40th Regiment of Foot?

[melasia]

Hi,

I don't know if anyone can help me. I am looking for evidence that my great-great-grandfather, Gabriel Simmons (born Buckinghamshire c. 1820) served in the British Army, most probably in the 40th Regiment of Foot.

My great-grandmother states her deceased father's occupation as "Officer, 40th Regiment" on her marriage certificate and many times told my mother that he had been an officer in the British Army, but I have been unable to find any other evidence supporting this. Indeed, on the 1851 census his occupation is listed as "labourer" and he was dead by 1857.

I am coming to the conclusion that either my great-grandmother was making the army connection up or had been misled by her own mother.

I would be grateful if anyone could shed any light on this.

[nanny jan]

Hi,

1841 census has a Gabriel Simmons (b 1820 Buckinghamshire) shown as "ag lab".  Three adult females in the household (Mary 55, Ann 20 and Martha 25) all shown as lace makers.

What occupation is shown on Gabriel's death certificate? Did your gt.gt. grandmother remarry? Could your gt. grandmother have used a step-father's occupation instead?


Nanny Jan

[GrahamSimons]

All Army officers were, indeed still are, listed in the Army List, published annually or more frequently. Some years' Lists have been digitised by Google Books and other sites, so it's worth a look. There is a full run of the Lists at the National Archives and a pretty complete one at the Society of Genealogists. There is always an index by surname and also a listing by Regiment; just one twist is that the index in more recent Lists leads not to page numbers but to column numbers.

[melasia]

nanny jan and GrahamSimons, many thanks for your replies and I'm so sorry it's taken em so long to get back to this (family illness).

Yes, the "ag lab" Gabriel from the 1841 census is the right one. He is also shown as a labourer on his death certificate. His widow did remarry, but not until she was elderly, long after her daughter married, so I don't think it's a stepfather's occupation. Thanks for the suggestions, though.

I have found no trace of him in the military records so far, so I have come to the conclusion that someone was telling porkies.

[t mo]

hi all
just as a confirmation there is no mention in army lists 1798-1888 of a Gabriel simmons of any sort .
regards
trevor

[km1971]

He may have been an NCO - non commissioned officer (ie Corporal or Sergeant) and the non-commissioned bit has been lost over the years. You should search for his record as an 'other rank' on Findmypast. However their records come from old pension files. So if he did not receive a pension he will not be on FindMyPast.

Only commissioned officers are listed in army lists of this period. Their commissions were also 'gazetted' - listed in the London Gazette - so you can double check by looking at the LG archive.

Ken

[melasia]

Thanks, Trevor, for checking.

And thanks, km1971, for suggesting the NCO thing - I'll check it out.

[majm]

The  40th  were also in Victoria, Australia in the 1850s

https://sites.google.com/site/40thoffoot/home-1/eureka

Scroll down as they have uploaded a page from Hart’s Annual Army List, 1854 … There is an Arthur Fred  FITZ SIMONS mentioned, but I could not find a SIMMONS sorry   

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=b-cxAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22army%20list%201854%22&pg=PA191#v=onepage&q&f=false

So, from an e book about The British Army in Australia 1788-1870 A Short History  (James Hugh Donohoe)

“One paymaster, of the 40th Regiment, went to far as to put his own interpretation on the spelling of some soldiers’ names.  He could not spell as well as his predecessor.   Confusion prevailed.  He certainly effected some dramatic changes in the records.”

http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/15410302?q=+The+British+Army+in+Australia+1788-1870+&c=book&sort=holdings+desc&_=1377755342640&versionId=29483576

I could not find SIMMONS in a search of that ebook, sorry.

Cheers,  JM

[t mo]

as a follow up to jm,s post just had another look at army lists using variations of surname -Symons -simons - Simmonds - symonds etc still nothing there ,  also checked service/pension records and nowt there either .
regards
trevor