41st regiment 1860's OR's service books

[JerryBB]

A pick up from the bay, to Peter Jones #328 41st Regiment, in its original cover, seems to be part of two different documents, one showing general information,when he joined (1860), where he was from, his wife etc and the other shows his pay and stoppages from various stations he was at, Belfast, Preston and others. It also lists equipment listed as being given to him, boots etc that I cannot read.

He is listed as being promoted to corporal with his previous regiment, the 7th regiment I think, then being reduced and then later promoted again.

He is listed as serving overseas in Corfu in 1845 or 48, then Malta in 1851,then America? in 1853, then Ireland in 1855 or 58, all of which predate his joining the 41st. It says he served for more than 12 years with his previous unit, the 7th?

His wife was from Halifax Nova Scotia as are his children or at least one of them, though some appear to have been born before he was married.

I am still trying to make sense of some of it as the handwriting is quite difficult to read.

I have only posted a few of the pages.

[JerryBB]

With the Welsh he appears to have only served in the UK, with entries for Preston 1861, Sunderland 1862, Aldershot 1863 and Belfast 1864. Interestingly they gave him new equipment every April, which always included new boots.

I notice he was from Cheshire originally but signed up for the Welsh in Manchester and his trade is listed as a Weaver which was one that is quite commonly noted in contemporary records for service men as the trade was decimated by industrialisation.

[JerryBB]

I did some research and checking the dates it seems he served with the 76th foot not the 7th foot. Apart from some slight discrepencies this fits with his recorded service.

The 76th arrived on Malta in March 1851 (though the exact date is incorrect, being 10th in his document and 27th in the Malta records, though he might have counted his service from when he left Corfu?) after serving on Corfu

27 Mar 1851: 319 men, 33 women, and 55 children arrived from Corfu.
2–9 Apr 1851: 678 men, 53 women, and 104 children arrived from Corfu.

Strength 1 Nov 1851: 994 men.

Location: HQ Cottonera.

and stayed there until 1853 when

Strength: 910 men. HQ Valletta.

10 Mar 1853: 700 men, 43 women, and 100 children 76th Foot left for Halifax Nova Scotia on the steam ship Simoon.


http://www.maltaramc.com/regmltgar/76th.html

[JerryBB]

Searching records for the 41st, they had their depot company in Preston from 1860 to 1865, so that fits with his records for 1861, though his service does not quite match as the 1st Bn was in Aldershot whilst he was in Sunderland in 1862, though the next year he was in Aldershot whilst the Bn was in Newcastle 1863, but the following year when he was in Belfast the Bn was in Dublin 1864, which makes sense as Bn's were often quite widely spread in that period, or so I understand it.