Finding the Regiment

[andrewalston]

I'm researching a William Sims who claimed to have been born around 1838 to 1840 in Kilmainham, Co. Dublin.
In 1870, he married Jane Anderson and said he was a widower. At that point he was a prison warder. He later moved to Manchester and became a Market Constable.
Prior to this marriage there were at least two children with his first wife. The 1871 census shows Mary A Sims aged 8 born in Kildare, and Henry W Sims aged 5 born in Aldershot.
The birth certificate for William Henry Sims gives his mother as Amelia (nee Elams, probably an Irish pronunciation of Elms), who died at Herbert Hospital, Kidbrooke, Woolwich in 1868.
That birth certificate gives William's occupation as "Corporal Military Train", as does Amelia's death cert.
FindMyPast have a dataset called "British Army, Worldwide Index 1861", which contains an entry for a William Sims, Private 2236, 6th Btn Military Train, stationed at Curragh Camp. Curragh Camp is, of course, in Kildare, where Mary A was said to be born. I'm convinced that this is the right William.

Unfortunately, the transcription fails to mention which regiment this William was part of.

Are there any sources which could tell me which regiment the Military Train was part of? There were at Curragh in 1861-3, at South Camp, Aldershot in 1865 and at New Barrack, Woolwich in 1868. All these places, of course, have space for more than one regiment.

[Andy J2022]

The Military Train were a separate, originally mainly civilian, organisation later manned by uniformed soldiers. These men were not really expected to fight and thus received a very basic level of training. They came under the authority of the Commissariat and were responsible for supplying the fighting troops, that is to say the Cavalry, Gunners and Infantry. They were not formally organised into regiments. You can read a bit about their history in this extract from the Wikipedia article on the forerunners to the Royal Army Service Corps:

For centuries, army transport was operated by contracted civilians. The first uniformed transport corps in the British Army was the Royal Waggoners formed in 1794. It was not a success and was disbanded the following year. In 1799, the Royal Waggon Corps was formed; by August 1802, it had been renamed the Royal Waggon Train. This was reduced to only two troops in 1818 and finally disbanded in 1833.
Commissariat and Military Train
A transport corps was not formed again until the Crimean War. In 1855, the Land Transport Corps was formed. This was renamed the Military Train the following year. The corps was initially based at Horfield Barracks in Bristol, but in 1859 the 'Brigade Office' and Depot moved to Woolwich. At this time, supply duties were the responsibility of the Commissariat (a uniformed civilian body, principally responsible for food, forage and fuel); while provision of arms, ammunition and other critical stores was the responsibility of the Military Store Department (formed following the abolition of the Board of Ordnance in 1855).

[Andy J2022]

This link may be useful: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F268384

[ShaunJ]

His army discharge papers: https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=GBM%2FWO97%2F3863%2F104%2F001&parentid=GBM%2FWO97%2F3863%2F357447

[andrewalston]

That's fantastic! Everything lines up really well.

The organisation of the Military Train is new to me, though there logically had to be a precursor of the A.S.C., where my great uncle served in the Great War.

Thank you very much for your expert help.

[Wexflyer]

Marriages of a William Sims and Amelia Ellams were registered on the same page in Brentford registration district, December quarter, 1861.
https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl?start=1861&end=1861&sq=4&eq=4&type=Marriages&vol=3a&pgno=78&db=bmd_1753236484&jsexec=1&mono=0&v=MTc1NDk2NTQ1Njo3MTk4NDJmODEzZWUwNTQ1NGQzYTc2NGQ1NzQ0MjI5YjkwMzc0YTc1&searchdef=sndx%3Don%26s_given%3Damelia%26eq%3D4%26countyid%3Dall%26given%3Dwilliam%26db%3Dbmd_1753236484%26sq%3D1%26start%3D1855%26surname%3Dsymms%26end%3D1864%26type%3DMarriages&action=Find

Addresses on the marriagee registration may show where to look on 1861 census.

[Wexflyer]

Marriages of a William Sims and Amelia Ellams were registered on the same page in Brentford registration district, December quarter, 1861.
https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl?start=1861&end=1861&sq=4&eq=4&type=Marriages&vol=3a&pgno=78&db=bmd_1753236484&jsexec=1&mono=0&v=MTc1NDk2NTQ1Njo3MTk4NDJmODEzZWUwNTQ1NGQzYTc2NGQ1NzQ0MjI5YjkwMzc0YTc1&searchdef=sndx%3Don%26s_given%3Damelia%26eq%3D4%26countyid%3Dall%26given%3Dwilliam%26db%3Dbmd_1753236484%26sq%3D1%26start%3D1855%26surname%3Dsymms%26end%3D1864%26type%3DMarriages&action=Find

Addresses on the marriagee registration may show where to look on 1861 census.

The church registration is available on Ancestry. Married 25/12/1861. Definitely him - occupation is 6th battalion, Military train. Names of fathers are reversed - impossible to know if just surnames reversed, or both Christian names and surnames. Also in such circumstanced, don't know if father's occupations also reversed.
For what it is woth,
For William, Henry Ellam, Laborer.
For Amelia, Joseph Sims, Servant, something something.
Address for bride and groom - Ealing.
Married Christ Church in parish of Ealing.
He is 22, she is 25.

One of the witnesses is Henry Ellam, which may help - potentially her father.