Bates Family

[airwest]

Hi
I have no idea if he was a drummer boy only family recollections they thought he may have been and he did leave from Australia in 1885 age 27  service number 17 with the colonial forces and left Australia in Feb 1885
his wife and he  are buried together in Rookwood anglican cemetery I have been given two different plot numbers the first one proved wrong and the second one seems to fit the bill but there is no headstone to verify it

[Ruskie]

It is worth checking, but family stories such as this can lead you on a wild goose chase.

And if you do discover he was a drummer boy at some stage in his youth, it will probably not add anything significant to his life story. Might he have even belonged to a Colliery Band? Do you know what his occupation was before joining the military?

Is it just curiosity on your part to look into this family story or is there more to it?

[Ruskie]

I wonder if it would be worth contacting these people to see if they can give you some ideas on where to search:
http://blackcountryhistory.org/subjects/

You might need to define a time frame to search for Samuel in the UK, so it might be useful if you knew when he came to Australia. Do you know?

As the family worked in the Tube Works and in 1871 aged 13, Samuel was a labourer there, and the family had many children, they were probably living in employer provided housing living hand to mouth. Unless well off or criminal there is unlikely to be any newspaper reports or paper trail of any sort for this family. I would stick my neck out and say that a drummer boy is not likely to get a mention anywhere, unless the band won competitions perhaps.  But this is out of my area of expertise and others may know differently.

Good luck.

[Ruskie]

I see that the family are still in Wednesbury in 1881, minus Samuel so he must have emigrated alone by that time, or is elsewhere in the UK. Father John is out of employment and there are more children, so perhaps Samuel was escaping a difficult life? All assumptions of course.

[airwest]

Hi Ruskie
I know he worked in the gas tube works as a labourer at age 13  in 1871 and supposedly left the to join the army. He arrived in Australia in 1878 at about 20yrs .
I suppose it's a mixture of both curiosity and to find out what moulded the man who is part of my immediate family that stares down at me from the bookcase 

[airwest]

Thanks Ruskie

I can't believe how quickly you found all that info  that has taken me months

[Ruskie]

Perhaps you could investigate what newspapers were around at the time as your family may have got a mention in local Wednesbury newspapers. Maybe worth a try?

[airwest]

Good thought its worth a try!  :

[majm]

Samuel BATES, Service No. 17, enlisted 18 Feb 1885, aged 27 years.  He was a married man, born Wednesbury, England.  His occupation was Blacksmith.
http://203.6.144.30/people/rolls/R1440889/ 

Hi
I have no idea if he was a drummer boy only family recollections they thought he may have been and he did leave from Australia in 1885 age 27  service number 17 with the colonial forces and left Australia in Feb 1885
his wife and he  are buried together in Rookwood anglican cemetery I have been given two different plot numbers the first one proved wrong and the second one seems to fit the bill but there is no headstone to verify it

Cheers,  JM