Military Chat

Hi Folks, I'd thought I'd throw this out there as I am running out of ideas and I know someone on this chat room will come up with something I have overlooked.

My 2 x Great grandmother - Mary Ann MARTIN was born circa 1850 in Calcutta, India.
According to her marriage certificate of 1870 (St Giles, Holborn to Daniel Reeve FOGERTY), her father was - Robert William MARTIN (Sergeant in the 9th Lancers).

The 9th Lancers took part in various battles during the Indian Mutiny (or 1st War of Independence as it is now known), so everything stacks up in that respect.

The 9th Lancers website have a few documents relating to a marriage of Robert MARTIN in 1841 and the birth of a child - Hamilton MARTIN in 1843.

I cannot find anything that puts my Mary Ann with anyone else from her family prior to her marriage. I've emailed the museum but have had no reply. My next course of action will be to go to the British Library and search through copies of the Bengal Hurkaru in the hope that there may be a birth announcement. But that's a long shot.

Any offers of help or suggestions would be most appreciated.

This looks like Hamilton's birth (his mother also called Mary Anne):-

First name(s) Hamilton
Last name Martin
Birth year 1843
Birth date 04 Dec 1843
Baptism year 1843
Baptism date 17 Dec 1843
Place Cawnpore,St John
Presidency Bengal
Father's first name(s) Robert
Father's last name Martin
Mother's first name(s) Mary Anne
Mother's last name -
Archive reference N-1-64
Folio 512
Page -
Catalogue descriptions Parish register transcripts from the Presidency of Bengal
Record set British India Office Births & Baptisms
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms
Collections from Great Britain, UK None

Unfortunately Hamilton died aged 4 months:-

First name(s) Hamilton
Last name Martin
Birth year 1844
Age 4M
Burial date 06 Apr 1844
Place Cawnpore,St John
Presidency Bengal
Archive
The British Library
Archive Reference N-1-65
Folio -
Page 281
Catalogue Description Parish register transcripts from the Presidency of Bengal, : 1713-1948
Record set British India Office Deaths & Burials
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Burials
Collections from Great Britain, UK None

Kath. x

This is the only Mary Ann Martin baptism I can see in 1850:-

First name(s) Mary Ann Emma
Last name Martin
Birth year 1850
Birth date 16 Feb 1850
Baptism year 1850
Baptism date 15 Sep 1850
Place -
Presidency Madras
Father's first name(s) Robert
Father's last name Martin
Mother's first name(s) Eliza
Mother's last name -
Archive reference N-2-29
Folio 383
Page -
Catalogue descriptions Parish register transcripts from the Presidency of Madras
Record set British India Office Births & Baptisms
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms
Collections from Great Britain, UK None

Kath. x

That Madras baptism will be for this Mary:

Mary Ann Emma Martin
in the India, Select Marriages, 1792-1948
Name: Mary Ann Emma Martin
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Birth Date: 1854
Marriage Date: 23 Oct 1878
Marriage Place: Moulmein, Burma, Bengal, India
Father: Robert Martin
Spouse: Charles Frederick Dancey
FHL Film Number: 527498

The censuses and various possible workhouse records give your Mary Ann's birth as 1851 or 1852.

For example:


Mary Ann Fogerty
in the London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1764-1930
Name: Mary Ann Fogerty
Admission Age: 63
Record Type: Admission
Birth Date: 1852
Admission Date: 17 Jul 1915
Admission Place: Holborn, Holborn, London, England



Mary A R Fogerty
in the 1891 England Census
Name: Mary A R Fogerty
Gender: Female
Age: 40
Relationship: Wife
Birth Year: 1851
Spouse: Daniel R Fogerty
Child: Henry R Fogerty
Alice R Fogerty
Daniel R Fogerty
Annie R Fogerty
Birth Place: Birt Sub, India
Civil Parish: St Andrew and St George
Residence Place: Holborn, St Andrew and St George, London, England
Sub registration district: St George the Martyr
ED, Institution or Vessel: 4
Neighbors:
Piece: 218
Folio: 164
Household Members:
Name Age
Daniel R Fogerty 41
Mary A R Fogerty 40
Henry R Fogerty 19
Alice R Fogerty 17
Daniel R Fogerty 15
Annie R Fogerty 4


The family had a busy couple of years:

The daughter Annie sadly died 1892.
Daughter Alice married in 1891.
Son Daniel married in 1892.
Son Henry married in 1893.

Mary Ann's not with Daniel in 1901, though he's listed as married.

Mary Ann Fogerty
in the 1881 England Census
Name: Mary Ann Fogerty
Age: 29
Estimated birth year: abt 1852
Relationship to Head: Wife
Spouse: Daniel Fogerty
Gender: Female
Where born: Calcutta, East Indies
Civil Parish: St George Martyr
County/Island: London
Country: England
Street address: 6 Green Street
Marital status: Married
Registration district: Holborn
ED, institution, or vessel: 7
Neighbors:
Piece: 339
Folio: 57
Page Number: 23
Household Members:
Name Age
Daniel Fogerty 31
Mary Ann Fogerty 29
Henry Fogerty 9
Alice Fogerty 7
Daniel Fogerty 5
Thomas Fogerty


???
Mary Ann Fogerty
in the 1871 England Census
Name: Mary Ann Fogerty
Age: 20
Estimated birth year: 1851
Relation: Wife
Gender: Female
Where born: London England
Civil Parish: Shoreditch
County/Island: London
Country: England
Registration district: Shoreditch
Sub-registration district: Hoxton New Town
ED, institution, or vessel: 21
Household schedule number: 52
Piece: 449
Folio: 84
Page Number: 7
Household Members:
Name Age
Daniel Fogerty 21
Mary Ann Fogerty 20

A tree on Ancestry - for whatever that's worth (not much) - gives her birth as c1852, but with no birth or baptism record as proof, only censuses, etc.

The tree says her parents were Robert William Martin and Charlotte Jane Martin, born 1812 in Woolwich.

However, that's not to be trusted, as the tree also gives this 1861 census record as "proof " - and it's clearly the wrong family:

Mary Ann Martin
in the 1861 England Census
Name: Mary Ann Martin
Age: 11
Estimated birth year: 1850
Relation: Daughter
Father's name: William Martin
Mother's name: Jane Martin
Gender: Female
Where born: Norwich, Norfolk, England
Civil Parish: All Hallows London Wall
County/Island: Middlesex
Country: England
Registration district: London City
Sub-registration district: London City North East
ED, institution, or vessel: 2
Neighbors:
Household schedule number: 251
Piece: 228
Folio: 43
Page Number: 38
Household Members:
Name Age
William Martin 51 - shoe maker
Jane Martin 49
William Martin 19
Alfred Martin 13
Mary Ann Martin 11
Jane Martin 8
Walter Martin 6

Thank you all so much.
I'm amazed that there appears to be two Robert Martins', both of which had a daughter called Mary Ann.
I know that the one who was the father of Hamilton was in the 9th Lancers.

There is a marriage recorded on the 9th Lancers website between Robert Martin and Mary Ann Fo(r)ster that took place in Exeter, Devon in 1841. I could order the certificate and try and develop a tree from the info on that in the hope that it leads me to the right family.

India was in turmoil during the 1850's and it's hardly surprising the records are hard to find.

Once again, thank you for your help.

If this is the marriage you mean, have you found definitely that Robert married Mary Ann and not one of the other brides?

(I've deleted the names of William Coleman and Phenice Slade, as they married each other - per later censuses.)


Robert Martin
in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915
Name: Robert Martin
Registration Year: 1841
Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration district: St Thomas
Inferred County: Devon
Volume: 10
Page: 315
Records on Page:
Name

Mary Ann Foster
Robert Martin
John Page
George May Slade
Jane Trudgen
Susan Wright

There's a Robert Martin - Mary Ann Hutton marriage in Madras in 1840.

Look on FamilySearch and restrict the country to India.

That feels more likely than the Devon one, Janice.




EDIT: BUT see Chris's post below re the Devon one - Robert a soldier.



Name: Robert Martin
Spouse's Name: Mary Ann Hutton
Event Date: 06 Mar 1840
Event Place: Bellary, Madras, India
Marital Status: Single
Spouse's Marital Status: Widowed
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M00058-4
System Origin: India-EASy
GS Film number: 521842

Possible first marriage of Mary Ann ?? - just a long shot, and only because it's the only result that comes up on FS, assuming she married in Madras:

Name: John Hutton
Spouse's Name: Mary Brown
Event Date: 01 Dec 1830
Event Place: Bangalore, Madras, India
Marital Status: Single
Spouse's Marital Status: Single
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M00057-9
System Origin: India-EASy
GS Film number: 521840


and another equally long shot - could be someone completely different:

Name: John Hutton
Gender: Male
Burial Date: 16 Jul 1837
Burial Place: Vizagapatam, Madras, India
Age: 34
Birth Date: 1803
Marital Status: Unknown
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: B00200-8
System Origin: India-EASy
GS Film number: 521842

(reference Exeter 1841 above)

Chris :)

Devon Marriages (Find My Past)

First name(s) Mary Ann
Last name Forster (occ. Servant)
Age Full Age
Residence St Leonards
Denomination Anglican
Marriage year 1841
Marriage date 29 Aug 1841
Place Exeter, St Leonard
Spouse's first name(s) Robert
Spouse's last name Martin (occ. Soldier)
Spouse age Full Age
Spouse's residence St Leonards
Father's first name Thomas
Father's last name Forster (occ. Gardener)
Spouse's father's first name(s) Hamilton
Spouse's father's last name Martin (occ. Currier)
County Devon
Archive South West Heritage Trust
Archive reference 1862A/PR/1/7
Record set Devon Marriages
(wit. Mary Harnell Mayes?. Residence at time for both, St. Leonards)

Edits
(2 below often useful, India)

https://indiafamily.bl.uk/ui/Home.aspx

https://search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/
(Families in British India Society)

OK, I've changed my mind about the Madras marriage!

Spouse's father first name Hamilton seems too much of a coincidence not to be the right marriage, in Devon.

(below are about?, all born in county)

Chris :)

1841 (Find My Past)
Thomas Foster Male 54 1787 Devon, England (Labourer)
Elizabeth Foster Female 53 1788 Devon, England
Mary Foster Female 20 1821 Devon, England
Susanna Foster Female 18 1823 Devon, England
Edward Foster Male 14 1827 Devon, England
Eliza Foster Female 11 1830 Devon, England
John Foster Male 5 1836 Devon, England
James Perkins Male 79 1762 Devon, England
Street Exe Street
Parish or township St David
City or borough Exeter
Archive reference HO107
Piece number 266
Book number 7
Folio number 18
Page number 30

Looks like the same family - but no mention of gardening, though labouring would cover that. Daughter Mary isn't with them after 1841:


Thomas Foster
in the 1851 England Census
Name: Thomas Foster
Age: 70
Estimated birth year: abt 1781
Relation: Head
Spouse's name: Elizabeth Foster
Gender: Male
Where born: Holne, Devon, England
Civil Parish: Exeter St David
County/Island: Devon
Country: England
Registration district: Exeter
Sub-registration district: St David
ED, institution, or vessel: 1e
Neighbors:
Household schedule number: 14
Piece: 1869
Folio: 88
Page Number: 3
Household Members:
Name Age
Thomas Foster 70 - common labourer
Elizabeth Foster 68
Edward Foster 23



Thomas Foster
in the 1861 England Census
Name: Thomas Foster
Age: 79
Estimated birth year: 1782
Relation: Head
Spouse's name: Elizabeth Foster
Gender: Male
Where born: Holne, Devon, England
Civil Parish: Exeter St David
County/Island: Devon
Country: England
Registration district: Exeter
Sub-registration district: St David
ED, institution, or vessel: 3
Neighbors:
Household schedule number: 23A
Piece: 1397
Folio: 41
Page Number: 4
Household Members:
Name Age
Thomas Foster 79
Elizabeth Foster 76
Edward Jas Foster 25
Mary Foster 25
Thomas W Foster 1
Ruben John Foster 3/12


Thomas and Elizabeth are not with Edward and family in 1871 - presumably have died.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you all.

The marriage in Devon mentioned above is shown on the 9th Lancers website.
On Family Search there is a baptism of Mary Anne Foster 12 FEB 1821, F - Thomas, M - Elizabeth of St Leonard, Exeter.

I've spent the afternoon compiling a list of all the available documents that I can view at the PRO. There are over 50 that cover the years in question.

I just hope I can join the two ends up.

Thanks for all your help, I'll let you know how I get on.