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Peter Thompson - was he in the Battle of Waterloo

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  • Peter Thompson - was he in the Battle of Waterloo

    I now have back my GGGF's (Robert Thompson)marriage certificate to his second wife Eliza in 1863. He was born in about 1802 and is aged 61 and it says that Peter Thompson was his father and he is by then deceased. I don't have the faintest idea where Peter was born or where, but I have found his marriage to an Isabella Curry in 1788 Saint Bees, Cumberland, England, so I am guessing that he would have had to have been born around 1768.

    I have found the only Peter Thompson on the Waterloo Medal Roll. This Peter Thompson was of the 1st Bn. 71st Regiment of Light Infantry - Capt Campbell's company and he was a Serjeant.

    As I understand it in those days to be an officer you had to buy your commission, therefore the family had to have had money. Robert and his sister Isabella were both born in Chelsea (1802 and 1808). The question I am asking is where did Peter come from and how do I go about finding one way or another whether his Peter and the marriage Peter are one and the same.

  • #2
    A sarjeant was a non-commissioned officer, he didn't have to buy his rank, but he would certainly have been a soldier for a long time...

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    • #3
      what makes you think peter was an army officer?

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      • #4
        I've just googled, I'm pretty certain they were the Highland Light Infantry.

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        • #5
          There are seven different Peter Thompsons serving at time of Waterloo, whose discharge papers are in WO97 (Chelsea Pensioners records) at Kew:


          WO 97/904/46 PETER THOMPSON Born HADDINGTON, Lanarkshire Served in 75th Foot Regiment; 80th Foot Regiment Discharged aged 45 1791-1817

          WO 97/1110/61 PETER THOMPSON Born KIMBERWORTH, Yorkshire Served in Yorkshire Militia Discharged aged 44 1793-1815

          WO 97/399/83 PETER THOMPSON Born COLBEND, Dumfriesshire Served in 10th Foot Regiment; 19th Foot Regiment Discharged aged 43 1801-1819

          WO 97/132/44 PETER THOMPSON Born KILLASHEE, Fermanagh Served in 6th Dragoon Guards Discharged aged 35 1805-1819

          WO 97/1130/181 PETER THOMPSON Born CAMBLETON, Argyllshire Served in 90th Foot Regiment; 6th Royal Veteran Battalion Discharged aged 36 1807-1821

          WO 97/1037/13 PETER THOMPSON Born SAMLESBURY, Lancashire Served in 95th Foot Regiment; 96th Foot Regiment Discharged aged 36 1808-1819

          WO 97/1128/369 PETER THOMPSON Born SALMSBURY, Lancashire Served in 95th Foot Regiment; 5th Royal Veteran Battalion Discharged aged 38 1808-1821

          Doesn't look like any correspond to one on the Waterloo Roll, so assume he did not get a pension?

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          • #6
            If Robert was born in Chelsea, what makes you think the people married in Cumberland were his parents?

            What occupation does it give for Peter on Robert's marriage cert?

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            • #7
              I knew Robert's mother was called Isabella from one of the censuses, as she was living with the family presumably when a widow. I have looked at the census and like father like son, he was a baker. I found the marriage of Peter and Isabella on IGI (Cumberland) and this ties in date wise with the birth of Robert and shows Peter and Isabella to be his parents.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by kylejustin View Post
                what makes you think peter was an army officer?
                Family folklore, some has come out and others I have shot out of the water.

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                • #9
                  sorry to doubt, lorraine, but in your first post, you didn't mention why you thought he was a an army officer.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by kylejustin View Post
                    sorry to doubt, lorraine, but in your first post, you didn't mention why you thought he was a an army officer.
                    Not to worry, I wasn't offended. All I am interested in is whether the family tale is true or poppycock.

                    One thing's for certain, I doubt very much whether the money came from Isabella's side of the family, as they appear to have been involved in coalmining in the Durham area.

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                    • #11
                      that would be interesting to figure out. might have been inherited wealth?

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by kylejustin View Post
                        that would be interesting to figure out. might have been inherited wealth?
                        It could have been, but my ancestors moved about the UK, so I don't know for certain where Peter was born and its pre 1841 so there are no censuses to look at for clues.

                        I only met my Dad's brother (who is also dead) the once and he told me at my father's wake that our family had some connection with Wellington. A baker isn't a trade that you'd associate with money, but I am wondering whether the money came as a trade off because Peter was illegitimate (fathered by someone with position) and got a legacy to account for the money. How do you find out about someone that was born before censuses began and I haven't been able to find his christening either, let alone knowing precisely how old he was. Would the ledger be stored at Kew now, or would the church still have them?

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                        • #13
                          I have had another thought, is it possible that I have the wrong Isabella marrying Peter Thompson, though the dates seem to tie in. I have looked under ancestry at the marriages from 1538 and there are rather a lot of Peter Thompsons, are they all married to an Isabella? I can't look myself, as I have a really basic package.

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                          • #14
                            I would imagine that Peter Thompson was a very very common name.

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                            • #15
                              The thing is if dad was a sarjeant, a non com, it's highly unlikely that he would have a son who was an officer, the connection with Wellington is probably Waterloo, Is there actually any hard facts about money?

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                              • #16
                                Originally posted by Just Barbara View Post
                                The thing is if dad was a sarjeant, a non com, it's highly unlikely that he would have a son who was an officer, the connection with Wellington is probably Waterloo, Is there actually any hard facts about money?
                                I would have thought that to have lived in Chelsea around the 1800s, you wouldn't have been poor. It was a well off area. Robert's son became a giilder and for that he must have served an apprenticeship and that would indicate that he must have had an education.

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                                • #17
                                  I don't get the connection between Chelsea and Cumberland. They are hundreds of miles apart.

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                                  • #18
                                    Originally posted by Margaret in Burton View Post
                                    I don't get the connection between Chelsea and Cumberland. They are hundreds of miles apart.
                                    Thats what I don't understand what on earth Peter and Isabella were doing there. Isabella's family seem to originate from Chester le Street, Durham and apart from Cumberland, I have no ideas there at all. Could it be that Chester le Street, Durham is quite close to Cumberland, where they married being just across the Pennines; its really difficult having no census records to go on, as then you have some chance of being able to work it out geographically.

                                    I have been looking back through my records this evening and I am sure that Isabella Snr was married to Peter Thompson in Cumberland. Why they came to London I don't know, but come to London they did. In 1841 a 70 year old Isabella was living with her son Robert, as was his sister Isabella. By 1861 the baker had become a picture dealer, so therefore I would say that indicates some money came from somewhere over the 20 years, as it costs to set up in business.

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                                    • #19
                                      Lorraine

                                      Apprenticeship does not denote an education - thousands upon thousands of paupers were apprenticed straight from the workhouse.

                                      Your ancestor probably wasn't a pauper apprentice but that certainly doesn't mean his family had money, just that they were careful managers.

                                      Chelsea was a wealthy area but also had slums round the back, to house all the servants and artisans needed to support the wealthy.

                                      It might be worth trying to find the son's apprenticeship records as they may tell you something about the father's circumstances. A Baker could have made a very nice living indeed and have been very comfortably off by his own efforts.

                                      OC

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                                      • #20
                                        Don't be offended, but I think you're getting your wires a bit crossed here.

                                        I assume these are the census references you've found:

                                        1841: Class: HO107; Piece 684; Folio: 11; Page: 17
                                        1851: Class: HO107; Piece: 1493; Folio: 126; Page: 5
                                        1861: Class: RG9; Piece: 115; Folio: 90; Page: 39
                                        1871: Class: RG10; Piece: 242; Folio: 44; Page: 4

                                        Bear in mind that the 1841 census doesn't show relationships; Isabella senior may be his mother, but not necessarily - she could be an auntie or something. Anyway, it says that she's born in Scotland, and Robert's born out of county (ie. not in Middlesex, which rules out Chelsea as a birthplace). Can't see a baptism for an Isabella Curry at anywhere near the right time on ScotlandsPeople.

                                        In 1851 it gives Robert's birthplace as Surrey, but doesn't specify where.

                                        I'm very dubious as to whether the Robert Thompson picture dealer in 1861 and gentleman in 1871 are the same as the two bakers in 1841 and 1851. And if they're not the same, then either your Robert wasn't married to Eliza and his father wasn't Peter, or he was, but his mother wasn't the Isabella shown in 1841.

                                        Bear in mind also that the IGI is nowhere near complete, and nor are the baptisms on Ancestry, so just because you can only find one that fits doesn't mean it's the right one.

                                        I think we need to start again with what you know for sure, and work back from there. Which of Robert's children are you descended from?

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