Sgt RICHARD JONES, Master Tailor
Researched by Irena White
Sergeant RICHARD JONES 1773 – 26 March 1862 aged 89 Master Tailor to the 43rd
Regiment of Foot.
Born in Baschurch,
Richard was a tailor by trade, and on the 9th of October 1794 at the
age of 22 he joined the 43rd Regiment of Light Infantry at
Shrewsbury. He was to serve for 22 years, 4 as a Corporal and 16 as a Sergeant
before being discharged at Plymouth on the 9th of October 1816. His Pension being 1 shilling and 11
and a half pence per day = 13 shillings 8 ½ pence per week. His Character
reference describes him as ‘of impeachable character and may truly be called a ‘good
man’.
His service started in Barbados in joining the expedition of Sir Charles
Grey to recover the islands of Guadaloupe, Martinique and St Lucia. By 1797 the
Regiment had been stationed at Fort George in Martinique until they were
replaced and moved to Fort Edward until the end of the year. In January 1798
they moved again, this time to St Pierre, were they remained until February
1800 when they moved back to Fort George. The Regimental numbers now being
reduced to 300, soldiers were given the opportunity to transfer to other corps
or to return home. Richard being one of the returnee’s, took ship from Port
Royal on the HMS Prince of Wales and landed at Portsmouth in late June, then
moved to Stroud and later Tilbury where the Regiment spent the next 6 months
before they were quartered in the Channel Islands until the beginning of 1804
when they embarked for Portugal.
The 43rd
fought at the Battle of Vimerio which resulted in driving Napoleon’s forces out
of Portugal. The campaign against the French then moved to Spain, where in
January 1809 the Regiment took part in the retreat of Corunna with Sir John Moore,
achieving fame as the rearguard to the Army, before returning to England where Richard
continued his service at home. Throughout
his time with the Regiment, Richard continued his trade as a Tailor as well as
taking part in the battles of the time.
At his retirement
he is described as being ‘Master Tailor to the Regiment’. On
the 9th of October 1816 Richard was discharged from the service,
reasons being – Rheumatism and Worn Out, he was 43 years old, half way through
his life. Atwhat point Richard made his return home to Shropshire is not known, but
in 1841 the census shows him as living at The Lodging House in Brownhill, Ruyton
XI Towns with his wife Jane, he is 65 and describes himself as ‘Tailor’. In the next more detailed census of 1851 he is
shown as a Chelsea Pensioner and Tailor and that his wife originated from Angus
Scotland. Our last mention of him is in the 1861 census listed as Tailo, Chelsea Pensioner of the 43 Reg. His
date of death is 26th March 1862 and he and his wife, [who died in 1871], are both buried
in the graveyard of St John the Baptist Church, Ruyton XI Towns.
Remembering that
soldiers marched everywhere, from their place of enlistment and, allowing for
the channel crossing, we are looking at around 1200 miles to Portugal or Spain,
no wonder many of the returning soldiers were described as ‘worn out’ when the
Peninsula Wars finally ended. If we add
in his sea journey to the West Indies he ended up as a much travelled man As
Richard did not appear to have had any family we have very little information
about him but his Army documents show that he was 5’9” tall, Grey hair, blue
eyes and a fair complexion. That he lived to 89 would seem to show that he was
a strong man of his time.
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Over the years, since the 1840 census, various houses
on the Brownhill would appear to have been lodging houses of some kind –
whether these were cases of a friend occupying, or sharing, a room or the equivalent of a B&B where
any passing itinerant could find a bed for the night is impossible to know.
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The 43rd Foot at the Battle of Vimerio |
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