Recruits for 51st regiment 1790

[gill baker]

Hello

My ancestor joined the 51st Regiment then based at Cork in April 1790 when he just turned 16. He was from Mauchline, Ayrshire, Scotland.
I noted that the Colonel in chief at the time was the Earl of Eglinton - family name Montgomery or ie at the end. The Eals seat was also in Ayrshire.

Could it be that the Earl recruited new recruits from local towns or villages? Was it the practice do that at the time?

[MaxD]

In the time of the 11th Earl of Eglinton, Archibald Montgomerie, local recruitng by the nobility of the area was indeed one of the ways army units were formed.  He did raise a regiment of Highlanders from the Stirling area in 1757.  It had a number of designations, becoming the 77th Foot in late 1750s.  Wikipedia has it better than me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Montgomerie,_11th_Earl_of_Eglinton

Although the regiment your ancestor joined originated from Yorkshire, he may well have wished to join it because his Earl was the Col in Chief, by 1790 the locally raised 77th had long been disbanded.

maxD.

[gill baker]

Thanks Max. I thought the local Earl would have recruited locally.

[km1971]

They introduced regional names about 1750. But it was not until 1873 when they introduced permanent depots that regiments had a regional identity that mattered, and even then you could join just about any regiment as the two battalions still moved around the UK - allowing Irish men to join 'English' regiments for example.

If you analyse the index on the National Archives for the recruitment into the 51st Foot for late 18th century less than 2% were born in Ayrshire. The regiment would often have recruiting parties spread around the country and you will probably find one in Glasgow.

Ken

[gill baker]

Hi Ken

Thank you. Have you got the link for what you say?

f you analyse the index on the National Archives for the recruitment into the 51st Foot for late 18th century less than 2% were born in Ayrshire

My man joined on 16 April 1790. He turned 16 just a few days before.

[km1971]

There is no link

(1) You go into the NA Advanced Search

(2) Search for 51st Foot in WO97 from 1760 to 1799

(3) Download the results and fiddle around with Excel for 15 minutes, saving only those who served in the 51st only - you cannot easily tell which regiment a man joined first if he served in other regiments

Ken