Baptisms for children of 77th Regiment in Jamaica 1829-1834

[chrisos]

Hi everyone
I am asking very sincerely for 2 favours from anyone who may have an Ancestry sub covering the West Indies (Jamaica) and/or a Fold3 sub.  Both are connected to a soldier named James Sullivan from the 77th Regt.  James was born 1805, Londonderry, Ire and enlisted in the 77th in 1826, aged 21.  He eventually made his way to New Zealand as an early Fencible where he died in 1862.

My first request is whether anyone has access to Fold3 and would be willing to look up James' record under the "UK Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Soldier Service Records 1760-1920" (record set described on Ancestry).  James was very ill later in life and I suspect it stemmed from yellow fever he contracted whilst in Jamaica, hence my interest in the Hospital records.  I was also hopeful that perhaps some children's names may have been recorded.

The second request is if someone would be willing to look for any baptism records (Catholic) for children born to James Sullivan and Ann McDevitt/McDavid between 1829-1834 whilst he was stationed in Jamaica.  I am trying to determine if James married before he was sent to Jamaica in early 1829 or after he returned in 1834.  I have an Ancestry sub but do not have access to the US or West Indies records unfortunately.

I would be sincerely grateful if anyone would be willing to help me with these enquiries.
Regards Chris
NSW, Aust.

[suzee01]

Hi Chris - I checked on Fold3 and James Sullivan No. 212 was attested in Paisley, Co Renfrew 77th Regt of Foot on 20 April 1826 - he was 21 and born in Londonderry and was a labourer. He voluntarily enlisted for the bounty of 4 Pounds until legally discharged. he had a misstep of 2 days being absent and was court martialled and reinstated as a private. Otherwise conduct good.
his service totalled 21 years and 45 days with 5 years and 7 months abroad - Malta 3 months and Jamaica 5 years and 4 months.
He was presented to the Regimental Board for discharge from the 77th East Middlesex Regiment of Infantry at Tralee on 29 June 1847 for "being worn out". The medical officer in Dublin declared him medically unfit 21 July 1847 - suffered from fever, ulcers to his legs and disease of the lungs and he was finally discharged on the 26 July 1847 with an additional 27 days added to his  .
his physical description is Ht. 5' 73/4"; dark complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair.
There is no mention of his wife or any children in the record,
I looked on Findmypast for birth records but couldn't find any.
can send copy of service records if you wish
cheers
Suze
.

[suzee01]

Hi Chris - I've reread his discharge papers and it has his Malta service before Jamaica which puts him in Malta around November 1837 and Jamaica January 1843.
The regiment first went to Jamaica in Feb 1824 and returned in June 1834 - need to find out if he was sent to Jamaica after he enlisted in 1826 or did he have an initial posting in the UK/Ireland area.

Familysearch has Jamaican records that you could access.
Do you know where and when he wed Ann McDivitt/McDavid?
I rechecked the Findmypast British Armed Forces and Overseas Bans and Marriages, Births and Baptisms, Deaths and Burials and even the Roman Catholic dataset without success for the surname Sullivan.

He was in Belfast Oct 1847 prior to leaving to N.Z. and his last pension payment was 30 Nov 1847 prior to the transfer. He was on a permanent pension - this info from the Royal Chelsea Hospital  in Belfast 1-31 Oct 1847 (ancestry.com.au)
Another Chelsea Record shows payments up to the year 1850.
cheers
Suze

[chrisos]

Hi Suze
My sincere apologies but I have only just seen your 3 Dec posting re James Sullivan.  I have reread the document and can see where you're coming from, but this new information doesn't agree with the movements of the 77th.  I have copies of some pages from the book "History of the 77th Regiment of Foot" chapter IV, 1814-1853.  The book goes into detail about the movements of the 77th and confirms that it did not go to Malta until late 1837.  The 77th service companies remained in Cork Barracks until the end of November 1837 when they embarked on the HM transport "Jupiter" for Malta.  There is no record of the 77th being in Malta prior to this date.

Another document I have confirms that James was posted for service to the West Indies (Jamaica) on 3 Feb 1829.  According to the book, this draft of men were hit very hard by yellow fever in 1831 with quite a few casualties.

It is possible that James provided the Malta posting first as it was his most recent posting (like on our resumes we would tend to put our most recent employment first).

From what I have been able to piece together from the 77th's movement James was either in Newry or Downpatrick, Antrim on the dates of his misdemeanor (4-5 Aug 1836).  I did notice that he was court marshalled, confined to barracks & lost pay from the 6-30 Aug, then reinstated, so whatever he did can't have been that bad.

At this stage I still don't know where James & Ann married.  I did some further research on Army wives and discovered that during the early 1800's there was a ballot system in place and only 10 wives for every 100 soldiers were allowed to accompany their husbands.  If James & Ann were married by the time he left for Jamaica in Feb 1829, it is highly unlikely that Ann accompanied him and would explain the supposedly large gap in children.  The unknown 60 year old (as at 1884) daughter would therefore have been born anywhere from abt 1824 to 1829.  I was initially inclined to disregard her age as being correct but now feel that there may be some element of truth in her being about 60.  This also means that the 2 other daughters aged 40 & 44 were Mary & Catherine.  By all accounts Mary was bn 1836 which ties in with when James went awol.

Lastly, I can't thank you enough for all of the effort you have gone to for me.  It is really very much appreciated.
All the best
Chris

[hanes teulu]

His record on FindMyPast shows -
West Indies 3 Feb 1829-24 Jun 1834
Landed at Malta 30 Oct 1838
Landed in England 6 Feb 1839

Probably sailed as part of this detachment?
Enniskillen Chronicle and Erne Packet, 1 Jan 1829

[suzee01]

Hi Chris
Glad to assist - I believe that James' misdemeanour was that he was AOL for a day or 2 hence the lighter punishment.
Hanes teulu post of the newspaper article is really good for troop movement.
Cheers
S

[hanes teulu]

Checked FindMyPast's "Overseas births ..." and "Overseas marriages ..."for the period 1829-1839 but drew a blank on both.

[chrisos]

Hi Hanes & Suze
This is very good news regarding James' dates, and I sincerely appreciate the newspaper article. I plan to write a biography on James for the NZ Fencible Society, as there is nothing about him or Ann on the site so far. I searched under Scotland's People for a marriage since he enlisted in Paisley, but unfortunately, without any success. Additionally, there are no recorded children born in Jamaica either.  I think this would confirm that Ann did not accompany him to Jamaica.  This only leaves Ireland, possibly Belfast where Ann was supposedly from.
All the best and thank you both very much for your help
Chris

[suzee01]

Hi Chris - wishing you every success with your biography on James - enjoy the journey.
Cheers
S