Born out in India (Barrackpore, Allahabad)

[StephenFarnsworth]

Hi,

I'm having a hard time find the birth of my great, great, great grandmother Catherine Pickett- mainly because she appears to have been born out in India.

My initial thought (circa 1860 was the British Army/East India Company).  On various census forms she had listed her as being born in the East Indies, Barrackpore and Allahabad.  My organisation has a base out in India and on checking with colleagues there they informed me that Barrackpore was indeed an Army base back in the day.

I managed to find her father - Peter Pickett and what I presumed to be her mother Sophia Elizabeth Nash - but the marriage date just didn't tally.  I ordered the certificate and Peter Pickett was a widower when he got married - so I have no idea who Catherine's mother was.

What I know about Peter Pickett is that he was born around 1835 and was Irish.  From his marriage certificate (1875) he's listed as being 40, a widower, a Private in the 104th Regiment and living at South Front Barracks in Dover.  His father was John Pickett, a Stone Mason.

What I don't get - is how he had a child (and presumably wife) out in India?  I presumed it would have only been high-ranking officers who had their families with them - but he was a Private.

Does anybody have any idea how I would go about finding the name of his first wife - Catherine's mother - or better still, Catherine's birth certificate.  If she was born in India and he was in the Army would they have to register it with the Army?

I'm doing better with other branches of the family - getting back to the 1600's - but this is a real stumbling block for me.

Cheers

Stephen

[t mo]

hi Stephen
welcome to rootschat , i,ve had a look in service records for your peter and he is in the records for chelsea out pensioners and as you say was in the 104th reg ( bengal fusiliers )reg no 3051, attested on 9 feb 1858 in cork his birth parish was ballanol cork he was discharged in guernsey 11 april 1877 age 42 intended place of residence manchester , i,ve also looked for army marriages and  none show also birth for catherine pickett and again none show in overseas births .
do you have any more precise dates of births or marriages , i,ve found the marriage to s e nash , as to having his family with him in india it was normal to have them with them back then as it is now .
looking at the medical record part some of the places he was based are as follows dugalai ?  - peshwar - allahabad - gosport 1871 - portsmouth 1872 - aldershot 1873 - dorset ? 1874 ( this may be dover )
- alderney 1874  .   dugalai and dorset are pos wrong as it,s difficult to read the document properly but it does give you more scope to try and track him .
if i can help further please ask .
regards 
trevor

[Redroger]

Stephen Welcome to Rootschat. If you are within reach of the British Library, St. Pancras they have extensive records of the British involvement in India from the late 18th century (East India Co.) until independence (1947) Well worth a visit if you can make it.

[StephenFarnsworth]

Thanks both - and Trevor - WOW..!!!!  How could you find that stuff so quickly..?

I started this family tree milarky about 6-months and I'm hooked.  I think I'm naturally inquisitive - or nosey as my wife/mother would say.  I just HATE not knowing stuff....

These are the absolute facts that I have:

1. Peter Pickett/Sophia Elizabeth Nash marriage - 2 March 1875 Holy Trinity Church in Dover.  And as I said, Peter Pickett is listed as 40, widower and Private in the 10t4th

2. Peter Pickett also appears on the marriage certificate between Catherine/Katherine Pickett and Joseph Stevenson on 20 March 1880.  Catherine and Joseph had a daughter 10 months later and she (Mary Jane) is my Grandfather's mother.

They are the only certificates I have, but CENSUS-wise:

1. 1891 Census - Dover St Mary Virgin, Kent, England

Peter Pickett (Head), 55, Railway Goods Porter, born in Ireland
Sophia E Pickett (Nash), 48, General Shop Keeper, born in Walmer, Kent


2. 1881 Census  - Dover St Mary Virgin, Kent, England

Peter Pickett (Head) 45, Pensioner, born in Ireland
Sophia Elizabeth Picket (Nash), 38, Walmer, Kent

And they appear to have a 3-year old adopted son - Archibald MacMillan - who isn't there 10 years on

As for the elusive Catherine:

1. She's in Dover in 20 March 1880 as she married Joseph Stevenson - 4 Hawksbury Court (Joseph) and 57 Bulwark Street (Catherine)

2. She moves to Manchester the following year and remains there until her death - 11 May 1912

1901 Census - she's 43 and born in India, Allahabad making her birth year 1858
1891 Census - she's 32 and born in East Indies - her birth year 1859
1881 Census - she's 22 and born in Barrackpore - her birth year 1859

1880 marriage certificate - she's 21 - her birth year 1859

So I think, unless she was a big, fat, liar, she was born in 1859.

I can't find either Peter Pickett or Catherine before 1880 - so I'm presuming that she's still in India for the 1871 census?

Dugali appears to be in India, so that would fit as well.

Being discharged to Manchester would also fit - given his daughter moved there in 1881

Thanks for your help

Stephen

[Valda]

Hi

Can't see her on these two databases

http://www.new.fibis.org/
http://indiafamily.bl.uk/UI/Home.aspx

Have you checked the GRO army registers in the overseas section of the GRO index (not covered by FreeBMD or Ancestry but on other websites such as Findmypast and FamilyRelatives)?


Regards

Valda

[t mo]

hi valda .
i,ve been through FindMyPast twice now but nothing comes up for overseas births or marriages for either peter or catherine it,s begining to become a mystery overall , it,s lucky that peter transferred over to the british army as that at least gives us a chelsea pension record , i like you tried fibis but he doesn,t show in there although there are others named pickett even using all variations on the surname doesn,t produce anything .
i,m just trying an overall search on FindMyPast but apart from the obvious detail we already have i,m not getting very far , any ideas from you would be helpful regards
trevor

[dawnsh]

Hi

Barrackpore and Allahabad are in the Bengal Presidency when it comes to searching the ecclesiastical returns at the British Library.

I may be at the British Library next week ar the week afte and can check to see if there is any entry for you.

Dawn

[t mo]

hi dawn
have just checked consular and am going through army returns for births for catherine so far nothing also looked for army marriage plus consular marriage and again nothing , can you think of anything else to look at i,ve tried to think of pos phonetics of the surname but that hasn,t helped .
regards
trevor

[StephenFarnsworth]

Thanks everybody - you're being extremely helpful.  I registered onto familyrelatives and find my past.  I had assumed that all the genealogy websites were exactly the same - but have now discovered they are not.

I'm registered with Ancestry.com and am building our family tree on there - but I've taken some PAYG credits on Find My Past and have now downloaded Peter Pickett's official record from there - which is fantastic and confirms a lot of things - part from the existence of a wife/child.!!!  It does put him in Allahabad at the time Catherine/Katherine says she was born though - which is encouraging.

I'll add the images to this post if it works....

It's bizarre that she's not appearing anywhere unless Peter and spouse weren't married until after Catherine was born and she's listed with her mother's maiden name.  The later marriage certificate does say "Widower" though - so they must have married sometime/somewhere..!!!

Copyright images removed