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 John Anderson
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| Rosalyn |
Posted on 28/02/2011 18:48
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 New Member  Posts: 6 Joined: 09/01/2009 |
My great grandfather was William Atkinson Anderson. His naval service record states his birth as 13 November 1847 in Ballyna, Ireland and he was in the coast guard service from about 1875 to 1889. On his marriage certificate, he gives his father's name and occupation as John Anderson, Coastguard Officer. While I have found 3 John Anderson's who were coast guards through this marvellous website, I have been unable to identify one that could be my great great grandfather. The nearest is the John Anderson who married Louisa Copplestone as clearly he was working as a coastguard in County Mayo where William was born. But Louisa appears to have come from Westport rather than Ballyna and the details of their marriage and subsequent children do not fit with my William's date of birth. Does anyone know of another John Anderson who might be the right one? Many thanks. |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 01/03/2011 10:57
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 Administrator  Posts: 906 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Hi, and welcome to the Forum. I believe that I have found your John Anderson, a Commissioned Boatman at Dunkeehan. Unfortunately I have been unable to find Dunkeehan on a map, but according to the record in ADM 175/19 (pdf 266 of 472) it is in the District of Ballycastle, Port Ballina. On the assumption that I have the right man I traced his career: He initially worked as an Extra-man at Ballycastle, prior to being nominated on 19 April 1831 to the Coastguard Service (Nomination No.2134), with a first posting to Whitstable in Kent. There are two Ballycastles’, but I would assume that it is the one in Mayo. 25 July 1832 he was promoted to Commissioned Boatman and transferred to East Lane End. 31 October 1832 to Bathurst 7 April 1837 to Dunkeehan 25 October 1849 promoted to Chief Boatman and transferred to Kilcorgan 12 September 1857 promoted to Chief Boatman in Charge, and transferred to North Isle of Arran (Ireland). 5 February 1869 to Ross. The last record I have for him is in ADM 175/61 (pdf 93 of 230), which shows that he was discharged with a pension on 30 June 1869. Regards Martin . Edited by crimea1854 on 01/03/2011 11:04 |
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| Rosalyn |
Posted on 02/03/2011 18:07
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New Member Posts: 6 Joined: 09/01/2009 |
Martin, thank you so much for this information, for your research and your quick response. When I posted the message I did not hold out any hope of receiving a strong lead like this. The dates you provide, and the location of John Anderson around the time of the birth of my Great Grandfather William Atkinson Anderson (himself later in the coast guard service), leaves me in little doubt that this John is the right person. I googled Dunkeehan and this confirmed what you said that its location is in Port Ballina, in the district of Ballycastle (the region where William was born). I could not find East Lane End, can you advise where this is? Apart from Whitstable, Kent, all the other locations are in Ireland. Is it possible to estimate John Anderson's date of birth from the information you provided and his probable age at retirement in 1869? I always assumed he was born around 1824 but your information suggests it must have been closer to 1810-1812. I would now like to find out if there is a pension record for him now I know his date of discharge from the service, any advice on how I could do this? Thank you again so much for your help. Best wishes, Rosalyn |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 03/03/2011 08:36
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Administrator Posts: 906 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Hi Rosalyn I'm pleased that my research has been of help. As far as I can tell East Lane End is located in Kent on the Isle of Sheppey, but I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong. However, what did surprise me is that Bathurst is not a place, but the name of a ship! HMS Bathurst was originally built as a 10 gun sloop in 1821, but was transferred to the Coastal Blockade Service at Sheerness in 1830. The use of ex naval vessels by the CG Service was to become more common in later years, particularly in more remote locations, but I had not appreciated that one was in use so early. Regarding his date of birth, I would guess that he would have been about 18 to 20 when he worked as an Extra-man, which supports your estimate of his possible year of birth. On the question of pension records I'm afraid I've never tried looking for a man using these - assuming they still survive. However, the following may help http://www.nation...ension.htm. Regards Martin |
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| Rosalyn |
Posted on 03/03/2011 17:54
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New Member Posts: 6 Joined: 09/01/2009 |
Thanks Martin. I did not know about Bathurst being an ex-naval vessel and thought it was a place, so thanks for that. I have followed through the National Archives thread you gave and have ordered a copy of whatever they might have about John Anderson's pension. I have not used this facility before so it will be interesting to see if it works (and how much it will cost!). Ros |
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