Hi Tracy You certainly have an elusive chap there RHA is certainly Royal Horse Artillery , I have found no mention of him in any records available to me Now you say "according to several sources, and he is born in 1871 in Croydon" In 1901 he gives an age of 27 so a birth year of 1874 Croydon He gives an age of 35 in 1911 so a birth year of 1876 Croydon On his 1914 marriage cert it gives an age of 39 so a birth year of 1875 So where are you finding 1871? Also he gives Commercial Manager as his occupation in 1914 not salesman I have had a good rummage around and find no trace of him except the three noted above and a possible death in Croydon 1947, again thats a birth year of 1875 If his father was an Indian Commissioner, and later a Knight you would expect to find some sort of a mention in the London Gazette and the Times, nothing there as far as I can tell It strikes me as odd that he gives an occupation as soldier in 1897 (when he would be aged 22 or 23) and is then a Railway Porter in 1901, if his father was an Indian Commissioner or Knight you would expect his son in a better occupation As to divorce, it was still a very expensive affair (pun intended :-) so unless they had a fair amount of cash to splash out on one, most didn't bother and just went their separate ways and often married again, the clincher to me is his giving bachelor in 1914 You can search for divorces in the Catalogue on the National Archives under J77 (I did not see a likely one there) There are only a few events for a person with Gaughan as a forename, and only one BURNET the 1897 marriage It is possible the father was in India for much of the time and could have died there, but I would still have expected to find a mention in the papers and a record of some sort Fibis does not seem to have a mention either Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > Hello again, > > I'm stumped on a man who marries into my DEVERILL family in 1897, marrying > Kate Sara DEVERILL at St Martin in the Fields. His name is Frederick Gaughan > BURNETT, according to several sources, and he is born in 1871 in Croydon. I > haven't found a plausible birth record for him, but on his marriage cert he > claims that his father is Frederick BURNETT, "Indian Commissioner," and that > he himself is a "Soldier, RHA." > Someone advised me that RHA is likely Royal Horse Artillery. Are there any

Hello Nivard Thank you for checking your sources. I appreciate your time and ideas. Elusive indeed! Kate's sisters married telegraph operators, her brothers were oil and colourmen for a time, her father was a grocer and then a coachman, so I was a bit sceptical when I saw Frederick Burnett's claims to being the son of an Indian Commissioner and then the son of a Knight. Possible, of course, but it seemed out of line with the lay of the rest of the family. However, St Martin in the Fields is not home territory for my Deverills, so I figured Kate might have moved across the river and met up with a different sort of person there. It seems perhaps she did, and maybe I shouldn't be at all suprised that they parted ways around 1914, although she did live with him for close to 17 years, whoever he was. You asked about the 1871 date? An error on my part, as near as I can tell, although I do have 1871 in my database. I must figure out why or correct it. Thanks again. It looks like I will remain stumped where Frederick Burnett is concerned, at least for the time being. Tracy