Hi, my great grandfather, John Loynes was born at Fort George c.1854 where his father James Loynes was a soldier. James was in the 79th Highlanders and died in Malta from injuries sustained at sebastapol in 1856. John's mother Christiana Helson left John in an orphanage in Scotland and she remarried (to another soldier) at Curragh Camp, Co. Kildare in 1861. John eventually ended up in Kensington, where he married my great grandmother and settled in Reading, not far from his mother's new family. I can find no other details about James Loynes prior to his service and death. I would love to find out where he came from. He joined a Highland regiment does this mean he is Scottish ? he was only about 19 when he died and if Christiana was truthful about her age she would only have been 14/15 when her son was born, would they have been married ? She is described as a widow on her second marriage. Does anyone know of an orphanage near Fort George where she may have left John ? Finally, every record I find seems to have a different spelling of James'name. The family spell it Loynes but on his medal record it is spelled Loyans and on her 2nd marriage Christiana is called Lyons (but then neither she or her second husband can sign their names. I would be so grateful for any suggestions on where to look next. I have searched Ancestry relentlessly...
