A soldier's age

[ladybird]

http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1513

Hi folks
I have a bit of a curly one here
I have just received Army discharge papers for a James Jaffrey who enlisted in 1811 aged 19 (1792)
(...and wow! he served at Waterloo with the 91st!!)

He was listed as born Barony, Lanark and was a weaver.
He was discharged sick with dropsy and vascular disease in 1826.

Now my problem is that the James Jaffrey I have was born 1795 Barony according to the OPR. I thought perhaps they were a bit slow in baptising him but OPR definately says born 1795.

There is also an odd bit on the image that I can't read very well (see attached) which seems to suggest that his father was a soldier. The children before and after him, 1793 and 1798, give the father John as a weaver?

Could/would James have lied about his age or do I have the wrong one?
Any thoughts please
Sylvia

[AndrewP]

Hi Sylvia,

I read the OPR text, from June 1795, as:

• John Jaffray Sold^r & Isobel Carmichael had
  their 3^d child born 13^th bap^d 25^th named
  James. Geo Wilson & John Thomson wit.

All the best,

AndrewP

[paddyscar]

Hi Sylvia:

The OPR lists John Jaffray and Is*bel as married 1778.

It also shows that they had 6 children between 1776 -1798

Have you had a look at those listings to see if any of the other children's names fit with your family, and what the father's occupations were?

There are 3 James Jaffray listings between 1790 - 1796 born to John; of those only 1 is shown as Is*bel. Neither of the other ones is listed as being in Barony.

It could be possible that he lied on his enlistment, but wouldn't he have been old enough at 16 to enlist in 1811?

Just thinking outloud,
Frances

[ladybird]

Andrew
I'm glad you read "soldier " too

My apologies, I made a mistake that the child before James also gave father John as a weaver. A second look gives no occupation for him.
I have only checked the entries for their first 5 children, so it's quite possible that he was a soldier until after James was born, but why didn't he leave Barony at some stage? All the children were born there. Was it possibly some kind of local Militia I wonder?

1/ John b1790 - no occupation given
2/ Isobel b1792 - no occupation given
3/ James b1795 - soldier
4/ Euphemia b1798 - occupation weaver
5/This child must have died/stillborn? No OPR entry.
6/ Jean b1802 - occupation weaver
7/ Mary b1803
8/ Janet 1806
9/ Elizabeth 1808
10/ Jean 1811

All the children are numbered on the OPR.

Paddyscar
I don't think the 1778 John and Isobel are mine. They are John Jaffray and Isobel Jaffray in St Ninians, Stirling. Given the same surname, maybe they were cousins?


So....Can I take it that you agree this James is probably mine due to lack of other contenders born in Barony, even given the age difference on the discharge papers?

Ever hopeful Sylvia

[Currie]

Hello Sylvia,

Thought you might be interested in a bit of information about the 91st but there doesn’t appear to be much available. Here are a couple of sites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/91st_Regiment_of_Foot

http://www.theargylls.co.uk/service91st.php

There may also be information at regiments.org however that site is currently out of action and may have serious problems but you could keep it in mind for maybe later.

http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/091-759.htm

Alan

[ladybird]

Thank you Alan
A couple of very useful sites there.
I must admit I had to google "Battle of Waterloo" as my knowledge of it was dismal
I mean everyone's heard of it but how many actually know much about it!
Sylvia

[mean_genie]

As long as men have been joining the Army and the Navy they have been lying about their ages, so I think you have the right man, even though you might not be able to prove it beyond any doubt. The recruiting officers generally worked on the principle of 'If they're big enough, they're old enough' and weren't inclined to ask too many questions.

[ladybird]

Can I ask for another bit of help with a lookup please...sorry this is turning out to be a marathon

I have the 1841 census

Piece: SCT1841/622 Place: Barony -Lanarkshire Enumeration District: 39
Civil Parish: Barony
Folio: 142 Page: 11
Address: 25 Kirk Street
James age 45 and his wife Isobella 35, born England
Children Margaret, John and James

and the 1861 census

Registration Number: 644/4
Registration district: Calton
Civil Parish: Glasgow Calton
County: Lanarkshire
ED: 72
Page: 6
Household schedule number: 33
Line: 15
Address: 21-23-25 Kirk St
Isobella (White) age 51 (born England) and a couple of her children and grandchildren

Can anyone find this family on the 1851 please? I've tried both Scotland and England,in case they went back to Isobella's home, with no success and I'm trying to narrow down when James died.

Sylvia