Genealogy Chat

Karen If he lived in Ireland one way out of poverty was to join up. He got a bed, money, drink, no worries and a roof over his head. Living in Ireland in 1860's he lived in a part of the United Kingdom, which included Ireland so when he joined up he joined the British Army and would therefore be stationed where they sent him! Many Irish people went to Liverpool so he may have joined from there and Liverpool is in Lancashire. His attestation papers will show where he was born and where and when and how old he was when he joined up. However many lied about their age. Should have been 18 on joining but most were about 16 and many were only 14. Depends when he joined, but if he joined in the 1850's, he may have been on Active Service at the Crimea 1854-1856 the Indian Mutiny about 1857/9 and then a period of reasonable calm in the 1860's as far as England was concerned, but if he had then been seconded to Ireland in the 1860's and 1870's then that would have been quite different and not at all calm!! Most soldiers married at about 30 as the army did not allow marriage under that age but if they had only been 14 on joining then they could be just a mere 26! Janet

Ok, I'll try that, Thanks for the advice. I believe John Irwin, my soldier, was from Ireland, So I really can't figure out why he is in Aldershot at all. My g grandmother was born at the camp in 1862. I am learning lots about history from this family tree research!! thanks again Karen

20 Foot would be the regiment he joined and each Foot regiment is attached to a county. There are almost 100 Foot regiments and you really need to know which county the 20 Foot refers to. Go to The National Archives site(TNA) for short : www.nationalarchives.gov.uk The National Archives at Kew London is where all the histories and the attestation records of soldiers are held for several hundred years. You cannot obtain the records on line, that can only be done in person or pay a researcher to do the work for you. Howver, you can download from the site various leaflets on soldiers and I would suggest you do this first to help you with research into your soldier ancestor so you then get a better idea of what you are doing. Go into the catalogue on the site and look for the indexed leaflets and then look for army. Being stationed at Aldershot in Hampshire does not mean he came from there. It just means he was stationed there for a few months or a few years. If the 20 Foot is a Northern regiment then the google will have shown you which county 20 Foot came from. Most people joined the army of the regiment near where they lived. You need to do a lot more general research into the British Army via TNA site. No, not all "Foot" regiments became Fusiliers, but they did change their names and all are different. You could also check out some of the things I have already said about the Army on Crista's thread Janet

Karen It's unusual for a soldier to be posted to his home town or town of enlistment. Aldershot is a large military town so it's perfectly reasonable to see a soldier from Lancashire posted to Aldershot. It may be that your ancestor misssed active service as I believe this period was relatively calm. I'm sure this sites military historians will jump on that if I'm wrong. Roy

It all seems to refer to a group in Lancashire. My g grandfather was in Hants Aldershot. Do you think soldiers from Lancashire would need to be in Aldershot? Did they move around a lot? Was there a war near Hampshire? I'm afraid I don't know much about English history or war. Oh dear......brain overload

Type '20th foot regiment' into Google and lots of things come up. I'm not sure but I think the Foot regiment became the Fusiliers. Kath. x

I just found out my GG granfather was a soldier at the barracks at Aldershot in Hampshire in 1862. He was a corporal in 2nd battalion 20th Foot (whatever that means). Is there a site I could go to? I treid googling the regiment but didn't get a match.