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 William WATCHAM - Coastguard
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| aussienoel |
Posted on 31/08/2009 12:15
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 Member  Posts: 30 Joined: 31/08/2009 |
Hello. I'm a new member. Plenty of general family history research experience, but almost none with Ireland or coastguards. My interest is one William WATCHAM, a distant relative of my mother. William was born in Kirby-le-Soken, Essex, about 1819. After the death of his father in 1826 his mother caused a deal of nuisance to the parish; William was boarded out to a local farmer andthen in 1835 was apprenticed for 6 years to a fisherman of nearby Brightlingsea. At the end of his apprenticeship he joined the Royal Navy, and served on HMS Monarch, HMS Penelope, HMS Avenger, and finally on HMS Amphion, from whence he joined the Coastguard Service in October 1848. On 17th October 1848 he appeared at Achill-beg as a Boatman. Shortly thereafter, early in 1849, William, a Protestant, became the subject of a local scandal when he married a Roman Catholic girl, Mary HANNA or HANNAN, daughter of a fellow coastguard at Achill-beg Richard HANNA(N), in a clandestine ceremony held in the middle of the night in the home of a Catholic priest. In so doing he incurred the wrath of the Reverend Edward Nangle of the Protestant Mission to Achill, who duly wrote about the matter in the "Achill Missionary Herald and Western Witness"; Nangle wanted the priest to be charged, and the matter went as far as the Attorney-General before it was decided that no charges would be laid. It was only when I stumbled on the articles in the British Library's on-line Collection of 19th century Periodicals did I track WIlliam WATCHAM to Achill-beg and subsequently find both his coastguard and Navy records. William stayed at Achill-beg until he was removed to Portnafrankagh on 4th February 1853, from whence he was discharged to pension on 14th November 1859. Unfortunately, no pension records seem to have survived. William and Mary must have also gone through a Protestant marriage ceremony, because the Ireland GRO has a record of their marriage in 1849. I have applied for this certificate. The only other relevant Irish BMD that I can find is the marriage of a Sarah WATCHAM (spouse unknown) in the Belmullet registration district in 1867. This is consistent with William perhaps remaining near Portnafrankagh after he was pensioned - was Sarah his daughter? I have applied for this certificate also. I can find no death registration for either William or Mary, but because Irish birth and death registrations did not start until 1864, this is somewhat inconclusive. In my research I have extracted all the English, Welsh and Scottish BMDs for the surname WATCHAM and variants, and I have no "spare" William or Mary. Emigration from Ireland to, say, America, is a possiblility of course. Sarah's marriage certificate would seem to be key information at this stage. So...many questions remain unanswered. I gather that many, if not most, Irish records were destroyed in 1922. I'd appreciate any comments of suggestions as to where I might look for further traces of William and his wife and possible family. any information on the stations at Achill-beg and Portnafrankagh (I believe that the latter closed in 1869). I understand that the former station at Achill-beg still stands - does anyone have a photograph I might use as an illustration in a book? And, any other comments in general. I'm a long way from all the records - I live in Melbourne - so any help will be most gratefully received. Thank you, Noel |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 31/08/2009 15:18
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 Administrator  Posts: 906 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Hi Noel Firstly can I congratulate you on your research and write up, excellent! While I can add very little with regards the Irish family history records - you need Tony for that - I can perhaps add a little to William's CG career. You are no doubt aware, if you have read other articles on the site, that some 2500 - 3000 CGs were called up for service in the Navy during the Crimean War. In most instances this does not appear on their service record. Therefore, I have been working on a project to identify these men, using the ships description books and the medal roll. From this study I am fairly confident that William was one such man. According to my research a William Watcham, who gave his place of birth as Colchester, Essex, served on board HMS Prince Regent (Ships No. 105) in the Baltic, and then HMS Royal Albert (Ships No.98) in the Crimea. For his service in the Crimea he was awarded the Crimea medal, with Sebastopol clasp, which was delivered on board, and the Baltic Medal, which was delivered to Bellmullet CG Station on 6 May 1857. I have William's age as 22 in 1854, but this is either a transcription error on my part, an incorrect entry in the ships book, or he was being economical with the truth! Regards Martin Edited by crimea1854 on 31/08/2009 15:22 |
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| aussienoel |
Posted on 01/09/2009 10:34
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Member Posts: 30 Joined: 31/08/2009 |
Martin, I'm almost overwhelmed by such a stunning reply! I'm indeed most grateful to you. I have no doubt whatsoever that this is one and the same man. Although there are a number of William WATCHAMs (and William WATSHAMs, to give the other variant and my mother's actual surname) in the family I can't believe that there could be two such men in the vicinity of Belmullet! William's Navy records also give his birthplace as Colchester, although he was baptised at Kirby and other records indicate that he was born there also. In my research I have found it not uncommon for a person to give the nearest large town as their birthplace, rather than the small village in which they were actually born. In my frequent Googling I had come up with the occurrence of the surname on the two medal rolls, but had never thought to pursue it further. While WATSHAM is unique to Essex, WATCHAM is not (although many are connected). Another flaw in my research exposed! I'm not sure quite what your project involves, but if you would like my other information about William WATCHAM, coastguard, then you have only to ask. Probably best to send you the material off-Forum? Before I close, let me correct any impression that I have done all the research into William myself. The work on the records at TNA was done by a most competent and professional researcher who specialises in naval and military records etc. I think that protocol requires that he remain unidentified; nevertheless, he should receive much of the credit. Thank you once again. Noel |
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| kilmeny |
Posted on 01/09/2009 15:49
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 Member Posts: 37 Joined: 28/02/2009 |
Hello Noel, Thanks for asking about the existence of the CG Station on Achill Beg. It is something I kept meaning to ask , but never remmeb'd. It looks like your CG ancestor worked alongside several of mine on that tiny, fairly inhospitable island ! Kilmeny |
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