Genealogy Chat

Hi,

Can anyone out there help me with these questions, please?

How, or where, do I find information about service personnel stationed on Gibraltar in the mid 1800s? Army I think.

How would the family of a deceased soldier travel back to England - passenger lists? (I can find them in censuses)

Where on Gibraltar might a serving soldier, not officer, be buried?

I have been in contact with the register office on Gibraltar, obtained a birth certificate for my ancestor, but can get no information on his father. Evidently they are/were not required to keep death records. Completely stuck as to what to do to get further back in this line. Mother listed as Elizabeth Miller nee Long but no idea where she came from - can't find marriage to Miller in the records either. Any help much appreciated. :-S

Have you tried the National Archives site to see if his Army records have survived

Not yet but I will........ Have just checked the archive records and it looks like there is nothing available online.

Have you tryed
Armed forces births 1761-2005
Armed forces marriages 1796-2005
Armed forces deaths 1796-2005

on findmypast

Roy

Thanks Roy, will try that next. :-)

Always worth looking on this site for any maritime information. It is the official depository for maritime and HM Customs & Excise records:

Liverpool museums - Merseyside Maritime Museum
Homepage of Merseyside Maritime Museum, part of the National Museums Liverpool group based in the Albert Dock on the banks of the River Mersey.

www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/ -

No luck with anything yet but will try Liverpool museum link, thanks.

If he died in service there almost certainly won't be any Army papers for him. He will be listed SOMEWHERE, though, in Army records at the National Archives but you have to know his regiment. Doesn't the birth cert give the fathers name and regiment?

No unfortunately, it just says that he was 'late Convent Guard' (the Convent was the residence of the Governor of Gibraltar and troops stationed there took it in turns to act as guards) Name is Charles Miller. I have posted about him before but cannot trace him further back. :-S

findmypast has army service records

any of these him>?
Sample Chelsea Pensioners' British Army Service Record
British Army Service Records 1760-1915
Search criteria used:
First name: Charles(including variants)
Last name: Miller
Year of birth: 1825 +/- 10 years
Results:
6 records found.
redefine search
Last name Sort First name(s) Year of
birth Place of birth Regiment Collection Transcript
MILLER Charles 1816 Monaghan, Monaghan 49th Foot

MILLER Charles 1823 Edinburgh, Midlothian 79th Foot

MILLER Charles 1828 Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire 74th Foot

MILLER Charles 1834 Glasgow, Lanarkshire Royal Artillery 5th Battalion

MILLER Charles H 1835 London, Middlesex 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers)

MILLER Charles J 1830 Woolwich, Kent Royal Artillery

Thank you for that piece of research. I know of no Scottish link so probably the Woolwich Kent one is more likely - though his age makes him unlikey to be married, have a child and die all by 1850! Hmm, food for thought though!

if you give his dob then I can search again, i just guessed as you said he was serving mid 1800's

Hi Jo,

Just some info to try and help other members;

Elizabeth Long was born c.1825 Gloucestershire, later in life she states Tewkesbury
Charles Miller was born c.1851 in Gibraltar

1861 England Census
about Chas Miller Voll Name: Chas Miller Voll
Age: 10
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1851
Relation: Son
Father's name: John Abn Voll
Mother's name: Elizth Voll
Gender: Male
Where born: Gibralter

Civil parish: Bethnal Green
Ecclesiastical parish: St James the Less
County/Island: Middlesex
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage: View image

Registration district: Bethnal Green
Sub-registration district: Green
ED, institution, or vessel: 4
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 10
Piece: 254
Folio: 93
Page Number: 2
Household Members: Name Age
John Abn Voll 40
Elizth Voll 36
Chas Miller Voll 10
John Nathl Voll 7 Born Gibraltar
Elizabeth Voll 2
Hannah Mears 22
Caroline Mears 18


John Nathl Voll becomes George Voll in later census..... Charles jnr uses the Miller surname, so looks like the 1854 son could be John Volls child. If this is correct then Charles Miller snr died prior to 1854.

Jo has refered to her other thread and I'm hoping that just by duplicating a small amount may help with the possible finding of Sevice Papers for Charles Miller Snr.

Thank you Vicci and Batman's Daughter. I can only guess at Charles Miller senior's date of birth (1820-1825) working on the assumprion that he was younger than Elizabeth. I can't find a marriage for them either. All very frustrating when you live a long way from PRO (and Gibraltar)

I have traced all the Voll connection but cannot find a marriage for Elizabeth Miller (nee Long) in the Uk, so she must have married out in Gibraltar before returning home, or perhaps she just took the Voll name?

possible

First name(s): Charles
Last name: MILLER
Calculated year of birth: 1823
Parish of birth: Edinburgh
Town of birth: Edinburgh
County of birth: Midlothian
Age at attestation: 17 years
Attestation date: 23 March 1840
Attestation corps: Report transcription error
Attestation soldier number:
Discharge rank: Private
Discharge corps: 79th Foot
Discharge soldier number: 1800
The National Archives reference: WO97 / 895 / 192

b. Portobello Edingburgh
attested 23 Mar 1840 age 17 Glasgow
discharged unfit for service 31 May 1851
served
Gibralter 7 yrs 7/12
Canada 2 yrs 2/12

this could possibly be Elizabeth's marrige to JOhn Abraham Voll

Marriages Sep 1858 (>99%)
Knight Richard Bethnal Gn 1c 688
Lowton Mary Ann Elizabeth Bethnal Gn 1c 688
Miller Elizabeth Bethnal Gn 1c 688

Thank you Vicci for your research. I think the Charles Miller you found is, alas, not mine because of the discharge date - mine died prior to his son's birth (on Gibraltar in Jan of 1851). I will check out the marriage though.
I am beginning to be convinced that I will have to actually go to Gib to sort this one out! I have tried the Gib Genealogy website with no success and there are no on-line records of the right dates to consult. I've even tried newspaper archives with no luck. Better hunt out that passport for next holiday!! :-S
Checked out the marriage just now and not the one I need. It seems that everything needing a record with regard to my gr.gr grandparents seems to have happened on Gibraltar. :-0

You could find out, at Kew, which regiments were stationed at Gibraltar at the relevant time, and then Muster Rolls could be searched to find him. But, apart from giving you a summary of his service, all you might find out is where he was born and a date of death.

That is a useful idea and worth a try, thank you.Right now I would settle for just knowing d.o.b. and location - it has been a big stumbling block in tracing this branch of my tree back further.