well be other records on him at Kew, including details of his marriage. 

Ann