|
A Battle of Waterloo Survivor - by Barry Ebdon
How strange the way a story unfolds! I had gone to Christ Church, in Burntwood one Tuesday evening in May order to conduct the 7.00 pm service of Compline, but before I had a chance to go into the church to start my preparations, I was summoned to the oldest part of the churchyard by the Vicar, who was surrounded by Brownies being supervised by Brown Owl, Akela etc. One young Brownie said, “Look what I’ve just uncovered!” The ‘discovery’ was a headstone which had been laid flat, and which had been covered by grass. When I read the inscription, I was intrigued by what I read –
‘IN LOVING MEMORY OF JAMES ROBINSON, A WATERLOO VETERAN, WHO DIED DEC 24TH 1878, AGED 88 YEARS’
Needless to say, the word ‘Waterloo’ jumped out at me, and I vowed to make some enquiries regarding this old soldier, and so my quest began. The Internet is an excellent way of beginning research, and I had recently taken advantage of a cut price offer to join the ‘findmypast’ website. I firstly accessed the births, marriages and deaths section on this site and, having found the only entry for a death of a James ROBINSON whose age fitted my particular search, I applied to the General Register Office for a copy of his death certificate. This duly arrived some four days later and described James as ‘Pensioner, 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards’ and that he had indeed passed away on Christmas Eve 1878 in Chase Terrace, Burntwood, the cause of death being given as chronic bronchitis. James had been 24 or 25 when the Battle of Waterloo took place in June 1815. I then set about accessing the census records in order to gather more information regarding this local man, and to construct a family tree to see how much I could discover. In the 1841 census, he was living at Woodhouses (then described as being in the Parish of St. Michael, Lichfield) with his wife Mary and six children, and was described as an ‘agricultural labourer’. In the 1861 census he was living with Mary at School Green in the Parish of Burntwood Edgall (sic!) Edial and Woodhouses, still described as an ‘agricultural labourer’. He was then aged 69 and his wife 65. The children had obviously flown the nest between 1841 and 1861.
In the 1871 census, James was at Oaks Villa, Stapenhill, Burton upon Trent, then aged 79 and described as ‘Assistant, Waterloo’. The head of the household is William GLOVER, whose wife was Elizabeth GLOVER (née ROBINSON), aged 43. There is an interesting note in the enumerator’s record to the effect that James was ‘blind left eye from battle’. I did write to the commanding officer of the Coldstream Guards at Knightsbridge Barracks, London, asking whether the regiment could supply any further information, but as yet I have not received a reply. Invaluable assistance also was provided from the Parish Registers Transcription and Index of Christ Church which covers baptisms 1820–1905, marriages 1845–1905 and burials 1820–1905, compiled by members of the Burntwood Family History Group, to whom I am indebted.
If any reader is going to The National Archives at Kew in the not too distant future, I wonder if they’d do me a favour and access the Regimental Records there? One other point springs to mind. There are presumably relatives of James ROBINSON still living in the area and I am sure that, given sufficient time, I could trace them. However, perhaps one of our readers can provide a short cut – it would certainly be interesting to find out more about this veteran. Any further information gleaned will be reported in due course. However, after this article was published in the Spring 2008 edition of the magazine for Christ Church, Burntwood, I was contacted by Paul ADAMS, a podiatrist who advertises with us, who tells me that he has a keen interest in Napoleonic memorabilia and was able to provide the following additional information:
‘James ROBINSON was a member of the Light Company, 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards, who would all have been fit young men. There were ten companies in each battalion and the strength of the 2nd Battalion at the Battle of Waterloo was 1003 officers and men, of whom 55 were killed in action and 249 wounded. Each soldier who fought in the battle would have been awarded two years’ additional pension and would also have been awarded the Waterloo Medal’.
But where is James’s medal, and where are his descendants?
|
P 076
