I wonder if any of the Listers might be able to halp me with the following questions about the Madras Artillery. Two of my ancestors served with that unit. The first was Thomas Skinner who enlisted in 1814. He was a cabinet-maker and a freeman of Canterbury. While economic conditions with the war with France would not have been good, would the pay rate of a gunner have been reasonable? In 1821 my ancestor appears in the list of pensioners. He was only 31, which to me seems rather young. Again could someone enlighten me as to what a pensioner might recieve? Could someone also point me in the direction of finding whether the Madras Artillery saw active service between 1814 and 1860? I am interested as to whether the unit was involved in the Mutiny because another ancestor makes reference to a Madras Exhibition in 1857, the same year as the uprising. Thank you, David Cornelius

David wrote: >I wonder if any of the Listers might be able to halp me with the > following questions about the Madras Artillery. Two of my ancestors > served with that unit. > The first was Thomas Skinner who enlisted in 1814. He was a > cabinet-maker and a freeman of Canterbury. While economic conditions > with the war with France would not have been good, would the pay rate of > a gunner have been reasonable? In 1821 my ancestor appears in the list > of pensioners. He was only 31, which to me seems rather young. Again > could someone enlighten me as to what a pensioner might recieve? > Could someone also point me in the direction of finding whether the > Madras Artillery saw active service between 1814 and 1860? I am > interested as to whether the unit was involved in the Mutiny because > another ancestor makes reference to a Madras Exhibition in 1857, the > same year as the uprising. To determine a career summary of a soldier in the Madras Artillery, it is important to determine in which Company of which Battalion he served. Each company served in widely differing locations, generally moving between them every three or four years. It may be relatively easy to determine Thomas Skinner's Battalion but quite difficult to learn in which company of it he served. A soldier's term of enlistment should normally feature in his unit's Muster List. In the case of Thomas Skinner, it could easily have been seven years after which he could have been entitled to a modest pension and still feature in the Muster Lists. Major actions/campaigns in which the Madras Artillery served were the First (1824-1826) & Second (1852-1853) Burma Campaigns, China (1838 & 1840-1842), Malacca (1832), Coorg (1834). They were involved in a number of smaller actions too, but no unit, as far as I am aware, played any significant part in the Great Mutiny. There are various articles in the FIBIS Journal which describe the pay, etc. of soldiers of the EIC Armies. They are available in the Members Area of the FIBIS Website. Hope this helps. Good Hunting! Peter Bailey Chairman Families in British India Society www.fibis.org