On 2012/01/10 01:45, Peter R Booth wrote: > Ancestry has access to BDM data from London Archives. It's the > equivalent of a BDM certificate. No! A certificate from the GRO (or local offices) certifies birth. The records from the LMA certify baptism, which sometimes took place several years after birth. The first is Civil, and only dates from 1837, the latter Religious and can date from 1538. Yes! Marriages generally concur. From 1837, Civil marriage records are generated from the Religious (and other non-religious) records. -- Regards, Mike Fry Johannesburg

From: Mike Fry <[email protected]> > On 2012/01/10 01:45, Peter R Booth wrote: > > > Ancestry has access to BDM data from London Archives. It's > the equivalent of a BDM certificate. > > No! A certificate from the GRO (or local offices) certifies birth. > The records from the LMA certify baptism, which sometimes took place several > years after birth. The first is Civil, and only dates from 1837, the latter > Religious and can date from 1538. > > Yes! Marriages generally concur. From 1837, Civil marriage records > are generated from the Religious (and other non-religious) records. > > -- > Regards, > Mike Fry > Johannesburg> In fact, you can save yourself an awful lot of money by the judicious obtaining of marriage certificates from the LMA records when researching London ancestors (or, in my case as a professional, researching for other people). I do not have a full Ancestry subscription, being a Findmypast man, but occasionally I purchase pay-as-you-go units from Ancestry when searching the London records. Theoretically, you can get 12 marriage certificates (and these are originals from the registers, the GRO ones are copies) for £6.95, whereas buying them from Southport would cost £111. A pity it doesn't apply to birth certificates as well! But, as you say, the records are of baptisms, not births, and these tend to vary in quality and the amount of information given. -- Roy Stockdill Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE

I am subscribed to both Find My Past and Ancestry. The former has the 1911 census - full except I believe for some odd gaps. I have not yet found any 1911 census on Ancestry. That does not mean to say it is not there, just that I have not discovered it! If I want to update someone with 1911 details, I go to fmp then manually transcribe the information. Finally, in the last few days, fmp has made a big fuss of the "illnesses/condition" section being opened with some amusing entrie, such as Bad Temper and LONG TONGUE being attributed to other household members! Jean Wood > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected]; [email protected] > Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:55:38 +0000 > Subject: Re: [NTT] 1911 Census - Enumeration Districts for Ilkeston > > John, > > It is possible to search through the census on Ancestry and check the > enumeration district schedules and therefore find the streets. However, a > few points. I haven't tried this on Ancestry for the 19911 census, only on > previous ones; also Ilkeston is in Derbyshire, not Nottinghamshire, though > that in itself shouldn't deter anyone on here helping you; and thirdly, I am > not certain whether or not Derbyshire is fully transcribed on Ancestry for > the 1911 census. > > Others with better knowledge may be able to advise further. > > Brian Binns > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] > On Behalf Of John Poxon > Sent: 10 January 2012 04:13 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [NTT] 1911 Census - Enumeration Districts for Ilkeston > > > Hi Everyone, > > Is there any way I can discover which of the enumeration districts in the > 1911 census included Alvenor St and/or St Marys St? > > Is there a document which lists the streets in each enumeration district? > > The reason for my inquiry is that I cannot find the record for my > grandfather and his family, although I am confident he was living in > Ilkeston at that time, most likely at one of these addresses. His siblings > and my great-grandfather all show up in Ilkeston as expected. I therefore > intend to individually inspect the census pages until I find my > grandfathers' entry. > > I will be most grateful for some guidance on this. > > Regards > > John Poxon > > > > > Notts Surname List > > http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hughw/notts.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2012.0.1901 / Virus Database: 2109/4732 - Release Date: 01/09/12 > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2012.0.1901 / Virus Database: 2109/4732 - Release Date: 01/09/12 > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2012.0.1901 / Virus Database: 2109/4732 - Release Date: 01/09/12 > > > > Notts Surname List > > http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hughw/notts.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Jean Search any name on Ancestry and it should bring up the 1911 amongst the rest OR select Census & electoral rolls from the top search menu, then select the census year (1911 has both the census schedules and the enumerators summaries) Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > > I am subscribed to both Find My Past and Ancestry. > > The former has the 1911 census - full except I believe for some odd gaps. I have not yet found any > 1911 census on Ancestry. That does not mean to say it is not there, just that I have not > discovered it! If I want to update someone with 1911 details, I go to fmp then manually transcribe > the information. > > Finally, in the last few days, fmp has made a big fuss of the "illnesses/condition" section being > opened with some amusing entrie, such as Bad Temper and LONG TONGUE being attributed to other > household members! > > Jean Wood

Hi Brian Although Ilkeston may be in Derbyshire as far as the 1911 is concerned it falls under Basford Nottinghamshire RG14/20392 to 20425 Both Counties are transcribed The current list of transcribed Counties is :- Cheshire Cornwall Cumberland Derbyshire Devon Durham Essex Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire London Military Norfolk Northumberland Nottinghamshire Royal Navy Rutland Warwickshire Westmorland Worcestershire Yorkshire East Riding Yorkshire North Riding Yorkshire West Riding The others are available to browse but have the RG78's transcribed Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > John, > > It is possible to search through the census on Ancestry and check the > enumeration district schedules and therefore find the streets. However, a > few points. I haven't tried this on Ancestry for the 19911 census, only on > previous ones; also Ilkeston is in Derbyshire, not Nottinghamshire, though > that in itself shouldn't deter anyone on here helping you; and thirdly, I am > not certain whether or not Derbyshire is fully transcribed on Ancestry for > the 1911 census. > > Others with better knowledge may be able to advise further. > > Brian Binns

Hello Nivard, Thank you very much for your prompt reply to my query about the Militia and WWI service - much appreciated. I now have a much better understanding of the subject. The data that have on hand is from "findmypast" and most of it relates to the Militia attestations rather than service records for WWI. I have of course obtained burial records from the CWGC site and detailed war diaries relating to some of the men in question from a regimental historian but what I am missing is the service. Perhaps some are available from the National Archives records - they certainly aren't available on line. Martyn, Queensland, Australia -----Original Message----- From: Nivard Ovington Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 7:18 AM To: [email protected] ; [email protected] Subject: Re: [NTT] MILITIA Hi Martyn In the period you speak of the Militia was purely voluntary, they did basic training but returned to their homes and took regular training sessions and a yearly camp, they were paid for their services and a retainer while not serving In the main the Militia was used as a training unit for the main Army, you will find many men join the militia and a year later sign up for a period in the Army proper Men could enlist up to the end of 1915, from Jan 1916 it was conscription only There were age limits for WW1 but little in the way of checks done so if they shaved a few years off no one was likely to query it, the Army would obviously want trained men who had been in the militia previously as they had some training under their belts For more on a timeline of Malta history and the British see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Malta But basically Malta was under British control Until the start of conscription enlistees had a choice to a degree as to the regiment they joined and reasons could be many, one was keeping a low profile as you suggest but equally he could have had a mate in the regiment or heard it was a better unit >From the start of conscription they were put where the Army wanted them If you found militia attestation papers its worth looking for Army service papers which may be separate but of course not all men served long enough to receive a pension so are not in those available online Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) >I have found attestation records for several relatives from Nottingham who > seemingly joined up either in the 1880s or 1890s, mostly at the age of > about > 18 years and who much later served in WWI – several of them died there and > quite a few years ago I visited their graves or memorials in France and > Belgium. One or two of these folk would have been in their late 40’s or > early 50s when they went to war. I would like to know a little more about > the MILITIA. Despite searching on the internet I am unable to find > anything > that answers my questions and I’m hoping someone with a much better > understanding of military history of the times can answer these queries > for > me. ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1901 / Virus Database: 2109/4731 - Release Date: 01/08/12

Hi John As yet there is no one list of street/road names for 1911 but the easiest way is to enter the address into Ancestry as a keyword What name and addresses are you looking for its relatively easy to check Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > > Hi Everyone, > > Is there any way I can discover which of the enumeration districts in the 1911 census included > Alvenor St and/or St Marys St? > > Is there a document which lists the streets in each enumeration district? > > The reason for my inquiry is that I cannot find the record for my grandfather and his family, > although I am confident he was living in Ilkeston at that time, most likely at one of these > addresses. His siblings and my great-grandfather all show up in Ilkeston as expected. I > therefore intend to individually inspect the census pages until I find my grandfathers' entry. > > I will be most grateful for some guidance on this. > > Regards > > John Poxon

John, It is possible to search through the census on Ancestry and check the enumeration district schedules and therefore find the streets. However, a few points. I haven't tried this on Ancestry for the 19911 census, only on previous ones; also Ilkeston is in Derbyshire, not Nottinghamshire, though that in itself shouldn't deter anyone on here helping you; and thirdly, I am not certain whether or not Derbyshire is fully transcribed on Ancestry for the 1911 census. Others with better knowledge may be able to advise further. Brian Binns -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Poxon Sent: 10 January 2012 04:13 To: [email protected] Subject: [NTT] 1911 Census - Enumeration Districts for Ilkeston Hi Everyone, Is there any way I can discover which of the enumeration districts in the 1911 census included Alvenor St and/or St Marys St? Is there a document which lists the streets in each enumeration district? The reason for my inquiry is that I cannot find the record for my grandfather and his family, although I am confident he was living in Ilkeston at that time, most likely at one of these addresses. His siblings and my great-grandfather all show up in Ilkeston as expected. I therefore intend to individually inspect the census pages until I find my grandfathers' entry. I will be most grateful for some guidance on this. Regards John Poxon Notts Surname List http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hughw/notts.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1901 / Virus Database: 2109/4732 - Release Date: 01/09/12 ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1901 / Virus Database: 2109/4732 - Release Date: 01/09/12 ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1901 / Virus Database: 2109/4732 - Release Date: 01/09/12

Hello John, Findmypast has an Address search. 1 Alvenor St is at RG14PN20413 RG78PN1222 RD429 SD2 ED22 SN202 1 St Mary St. is RG14PN20409 RG78PN1222 RD429 SD2 ED18 SN40 Dai On 10/01/2012 04:13, John Poxon wrote: > Hi Everyone, > > Is there any way I can discover which of the enumeration districts in the 1911 census included Alvenor St and/or St Marys St? > > Is there a document which lists the streets in each enumeration district? > > The reason for my inquiry is that I cannot find the record for my grandfather and his family, although I am confident he was living in Ilkeston at that time, most likely at one of these addresses. His siblings and my great-grandfather all show up in Ilkeston as expected. I therefore intend to individually inspect the census pages until I find my grandfathers' entry. > > I will be most grateful for some guidance on this. > > Regards > > John Poxon > > > > > Notts Surname List > > http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hughw/notts.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >

I have found attestation records for several relatives from Nottingham who seemingly joined up either in the 1880s or 1890s, mostly at the age of about 18 years and who much later served in WWI – several of them died there and quite a few years ago I visited their graves or memorials in France and Belgium. One or two of these folk would have been in their late 40’s or early 50s when they went to war. I would like to know a little more about the MILITIA. Despite searching on the internet I am unable to find anything that answers my questions and I’m hoping someone with a much better understanding of military history of the times can answer these queries for me. Was the Militia like National Service in the 1950s? Was it compulsory? Were members of the Militia full time soldiers or did they live at home? For how long did they have to serve in the militia? Were they required to go to France or Belgium in 1914-18 if belonged to the Militia or had once been in the Militia? As I indicated above all of these folk joined the Militia in the 1880s or 90s and yet they still went to the war 20 - 30 years later. I have one relative who was clearly a bad lad and had numerous charges against him whilst in the Militia serving with the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regmt) and was eventually discharged in 1902 as medically unfit for further service at the age of about 21 years. If I am reading his papers correctly it looks as though he spent 3 years in Malta immediately before his discharge. What were the British doing in Malta at this time? His conduct and character whilst with the colours was described on his discharge papers as “Very Bad”. When war broke out however, he enlisted in the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) despite the fact that he was born and bred in Nottingham. Did he join up with the Cameronians because the Sherwood Foresters wouldn’t have him back or to disguise his past bad record with them? He died on 28 November 1917 at the Ypres Salient aged 36 and his name is on the Tyne Cot Memorial. Martyn Queensland, Australia

Hi again Findmypast have the Chelsea pension and Militia records to 1913 If your men served in WW1 any surviving service records would be on Ancestry 1914 on to 1921 They are in two main batches The first are the surviving service records called the burnt records Approx two thirds of the service records were destroyed or damaged in WW2, so there is more chance that they do not survive than do Those that survive vary from one page to many The other batch titled pension records by Ancestry which would be better entitled all those not with the main records are a mixture of pension and odd records, there are some cases of men having records in each batch and most with none at all If you know their service numbers you can look for their medal cards on Ancestry and then try the service records The service records have a mixture of words indexed , some have an address, other a birth year, others a birthplace or a mixture of those or none at all , so its worth trying all variations of name and try any addresses known around the time of service If you have war casualties you should also try Soldiers died in the Great War (both Ancestry & Findmypast have it) Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > Hello Nivard, > > Thank you very much for your prompt reply to my query about the Militia and WWI service - much > appreciated. I now have a much better understanding of the subject. The data that have on hand is > from "findmypast" and most of it relates to the Militia attestations rather than service records > for WWI. I have of course obtained burial records from the CWGC site and detailed war diaries > relating to some of the men in question from a regimental historian but what I am missing is the > service. Perhaps some are available from the National Archives records - they certainly aren't > available on line. > > Martyn, > Queensland, Australia

Hi Martyn In the period you speak of the Militia was purely voluntary, they did basic training but returned to their homes and took regular training sessions and a yearly camp, they were paid for their services and a retainer while not serving In the main the Militia was used as a training unit for the main Army, you will find many men join the militia and a year later sign up for a period in the Army proper Men could enlist up to the end of 1915, from Jan 1916 it was conscription only There were age limits for WW1 but little in the way of checks done so if they shaved a few years off no one was likely to query it, the Army would obviously want trained men who had been in the militia previously as they had some training under their belts For more on a timeline of Malta history and the British see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Malta But basically Malta was under British control Until the start of conscription enlistees had a choice to a degree as to the regiment they joined and reasons could be many, one was keeping a low profile as you suggest but equally he could have had a mate in the regiment or heard it was a better unit >From the start of conscription they were put where the Army wanted them If you found militia attestation papers its worth looking for Army service papers which may be separate but of course not all men served long enough to receive a pension so are not in those available online Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) >I have found attestation records for several relatives from Nottingham who > seemingly joined up either in the 1880s or 1890s, mostly at the age of about > 18 years and who much later served in WWI – several of them died there and > quite a few years ago I visited their graves or memorials in France and > Belgium. One or two of these folk would have been in their late 40’s or > early 50s when they went to war. I would like to know a little more about > the MILITIA. Despite searching on the internet I am unable to find anything > that answers my questions and I’m hoping someone with a much better > understanding of military history of the times can answer these queries for > me.

Nathaniel HAMILTON was bpt. Nov 7 1759 at St.Peter's Nottingham, father John Hamilton, mother Elizabeth. This is from the IGI. Has anyone got any further info. about this family? I have a Nathaniel HAMILTON who married Mary VINCENT in Westminster in 1780 and who died in London in 1817, aged 59 according to the burial record. I'm trying to find out if the Nottingham Nathaniel and the one living and dying in London are the same person. Any info. would be very welcome. Thanks. Angela

Hi Lou As I posted previously, if he was in the militia and he appears to have completed the whole of his service in the same unit of the Militia, he would not serve overseas Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) Hi, Roy, He could also have been in service in one of the "other" little wars of that time period, such as the one known in America as the "War of 1812", but I suspect from the information you and Shiela provided, that he never left England. Lou

Rachel, Are you trying to work down to current day descendants or backwards to ancestors? Any BDM events from 1837 - around 1950 should be on FreeBMD, but because of the volume of Green surnames, you'd probably also need to rely on census records. A lot of WWI records were destroyed in WWII bombings, but you might find him in medal cards on Ancestry or Find My Past. But all it will tell is basically service number and division. Most received the same three medals. Someone might know of Nottingham directories and the like. Peter

Hi, Roy, He could also have been in service in one of the "other" little wars of that time period, such as the one known in America as the "War of 1812", but I suspect from the information you and Shiela provided, that he never left England.     Lou

Hi Rita, On the IGI are the following: Parents: John and Catherine ROBINSON Parish: Misterton-Notts - Baptisms - 1741, 19 Jan - Mary Robinson (Patron submission) 1742, 15 Jan - Mary Robinson (CO62382) 1744, 7 Aug - John Robinson (CO62382) 1744, 27 Aug - John Robinson (Patron sub) 1746, 22 Oct - Dorothy Robinson (Patron sub) 1748, 11 Feb - Elizabeth Robinson (Patron sub) 1748, 11 Feb - Joseph Robinson (Patron sub) Parents: Anthony ROBINSON and Sarrah LINLEY: Parish: Misterton-Notts - Baptisms - 1713, 6 Dec - Jon. Robinson (CO62382) 1719, 13 July - Elisabeth Robinson (CO62382) 1730, 1 Nov - Elihu Robinson (CO62382) Re Batch No CO62382 - The Batch Numbers are extracted from the parish registers information so should be correct. The IGI only has baptisms and marriages, not burials. If you go to your nearest LDS you can borrow the actual film of the parish registers for Misterton, which might reveal more info on the family, but it looks like only the Bishops Transcripts are available - Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1635-1812 - FHL British film 503793 Item 3 Cheers Trish Nowra NSW > John Robinson married Catherine Wells (b. 1716 Misterton, Notts) on 20 May > 1741 in Misterton. Catherine's parents were Joseph Wells, who married Mary > Duckle on 26 Feb 1716 in Misterton. > John Robinson and Catherine Wells had at least two children in Misterton. > Mary was born in 1742 and her brother, John, was born in 1744. > OK, so my questions revolve around the first John Robinson, the one who > married Catherine Wells in 1741. When and where was this first John > Robinson born? When and where did he die? Also, when and where did > Catherine Wells Robinson die? And is there any way to find info on who > this first John Robinson's siblings and parents were? > Rita O'Clair > Friday Harbor, Washington State, USA > [email protected]

My Grandfather George Henry Green lived at 72a Shakespeare St Nottingham and worked there in the family business with his father George Green and brothers John Ralph and Foster as makers of artificial teeth from at least 1911.We believe he was in the navy during WW! but I have been unable to confirm this and wondered if anyone could help? He was married in 1914 to Ada Palmer who's father William had a lace making business.The family appeared in the dental profession also at 9 college St, 34 Nottingham Rd and possibly 16 Albert St in the 1920's so any info concening these addresses or the Green family would be of interest.

Thank you Kate very much for this wonderful submission. I am in process of arranging to have printed a study of my Huguenot family Duterrau (no Notts connexion in this line as far as I can remember!) BUT this gives a lot about Hobart in 1827. Benjamin Duterrau, brother to my direct ancestor John, went there in 1832, just 5 years later, when it was considered to be a fine town beside many of the other Australian colonies. His daughter became governess to the children of the governor and married a Scots merchant John Bogle. You filled in a lot of very useful background. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Duterrau http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=benjamin+duterrau&hl=en&rlz=1T4DAFR_enFR229FR229&site=webhp&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=K8AJT7vVEc698gPPkaiyAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CDQQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=536 Jean Wood > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Date: Sun, 8 Jan 2012 10:54:24 +1100 > Subject: [NTT] The Nottingham Review, 1827. Letter from William Hunt. > > Hi again List, > > Just want to thank everyone who replied to my post about a letter from Royal Veteran William Hunt which was published in The Nottingham Review in 1827. > > Special thanks go to Dai Bevan who was visiting a library and actually obtained the article from the above newspaper and sent to me off list. I am delighted to have the full copy as I previously only had snippets of the letter transcribed. > > Dai suggested I post the letters published here for anyone who may be interested, the letters give a good account of what it was like on the journey over to Sydney and food, housing conditions, wages etc. > > Then William travelled to Hobart Town in Tasmania where he was stationed as an overseer of a convict gang, he seemed quite proud of the fact that his gang completed the first street in Hobart Town. > > Williams story is very interesting, he was at the Battle of Waterloo in the 59th Regiment, although his Reg did not partake in the fighting, more covering the right flank of Wellington, also William survived the wreck of the English warship ‘Seahorse’ just off Tramore, Ireland, in 1816, and the loss of 363 lives. > Sadly William died in 1828 at Birch’s Bay, Tasmania in 1828. > > Kind Regards to everyone, > Kate Winks, Melbourne, Australia. > > > The Nottingham Review, August 24, 1827. > > Extract from a letter written by William Hunt of this town who went out at the latter end of last year, as a private in the Royal Veteran Company, for New South Wales. The letter is addressed to Mr Samuel Preston of Nottingham who has obligingly favoured us with it:- > > Hobart Town, Van Dieman's Land 20 March 1827 > > Dear Friends, We had a very fine passage from Spithead to New South Wales. We had a very fresh breeze of wind through the English Channel, which made my daughter very sea-sick for the first fortnight, but she never was sick afterwards; my wife never was sick at all, and it is needless to say I never was sick. I wrote to you before we arrived at Portsmouth and stated the particulars of our situation on board which was very comfortable, as we had a large birth to ourselves; we had room enough in it to put one of our boxes which we slept in, in the birth, all the passage, and the other box we kept in the sick-bay, so that we had all our stores under our eyes. There were ten women brought to bed on the passage. > We had the small pox and measles on board and we buried twelve children and one women during the passage; we had very few men sick. We anchored in Sidney Cove the 8th of July which was four months to the day from the time we left Spithead. We had no particular accident occurred worthy of notice during the passage. When we arrived at Sidney there was no place provided for our reception but they soon set to work, and cleaned out a part of soldiery barracks, and an orphan school that had been unoccupied for some time, so that in two days all was ready and we went on shore, and soon made ourselves very comfortable. As we sung out for the grog, and got our rations, which was fresh beef, so we struck up a tune on the frying pan and were all jovial together. > Mrs Plowright died at Sidney four months before we arrived there; she died very suddenly. The first man that spoke to me was a Nottingham man, to ask me if we had any from Nottingham belonging to our corps; his heart leapt for joy when I told him I was from Nottingham and while we were talking, John Sinter's son came up, so they helped me with my boxes and luggage; the man's name was Daniel Smeeton; he was 14 when he left Nottingham and was for seven years; he is a free man this month; he was the same trade as me, but he has learned stone-cutting since he has been in Sidney, and was getting 2 pound a week, set wages, when I saw him. We went to old Jack Slater's the next day, and had a jovial carouse. > Slater is a prisoner for life but he has got a ticket of leave, so that he does no Government work as long as he gets into no trouble; they are doing very well. His wife has had a son since she arrived in Sidney so that they have two sons and two daughters; the eldest son is as tall as his father. Sarah the eldest is at home with the others; the other daughter is in service, in the same place as she went to when she first came into the colony. I can assure you, by being eye-witness, a prisoner in these colonies is no joke, for they work twelve hours a day for Government, five days in the week and they have only Saturday for themselves, so that it is not now as it used to be. We were at Sidney three weeks when our company were ordered for this place where we arrived in seventeen days. It is 700 miles from Sidney and that nearer to England. > We have very good rations, all fresh meat, beef and mutton. My allowance is seven pounds of meat and seven pounds of bread per week, and one quart of rum every six days (1.2 litres) and my wife's three pounds and a half of each, and my daughters' one-third, that is, one pound of each every third day. Women and children are allowed no liquor - the worse for me. We draw our liquor every Saturday, which makes a good Saturday night, then good-bye for a week. Our pay we receive twice a month. For further particulars, I must refer you to Wm Shaw, in his letter. Our kind love to your wife and Susan and her husband. > Your respectfully, Wm Hunt" > From the letter to Mr Shaw, referred to above, we extract the following:- > "This Island is divided into two counties, Cornwall and Buckinghamshire; the assizes are held every quarter, at Launceston, and at this place (Hobart Town). The first assizes held here after we arrived, there were twenty-seven cast for death, four of which were reprieved and sent to a penal settlement for life, twenty three were executed - on Wednesday seven, Friday seven, and on Monday nine, which made twenty-three. There is a drop here that they can execute twelve at a time. We went to see the nine suffer, and such a sight we neither of us saw before; all of them appeared to die very penitent. They are very severe with them here, as most of their offences were for sheep-stealing. > At the last assizes twelve were executed and I saw all of them. There is eleven of us here overseers over different gangs, and the rest are all over the country; the gang that I have charge of, are in chains, and are obliged to work with their irons on, according to the term of their sentence, and that is commonly from one to six months each, according to the offence, which is like crimes in the army, for being drunk or absent. My duty with them is to keep them close to work during the appointed time, and can assure you that they must work hard, for if the overseer reports any of them for neglect, they are sure of twenty-five or fifty lashes. Their allowance of provisions is one pound of bread and the same of meat (?) but no vegetables to their meat, so that they have none too much. > They have coffee morning and night, but they say it is very bad. The work my gang does is making the town streets and levelling and gravelling them and I have the honour to say that I have completed the first street in Hobart Town, and I believe there are nineteen more want completing, so that if, please God, I live and have my health, I have three years' work cut out for me. My superintendent told me that we were to serve three years as overseer, and then have a grant of land given to us, equal to former settlers, and receive our pensions here, so that these three years will just bring me in one shilling a day, if England can afford to pay it me! I saw and drank with John Slater at Sidney; his wife and family are with him, doing very well; they keep a shop, and sell almost every thing, not forgetting a "drop of the creature", but I think the old man drinks most of the profits. > "We have found many Nottingham men here, and Alfred Gelding is at this place, and in good health, doing very well, as he is a tailor, which is one of the best trades in the colony; and Mr Lamb's son is here, he is doing very well; and Geo. Lackenby is here, and is very well. We heartily wish you were all as well off as we are, for, thank God, and my lucky stars, that we don't want for the common necessaries of life; for we have plenty to eat and drink, and a good bed to lay upon at night." > We have also seen two other letters from William Hunt, from which we glean the following particulars:- > "Sydney is very pleasant town, and there is a good and well supplied market every Thursday, and public houses are almost as thick together as in Nottingham; rum is 1s the half-pint and plenty of good wine at 1s 3d per quart. Vegetables are very dear; we had to pay 6d for one cabbage, and potatoes are three halfpence a pound, bread 2d, meat 6d; tea, very good, 3s and sugar 4 1/2 per pound; soap and candles 1s per pound; very indifferent ale 9d per quart. Wearing apparel is very dear indeed, but the working people are paid very well for their labour; tailors, shoemakers, bricklayers and stonemasons, can earn from 10s to 15s per day. When we had been at Hobart-town about a fortnight we got a place of service for our daughter, at one of the first merchants in the colony, to nurse a child five weeks old; her wages are 13 Pound a year, and we draw her rations, the same as if she was with us. > "My station is over a gang of convicts, consisting of from forty to eighty, all in chains, with heavy irons round each leg; the cause of the different number of them is, they are put in irons for a certain time, some for one, two, and three months, and others for six months, or during the Lieutenant-Governor's pleasure; I have one that has been for pleasure one year and five months; their sentences are according to the nature and degree of the offence they may have committed and they never take their irons off until they have served their sentence, day or night. > I fetch them from the prison barracks at half-past five in the morning, and they work till nine o'clock, and out again at ten till one, for dinner; then again from half-past two till six at night; in winter time was work from seven in the morning till five in the evening, when I take them into the barracks, where they remain till I fetch them out in the morning. As there is no place provided for me in the barracks, I am obliged to find my own quarters, though I have petitioned to the Lieutenant-Governor, and wrote to the chief Engineer of my department, but all to no effect. The other overseers in town are similarly situated. > We have two rooms upon a floor, for which I pay three shillings per week currency, but they are very pleasantly situated, about half a mile from town. The business I have with my gang, is to overlook them with a stick in my hand, and to see them work, and I am obliged to be very severe with them, to keep them properly under; and yet they say I am the best overseer they ever had, for were I to make the least report against them for being idle, they would get five-and-twenty or fifty lashes, so that I abstain reporting them as much as possible, for whatever the overseer says is law." > > > Notts Surname List > > http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hughw/notts.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thanks Roy. The Napoleonic Wars was all I could find on google for that period but didn't know if we were involved or not. Need to read up some more history. lol James was discharged after several attacks of acute rheumatism and was described as a out pensioner of Chelsea hospital on his death certificate regards Sheila On 8 January 2012 16:48, <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Sheila Khan <[email protected]> > > > I have the discharge papers for one of my ancestors, James Godber, > > who was in the Royal Nottinghamshire Militia. He was apparently > enlisted in > > 1798 at the age of 18 for the space of 5 years and during the war. He > > actually had served over 35 years by the time he was discharged in 1835. > > > > Could anybody tell me which war this would be? > > > > Thanks > > > The Napoleonic Wars against France, obviously. > > Many thousands of men enlisted in their local militia in the late 1790s > when Britain was > threatened with invasion by Napoleon's forces and some went on to join the > regular army. A > great-great-great-grandfather of mine, John Midgley from Bradford, joined > the 53rd Regiment > of Foot which was a Shropshire regiment but in those days men took the > King's Shilling, as it > was known, all over the place. > > Remember that the Napoleonic Wars went on for many years, only ending with > Napoleon's > defeat at Waterloo in 1815. So it looks as if your ancestor found army > life to his liking and > remained in the forces long after Napoleon had been seen off! > > -- > Roy Stockdill > Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer > Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: > www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html > > "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, > and that is not being talked about." > OSCAR WILDE > > > > > > > Notts Surname List > > http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hughw/notts.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Sheila