1st battalion 2nd queens royal regiment.....

[joyce]

hello all
im trying to find out when my gg uncle joined the army and for how long he was in now iknow that he was aprivate his name was
william bonner ,abt 1849
thame,oxfordshire,england
now on the 1881 census he was in the queens regiment and in 1891 hewas in the ,queens royal surrey regiment
stougton barracks
guilford,surrey,asthe two regiments had been put together as one,so i seem to think he was along term soldier and he was,nt married in 1891,would like to find some history of him,thank you for any help you can give,i have been on the war forum without sucess.joyce from holland

[AnneM]

Hi Joyce

I would think that the only way to get the information you are looking for would be to get someone to look up the records in the National Archive in Kew in London. There are professional researchers who do this. Your relative is not listed in the catalogue but that does not mean there is not a record. If he survived to draw his pension then a record probably exists.

Anne

[DavidWW]

The naming and numbering of regiments is a minefield (neat choice of word!) as a regiment itself was perfectly entitled to seek permission to change its name, and frequently did, - most often minor changes including a different order of the words.

In this case the modern day successor regiment has a website at http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/ , from which the following extract -

This website tells the history, traditions and customs of the two Infantry Regiments of Surrey. The Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey), the 2nd of Foot, was England’s oldest infantry Regiment formed in 1661. The East Surrey Regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 31st [of Foot] who first paraded in 1702 as a Marine Regiment and the 70th [of Foot] who were raised in 1758. These two Regiments were amalgamated in 1959 to form The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment

From my standard source, Henry William & Catherine Patricia Adams' "History of the British Regular Army 1660 - 1990, A Dative Record of the Sovereigns' Regiments", The 2nd of Foot were one of the 26 regiments in 1881 who were aleady multi-battalion and were not amalagamated with another regiment in the Cardwell reforms.

In 1881 the 2nd were known as The Royal West Surrey Regiment (The Queen's); between 1870 and 1782 simply The Queen's Royal Regiment.

In 1870 the 31st were The Huntingdonshire Regiment, and the 70th The Surrey Regiment who, as noted above, in the Cardwell refroms in 1881 became The East Surrey Regiment (31st & 70th).

David

PS There a fascinating Scottish connection: - from thet same site -

The Glasgow Greys
The 70th were formed in 1758 from the 2nd Battalion the 31st, its facings being grey. As it was stationed in the North, it contained in its ranks many men who were natives of Glasgow, and they were, therefore, commonly called the Glasgow Greys.

The Surrey Regiment
In 1782 the 70th were directed to assume the additional title of Surrey Regiment in the same way that the 31st had become Huntingdonshire. Between 1812 and 1825, they were authorised to call themselves the Glasgow Lowland Regiment but at this later date, reverted to their former title of Surrey Regiment.
dww

[joyce]

hi david
thank you for the information will have alook at the site and see what i can find out.have anice weekend ,joyce