I have long known about my ancestor Joseph BOY who served as a drummer at Waterloo. I have his marriage in Chester in 1819 and the baptism of a daughter at Wrexham in 1821. It has been suggested to me, that Joseph was a foundling and was given a biblical name and simply the surname denoting gender. BOY is not a common name and as far as I know, is not connected with BOYES, BOYCE, BOYD or other variants. Does anyone know if this was usual practice in the Army? I've been unable to trace Joseph's origins so far though his wife and child appear on later censuses. I did check about a decade of muster rolls for his company following his progress and eventual demotion from Drummer/Fifer to Private but I didn't have enough time at Kew to find the start of his service nor the end. Has anyone heard of other foundlings taking the same career path? Regards, Irene

Irene, Family Search shows three people by the name of Joseph BOY baptised at Birstall in the West Riding of Yorkshire between 1887 and 1794. Have you checked these three out? Caroline Gurney www.carosfamily.com On 7 January 2012 18:05, Irene Marlborough <[email protected]> wrote: > I have long known about my ancestor Joseph BOY who served as a drummer at Waterloo. I have his marriage in Chester in 1819 and the baptism of a daughter at Wrexham in 1821. > > It has been suggested to me, that Joseph was a foundling and was given a biblical name and simply the surname denoting gender. BOY is not a common name and as far as I know, is not connected with BOYES, BOYCE, BOYD or other variants. > > Does anyone know if this was usual practice in the Army? I've been unable to trace Joseph's origins so far though his wife and child appear on later censuses. > > I did check about a decade of muster rolls for his company following his progress and eventual demotion from Drummer/Fifer to Private but I didn't have enough time at Kew to find the start of his service nor the end. > > Has anyone heard of other foundlings taking the same career path? > > Regards, Irene > > ------------------------------- > 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

Hello Irene, if he was a foundling, or an orphan or perhaps an illegitimate child brought up in a workhouse then I would not be at all surprised if the army signed him up once he had reached the age where he could carry a drum and learn how to play it. I have a case in my tree (late 1800s) where two orphan boys were sent to Industrial Schools when very young. At the first opportunity one was enrolled in the Merchant Navy the other in the Army. Both did well. The difference ( a big one I admit ! ) in their cases is that both had been baptised and I have their records. As for his "demotion" it is possible (I put it no more strongly than that because you may well have evidence of a misdemeanour) that once he had completed his boy-service, during which he was probably identified as "Boy Joseph", he was given the man's rank of Private. i Jim On 7 January 2012 18:05, Irene Marlborough <[email protected]> wrote: > I have long known about my ancestor Joseph BOY who served as a drummer at Waterloo. I have his marriage in Chester in 1819 and the baptism of a daughter at Wrexham in 1821. > > It has been suggested to me, that Joseph was a foundling and was given a biblical name and simply the surname denoting gender. BOY is not a common name and as far as I know, is not connected with BOYES, BOYCE, BOYD or other variants. > > Does anyone know if this was usual practice in the Army? I've been unable to trace Joseph's origins so far though his wife and child appear on later censuses. > > I did check about a decade of muster rolls for his company following his progress and eventual demotion from Drummer/Fifer to Private but I didn't have enough time at Kew to find the start of his service nor the end. > > Has anyone heard of other foundlings taking the same career path? >

Hi Jim: Thanks for the info about your orphan boys. It certainly seems a bit more humane than the Dickensian workhouse stereotype. I can't really say about the demotion aspect. I just know that he disappeared from the drummer/fifer section of the muster rolls and appeared along with the ordinary soldiers. His pay dropped quite a bit as a result. I'm thinking that he'd have been in his twenties at this time assuming that he didn't marry as a teenager but I've actually no idea how old he was. Best wishes, Irene