Miners and Sappers from early 1800's

[Oneday]

I would like to know what resources are available to find out who served in this part of the British Army in the early 1800's.  In particular it would include those who were posted to Ireland to do survey work.

I have searched some of the British Archives but I'm unsure of where else to look. 

The date period would be between approx 1810 to 1835.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

[ShaunJ]

Are you looking for someone in particular?

[LizzieL]

I found my relative who spent time in Ireland on survey work during that time period, by first finding that two of his children were born in Ireland (from 1841 and 1851 censuses after he was discharged due to health reasons and returned to England) Census also said he was an army pensioner, so I looked him up on FindMyPast and found his service record. Luckily it was one that had survived and ran to several pages.
I don't know of any way to just search for Men in that particular regiment and timeframe.

[Jebber]

  Very few  Army records survive from that early period. It may be worth contacting the Royal Engineers Museum at Chatham. A quick Google will find the website and contact details.

[Andy J2022]

The title of this thread may lead you down the wrong path. The survey work in Ireland and Great Britain was undertaken by officers of the Corps of Royal Engineers who in turn were controlled by the Board of Ordnance, hence why the civilian organisation of today is named Ordnance Survey. The Corps of Sappers and Miners was an entirely separate body which did not amalgamate with the Royal Engineers until 1856. There were no surveyors in the Corps of Sappers and Miners  {Added for clarification} but they were employed in ancilliary duties in support of the surveyors {}.   Prior to 1856 the Royal Engineers was an officer only corps who provided the officer structure for the Sappers and Miners. Therefore you should be looking for records of Royal Engineer officers who were detached on survey duties.

If you look at old Army Lists for the period, you will find Royal Engineer Officers are listed separately from the Infantry and Cavalry, along with the Artillery under the heading Ordnance Department. All RE officers were trained in surveying, although only a few would have been employed in that role throughout their careers.

[Andy J2022]

You might find this History of the Ordnance Survey helpful.

[Andy J2022]

The Royal Engineer officers in charge of the operation were Thomas Colby and Lieutenant Thomas Larcom. They were assisted by George Petrie, who headed the Survey's Topographical Department which employed the likes of John O'Donovan and Eugene O'Curry in scholarly research into placenames. Captain J.E. Portlock compiled extensive information on agricultural produce and natural history, particularly geology.

Taken from the Wikipedia article on the subject of the Irish Ordnance Survey, which turn is based on Rachel Hewitt, Ensign of Empire', Map Of A Nation: A Biography Of The Ordnance Survey (Granta Books, 7 Jul 2011)

[LizzieL]

Andy J2022 - I find your reply rather confusing. Are you saying that no men of the Royal Sappers and Miners were involved in the Irish Survey from 1810 to 1835?

My relative, John Fowler was definitely in the Royal Sappers and Minersand he definitely worked on the Irish survey, not as a surveyor but as a draughtsman.

He was born  22 Dec 1799 he was a corporal in the Royal Sappers and Miners when he was discharged in  1839. He joined Royal Sappers and Miners  as a bugler on 6 July 1811 and served as such until 5 July 1818. Then he was a private from 6 July 1818 until 31 Dec 1824, 2nd Corporal from 1 Jan 1824 until 31 July 1832, promoted to Corporal on 1 Aug 1832 until 8 October 1839. All this with the Royal S & M.
There is a document in his service record (1839) , which refers to a medical board where John's fitness for further service was examined. It states "he had been employed as the last fourteen years on the Irish Survey as a draughtsman, during the last seven of this period he has found his vision becoming impaired, so that he cannot see near objects with any degree of distinctiveness..."

Possibly the OP's relative may have served in a similar capacity as mine.

[LizzieL]

Thank you so much "Oneday" for starting this thread and make me look at my relative again. For years I hasn't been able to find his death. His second wife and family were discovered in Canada and I thought he must have died in Canada, but had no evidence. But military pension records show he was living in Bytown (early name for Ottawa) on 1 July 1857 and died on 26 Feb 1859. If I hadn't looked closely at his service record and seen his date of discharge and matched it with the pension record (pension started following day), I wouldn't have got the right John Fowler.

If you have access to FindMyPast (or can get access at a library) it's worth a trawl through their records.