British India

Mary Anne Gourley tells this research story from the GSV's British India Discussion Circle, of the return of two young boys from India to England in 1857.  

See more about this group for GSV Members HERE.

***

The August meeting of our group proved successful for Laurette McWhirter in overcoming a frustrating brick wall and finding long sort information regarding two young ancestors.

Laurette was anxious to confirm the arrival in the UK of the two young boys sent back from India at the beginning of 1857 after their mother’s death. I should add here that their father died in the fighting not long after their departure.

During the voyage the boys were under the care of a Mrs Balfour; also returning to England with her children. Confirmation came years later when the boys' maternal grandfather filed an affidavit in a family court case detailing their safe arrival.

In her research, Laurette had found information that two ships left India in February 1857 both carrying a Mrs Balfour accompanied by children: The Agamemnonwith Mrs Balfour & three children, the Sutlej with Mrs Balfour & four children.

FIBIS database list the Agamemnondeparting 8 February and the Sutlejdeparting 5 February. 19th Cen Periodicalsfound on NLA website also has this same information.

We solved this mystery using British Library Newspaper Archive(available at the GSV) and the newspaper Homeward Mail from India. Appearing on the same page are the passenger arrivals for May 1857: the Agamemnonwith Mr & Mrs Balfour and three children as passengers disembarking at Gravesend on 23 May and the Sutlej arriving three days later includes the name of Mrs Balfour and two children. 

But we knew from both the FIBIS database and 19th Cen Periodicals that there were four children accompanying Mrs Balfour. The mystery was solved when we scrolled to the end of the passenger list, which gives details of accompanying older children including ‘two Master McWhirter’.

Having succeeded in solving this brick wall for Laurette let’s see if we can solve others at our final meeting for 2019 on 19 November.

Mary Anne Gourley

Convener British India Discussion Circle

***

Image of the ship Sutlej, coloured lithograph by the artist William Foster, used with permission of Royal Museums Greenwich, UK. Object PAH 0600 [CC BY-NC-ND].

By Mary Anne Gourley - Convener, GSV British India Discussion Circle and FIBIS representative in Australia.

*

Did you have a soldier ancestor in India? Which Army? What are the differences? Where are the records?

I often receive questions about ancestors who served in the army in India. My response is usually, which army? There are differences relating to who created the records and where they are held.

East India Company armies

The Queen's Own Madras Sappers and Miners Regiment. Illus. by Richard Simkin (1840-1926). Chromolithograph in Army & Navy gazette 1896.

 

The East India Company established armies to protect its interests in India. Composed of European officers and soldiers, these regiments went out to India from 1748 and remained in the Company's employ until 1861, following the mutiny. The East India Company maintained an army in each presidency – Bengal, Bombay and Madras. Each army had regiments comprising European officers and men but they also established Native Regiments with European officers and native soldiers.

Most of records for this area of research are found in the India Office Collection held by the British Library in London. A large quantity of these records has been filmed by the Latter-Day Saints and they are available through the FamilySearch Catalogue.

A reference guide written by Peter Bailey, Researching Ancestors in the East India Company Armies, will help the researcher. Bailey’s guide features analysis of the records, tables and appendices and more importantly ‘precise film references’. The majority of these films can be accessed at the GSV Research and Education Centre or an LDS family history centre.

Recently I looked for records relating to Francis Green a soldier in the Madras European Regiment. I established that he had arrived in India in 1803 aged 16, was from England and had been part of a contingent arriving on the transport Calcutta at the end of August.[i] Depot Description lists record his place of birth as Wisbech in Cambridgeshire and his occupation as a tailor. Using the Musters Rolls I established he was with the regiment until at least 1820, after which time his name is not recorded, possibly due to promotion or his death.

Findmypast has several collections from the India Office Collection including military records, wills and probate, and ecclesiastical. Amongst the registers is the marriage of Francis Green and Catherine Limb in 1809. From that time several children were born. In 1819 Francis was a Serjeant in the Madras European Regiment.

Following the mutiny in 1857-58 the British Government assumed control of India from the East India Company. The latter’s armies were dissolved with the men given the opportunity to transfer into the British Army or be discharged with a bounty. Of those many chose to return to the UK while others chose to remain in India. Some found new occupations.

The Indian Army under British control

A new Indian Army was established, which was smaller than the previous armies of the East India Company. The artillery regiments were transferred to the British Army. A staff corps was established in each Presidency. Loyal senior native soldiers could become junior officers or NCO’s. Overall control was to remain in India. Reforms and restructuring took 86 years.

The records for the Indian Army under British control are held by the British Library in London however a second guide by Peter Bailey, Researching Ancestors in the Indian Army will be helpful. Again, it is an analysis of the records and provides film references. A copy of this guide is available in the GSV Centre (355.354 BAI)

The British Army serving in India

Many queries relate to soldiers in the British Army serving in India. From the middle of 18th C Britain had sent out regiments to support the East India Company armies in each presidency. Records for the British Army will be found at The National Archives (TNA) at Kew in London. However, Findmypast does have a selection of British Military Records including Regimental and Service Records.

While researching my own family I found my great grand aunt Agnes McKenzie had married William Thomas Marshal, Colour Serjeant of HM 69th Regiment at Saint Andrew’s Church, Madras in 1864. William’s service records are on Findmypast and include details of his place of birth, Ireland; place of enlistment, Rochester, Kent and service with the regiment, including time in India, Canada and Bermuda and finally retirement in Manchester in 1872.

FIBIS - Families in British India Society - has an inclusive section on the Military in FIBIwiki covering all armies, their regiments, garrisons and history.

***

[i] The Calcutta also transported a contingent of Royal Marines for the Colony of New South Wales under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Collins who was going out as Governor of the Colony. ('Ship News', The Times, (London, England) 12 April 1803)

***

The next meeting of the new British India Discussion Circle is on Tuesday 15 May at the GSV - see website for details.

.

With the records of the East India Company, the India Office and the British Government now accessible without having to visit the British Library, the GSV has established the British India Discussion Circle. Its first meeting - for GSV members only  - is to be held on Tuesday 17 April at 12 noon - 1.00 pm. The circle will be convened by Mary Anne Gourley, GSV Member and the representative in Australia of Families in British India Society (FIBIS). In this article Mary Anne introduces this area of family history with a brief outline of her own research.

***

With some 3 million people of British origin having lived and worked in India between 1600 and 1947, many of us may find ancestors having connections to that country.

How do we trace family who worked within the military, merchant navy, administration, commerce and trade in India? Can we unravel family stories of heroic soldiers fighting during the mutiny, of runaways, orphans and of course the inevitable and impossible to prove Indian princess! Where do we go to research these ancestors and what records will we find? 

How and where do we start?

For me, my research began twenty years ago with information recorded on the 1853 Victorian birth certificate of my great grandfather; his parents had been married in Calcutta and his mother had been born in India.

By good fortune I was able to consult the Ecclesiastical indexes for Calcutta available on film from Familysearch. With information for that marriage in Calcutta, I was advised to order a copy of the document from the British Library in London, the repository for all East India Company and India Office records.

Dudley Gourley on an elephant c. 1927. Courtesy of Colin Gourley.

 

This information has lead me on a forever expanding journey. I am amazed at the number of family members I have found in India; from cadets, soldiers and officers in the East India Company and British Army, merchants, planters, journalist, administrators. Many of them marrying and having families. Their stories reveal determination and hardship, tragedy and loss. Not all who survived remained in India. Many returned to the UK, a few came to Australia some travelled farther afield to Canada and South Africa.

Interest in research in India brought about the founding of the Families in British India Society (FIBIS) twenty years ago in the UK. Technology has changed the way we research. Today it is possible to do our research using not only the resources held by the British Library in London, but those of other libraries and archives in the UK and worldwide with online databases.

Mary Anne Gourley

You can read more about this Circle on the GSV website.