William Mitchell

[angelasindyreid]

Hello there to anyone who may be able to help.
I am looking for information regarding a William Mitchell who served in the 2nd Bedfordshire Regiment while in India. 

He had a son Robert Mitchell baptisd in Thaytemo India on 23rd December 1883. His wife was Agnes - no maiden name or further details.

 I am trying to find out any information for him, birth date,place, wedding date, medale or service history.  But am stumpted where to go.
Any help or ideas greatfully received. Thank you
Mrs Angela Reid

[km1971]

Hi Angela

‘2nd Bedfordshire Regiment’ will be the 2nd Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment. In most records they will appear as the 16th Regiment (of Foot). Also, Robert was baptised in Burma, not India. The region east of Aden was known as the East Indies. The place is also recorded as ‘Thayetmyo, Burmah’, so you need to try all spellings. Modern maps use Thayet.

You need to check Findmypast to discover if his service record survives. Given the common name you may need to wait for a free two-week subscription as there will be a number of men with that name and the indexing leaves a lot to be desired.

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/chelsea-pensioners-service-records-collection-search-start.action

FindMyPast may also have some regimental BMDs indexed under 16th Foot. When you say 'no maiden name' have you actually ordered the certificate from the GRO or are you relying on an index or the church record?

Ken

[angelasindyreid]

HI there Ken
The birth details I have for William's son Robert were sent on a brief email from the Indian Office, they said India for Robert's birth, on the 1901 census I have Robert in Devon but the record says Calcutta India for his birth, on the 1911 census his birth is Rangoon India,  his army record says 1884 Rangoon India, I am quite sure it is the same Robert as his army record number matches the number on his wedding certificate so from these I am working backwards to William's marriage to Agnes.
 
I have no indication of where they were married home or abroad!, or born so have no clue where to start looking for a marriage. I have looked up 2 William Mitchell's on National Archives but they are records for 1st world war medals, so can't match them up for certainty. 

So would FindMyPast be the only place to find Army serive record for the 1880's ?  And are they the only people to have records of Birth's in India?

On the Family Search web site I found a record for Robert's birth it says Thayetmyo, West Bengal India I now need to  look into the geography to check where it is!
Thanks for the FindMyPast info will look into it there.
Thanks for all info
Angela

[km1971]

Hi Angela

The 1883 Army List says that 2nd Battalion Bedfords were in 'Thayetmyo, Burmah'. West Bengal is the other side of modern day Banglesdesh to Burma, as is Calcutta. However Rangoon is in Burma. Other than that I cannot explain the differences.

http://www.fsgfort.com/DB/F034/05/Text.htm

FindMyPast are supposed to have published all the service records of the period that are in Kew. It does not appear to have been compulsary to record a birth in the regimental/overseas registers - ie they are not complete. But the only other place they can be is the baptism register

Ken