Worlingham - KEY

[JRF1974]

Hello, I  am looking for a birth around 1770-details provided in the casualty return which records his death in the Peninsular Wars in 1812, in the 2/44th Regiment of Foot.  Are relevant parish records available or should I order them in from the LDS?

[Keziah2]

Hello JRF

Do you have any more info - a chrisitan name perhaps?

In the meantime I have looked at the Suffolk Burial Index for you & there are very few Key burials in that parish.  However there is some activity in surrounding villages & I have found these entries on Family Search Pilot, which may be of interest:

Sarah KEE bpt 10 Feb 1771 , Ringsfield, Suffolk. Parents Thomas KEE & Sarah

Thomas KEE bpt 23 Apr 1769, Ringsfield, Suffolk. Parents Thomas KEE & Sarah.

Worlingham is only a couple of miles or so north east of Ringsfield.

I also found teh following burials:
Ann KEY wi of John buried 7 Sep 1777 North Cove
John KEY buried 28 Aug 1785 Wdr age 73 North Cove.

Again North Cove is very close to Worlingham.

[JRF1974]

Hello Keziah2,
 Thanks for replying. The name I thought I had put in the post was Noah Key, but that important detail seems to have been omitted somehow.  My computer has a bad habit of doing that without my noticing, sorry!  The casualty return just says that Noah Key was a gardener who came from Worlingham Suffolk.  I don't think he was buried there as he died in Spain, and I am just guessing that he might have been born around 1770-1780, as we believe he somehow got married in Ireland in 1803, shortly before he enlisted, but don't know any more about his earlier life, and the return doesn't give his age anywhere. I've been to TNA and searched through all the relevant muster rolls there and haven't managed to find out anything else so far.

[Keziah2]

Well that might help to locate him.

I agree it is very unlikely that Noah would have been returned to England for burial but the index does give a really good idea of whether or not the family resided in the village for any length of time.  In this case there are just 2 burials with that name in Worlingham,  William Keys in 1728 & Ann Key (Inf) in 1747, nothing after that that could give you any clues as to possible parentage or siblings.

Good luck
K

[JRF1974]

Thanks very much for your helpful suggestions.
Jo

[annes]

I checked the Worlingham baptism registers for Noah Key but unfortunately he wasn't baptisted there.  Also checked nearby parishes of Beccles, North Cove and Barnby but no baptism for him there either.  Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Anne

[JRF1974]

Hello Anne,
Thanks very much for doing that.  I'm starting to wonder if Noah was really from Ireland but would have liked to have been from Suffolk, or whether the regimental records mentioning Worlingham are wrong.  Noah's marriage to an Anne Commins seems to have taken place in Kilkenny and his record says he was recruited from Carlow.  Son Thomas Key said in the 1851 census  that he himself was born in Suffolk, but is recorded in his own army record as being from what appears to be 'Burrows in Draw' in Kilkenny, so it is a mystery!


Cheers,
Jo