Hi Irene, Thank you for providing the full info - it helps a lot. I'm not sure why but this man caught my interest - I have researched dozens of similar cases, so maybe I needed to convince myself that I could still do it!! I had a little time to spare whilst at TNA today so looked into it further. Based on my "hunch" that he must have left the army between 1821 and 1841 I did a selective search of the msuter books for the 1st Battalion 52nd Foot and found that Private Joseph BOYE died 20 May 1826 whilst the regiment was in Frederickton, St Johns and St Andrews (in New Brunswick). This is recorded in the muster book for 25 March - 24 June 1826 (TNA ref WO 12/6258). During that search I was able to determine that he qualified for extra pay after 7 years service between December 1824 and March 1825. Guided by the 7 year extra pay I attempted a selective check to determine his enlistment. The muster book (WO 12/6250) showed that had transfered from the 2nd Battalion on 25 Sept 1809. His surname is at that point - and earlier - recorded as BUY. He was being recorded under "Drummers & Fifers". I search back further in the muster books of the 2nd Btn until I saw that he was "Appointed Drummer" on 25 June 1805 (WO 12/6310). I did not look earlier. With all this info I looked in the Casualty Returns for the 1st Btn (in WO 25/1853). The one dated 25 May to 24 June 1826 contains the following: Private Joseph BOYE, born Wantage, Berkshire, a Labourer. Enlisted 19 Jan 1804. Died Mirimache 20 May 1825 (Query: should this be 1826??). Next of kin: wife, Elizabeth, last residence, Wexham, Denbeigh[shire]. There are two notes: "Medal sent to the widow, Eliz'th BOYS, 8 June 1827" and "Joseph BOYS small accompt book and Waterloo medal enclosed" Hope that this helps. If you want to take things further by tracing his service month-by-month (and checking those dates) then the muster books are there at TNA but do set aside adequate time for it - could be 1 to 1.5 days!! cheers Chris Watts ----- Original Message ----- From: "Irene Marlborough" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, January 08, 2012 4:48 PM Subject: Re: [SOG-UK] SOG-UK Foundlings in the Army > Hi Blair: > > Yes, Joseph was with the 1st Battalion of the 52nd Regiment of Foot with > Capt. James McNair's Company. I'm told that this was also known as the > Oxfordshire Regt. (Light Infantry). > > Ken's correspondence from Rootschat also gave the locations of the 1st Btn > from 1814 through to 1823 whereupon they left for New Brunswick and Nova > Scotia for 8 years. Ken further mentioned that Joseph is not listed in the > medal roll for the Peninsular War. I'm thinking that this was because > Joseph > was deceased by the time these were announced in 1847. Here is all the > actual info I have about Joseph's whereabouts (as opposed to where his > Battalion was). > > Since Joseph was awarded a Waterloo medal, we have to assume he was there > and serving in 1815. > On 21 Jun 1819 he married at St. John's church, Chester. His occupation > was > given as Private 52 Foot - though afaik he was still listed in the > drummer/fifer rolls at this time. His bride, Elizabeth ANDREWS was > baptised > at Minera, Denbighshire in 1791 so she was probably not of full age. > Perhaps > Joseph was still a teenager too. > > And here's more info about Joseph but does not indicate his presence. > Baptism of Ann BOY 21 Oct 1821 at Wrexham, daughter of Joseph and > Elizabeth > BOY. Father's occupation - a soldier. > Marriage of Ann BOY at Manchester Collegiate/Cathedral Church 27 Apr 1841, > bride's father Joseph BOY, a weaver. No indication that he was deceased > though he may have been. > > And Joseph was probably deceased by 1851, when his wife/widow Elizabeth > can > be found on the 1851 census for Manchester as Elizabeth THOMAS. I know > that > this is she because in 1861 she's living with her daughter and all the > details match. I've not been able to find Elizabeth's remarriage yet and > maybe there wasn't one. > > It's entirely possible that Joseph went to Nova Scotia with his regiment > and > never returned having either died or settled there with a new family. > Since > Ann gives her father's occupation of weaver though would indicate that she > knew that he did leave the army for civilian life. > > I would love to know what became of Joseph and whether he and his wife > Elizabeth ever managed to live together. I gather that only a small > proportion of Army wives were allowed to travel with the regiment so it's > unlikely that she was with him in Ireland or Canada. Though if we assume > a > prompt baptism for his daughter Ann in Oct 1821, then we know that Joseph > and Elizabeth were together in the winter of 1820/21 when the regiment was > supposedly in Ireland. Perhaps he had leave or it may have been relatively > easy for her to visit him from Wales. > > Sorry to have been so long-winded but now you know pretty much everything > that I know about Joseph. > > Regards and thanks, 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

Hi Chris: Well, I'm overwhelmed at your generosity. Thank you so much! This info all ties in nicely with the known facts. If he were of a similar age to his wife Elizabeth then he'd have been about 14 in 1804 when he enlisted. At least now I can begin looking for his wife's remarriage from 1826 onwards and perhaps she was still in Wrexham and not in Manchester where she was in 1851 and 1861. And bingo! A quick look at familysearch gives the baptism of Joseph BYE son of Joseph & Mary BYE at Wantage on 3 Mar 1787, birth date16 Oct 1786. There's another one baptised in Aldermaston the same year but the army death record seems to be clear. That's a fair bit younger than I'd thought. He'd have been only 7 in January 1804 and appointed drummer when he was 8 years old the summer of the following year. Does this seem likely? There are quite a few BYE families in Berkshire. It's a new county for me - I have no other ancestors from there. I'm unfamiliar with the LDS coverage, placenames and which surnames are common. So I will need to do more research to be satisfied that this is the correct boy (BOY, BUY, BYE!). And it appears that there's nothing to the foundling story. The current owner of Joseph's Waterloo medal didn't know what he was talking about. Joseph's widow must have had to pawn the medal. I would have liked to have seen a photo of it at least. I really appreciate your taking the time to help me out like this. A lot more avenues of research have opened up. And I'm now conjuring with the image of a 7 year old soldier! I'll let you and the list know if I find out any more. Best wishes and thanks a million, Regards, Irene