William Henry McGuire

[Colin.S]

Born about 1804 Glasgow. Seeking any information about William Henry's parents and his Court Martial on January 21, 1835.

[AMBLY]

Hi Colin S.

Welcome to Rootschat 

Do you already have this information  - from a msg posted at:
http://www.talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=9452&start=0
"....jute weaver & soldier, presbyterian, joined scottish regiment 1822 north british district, court martialed Edinburgh 1835.... sentenced to 14 yrs transported Australia (1836)......married 1845….. to Isabella Duncan Aitkin (her father William Aitkin & mother Jane Harvey)
They had children
William Henry,
Alexander Aitkin,
Elizabeth Strang,
Henry William,
John Grant
Jane Margaret
all born New England new South wales.

Army life must have suited William as he was a well behaved soldier for most of his inlistment gaining additional pay for length of service untill 1831 when he began to get into trouble, one reward he received for this behaviour was the cat and 200 lashes, many stints in solitary and imprisond hard labour with the final punishment of transportation for striking his sergeant, which he had threaten to do in prior incidences. Williams discharge papers showed he was born at sea, but registration records dont begin untill 1837 so no help there with a 1805 birth, may have been returning from the napoleonic wars William became a free man in 1850 and died in 1888."

Cheers
AMBLY

[Colin.S]

Hi Ambly
Many thanks for your prompt response. Yes, some, but not all of the information, I have come across. Assuming the "born at sea", why would his father have a very pregnant partner/wife on a ship returning from war? I have difficulty believing my relatives would be high ranking officers!! Certainly intriguing stuff.

Seems likely William Henry was being bullied in the army by a new NCO. At age 31 you don't 'lose it' for nothing.

Have been putting together a book for our family on William Henry and his descendants, down the Alexander Aitken McGuire line in Australia. An interesting tale. I wish I could find out more about these times.

Would church records be available for his parents- about 1760+? I have scans of the baptism record for Isabella.

Colin.S   

[Seoras]

Hi Colin my understanding is that during the Napoleonic wars,some wives of Royal Navy sailors were allowed to accompany their husbands aboard ship.It was pretty much a lottery and they wouldn't know till the day before sailing which wives were to be allowed on board.Some of these women did very important work such as caring for the injured and some did indeed give birth on board as some captains allowed married men to share a bunk with their wives.

[crimea1854]

Colin

It is more likely that WHMcG's father was in the army. Some soldiers wives were allowed to accompany the men, but were selected by ballot at departure. Since WHMcG also entered the army, you could look at the Regiment he joined to see where it was in 1804, because sons followed their father into the army, since for many the Regiment was their family.

Martin

[4HORSEMEN]

Hi Colin and other researchers,

Army life in WHMcG time was brutal to say the least as in this period the rank and file soldiers were considered societies refuse due to the industrial revolution which had put a lot of people and their cottage industries out of work. It was also not uncommon to visit one of the many traps (hotels inns) and find you have woken up aboard ship with a shilling in your pocket and told you were now a soldier in her majesty army, that was how the old saying came about.... see you around the traps, a tap on the head of an intoxicated individual past for enlistment , I am not suggesting that this was necessarily the case with your ancestor but that only that these things did happen. I would  hazard a guess and say that your ancestor gave the army a very honest try (given the in formation supplied at the top of this thread) but the conditions and brutality wore thin , when you read some of the petty things the soldiers were punished for its a wonder they didnt go mad, oh and their pay consisted of a pittance of coin   which was referred to as liquor money and when they consumed their pay ration they could be punished for being drunk... double edge sword.
But people had to try to survive and and you can take comfort in the fact that yours did...

[Colin.S]

Thank you for the helpful replies. Certainly helps fill in the background, and raises some more questions. Would there be a list of soldiers in the Scottish regiment involved in the Napoleonic War? And if so, where? And where would Court Martial records be kept? William Henry's was on the 21st January, 1835. His sentence... 14 years and some sources also add, 200 lashes. I assume if this is correct, the lashes would have been administered in the next six months before he set sail for the land downunder!

Just for the record, WHMcG ended up a shepherd for some time... and during that time, in 1859, as a free man in fact, sent in a Petition to the NSW Colonial Government claiming the success of the candidate in the election for New England was based on fraudulent voting- multiple voting in fact. His petition failed but next election the candidate moved on to another electorate. WHMcG also ended up buying 170 acres (68ha) of land (sheep farming) near Armidale in NSW.

[sancti]

Most of the McGuires on the 1841 census for Scotland show them to be born in Ireland. He may have been born at sea on the journey from Ireland to Scotland

[4HORSEMEN]

Hi Colin & list
 Colin I note  that someone is doing the same research as yourself.. re Alexander McGuire at talking scot his name is Stan...... you may be find  this helpful, also on looking around  your Alex would have been familiar with Thunderbolt the bushranger.... yes?