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 Posted by GrandadsSixpence » Sun Aug 19, 2012 4:07 pm
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 Private Registered user Posts: 2 |
| My Great Grandfather, Dyson Holmes, enlisted at Burnley, Lancashire on 9 March 1886 and transferred to the Border Regiment on 1 May 1887.
He was appointed Drummer on 14 March 1890. He extended his service to 12 years under the colours of the operation on 11 February 1892 and reverted to Private on 3 February 1893. He transferred to the Army reserve on 9 March 1893 until his discharge from service on 8 March 1898. After brief spells in Enniskillen and Londonderry (July-January 1887) he departed for India, landing on 3 February 1887. I have downloaded his service record from Findmypast.co.uk which includes a medical history. This details his various postings, Jiropur? 28.2.1887, Sialkot 1.5.1887-11.1.1890, Mandalay 12.1.90-19.20.1890, HMS Euphrates 20.11.90-14.12.1890, Dover & Lydd from 15.12.1890 to 28.9.1892. On the 1891 census Dyson is recorded (as David Holmes) at the South Front Barracks, Hougham, Kent as Drummer 1st Border Regiment. The period he was in Dover is particularly interesting from a family history point of view. This must have been where he met Ellen, wife of Henry Perren and mother of 5 children, the youngest being born in Dover April 1892. Sometime between 1892 and 1897, Dyson and Ellen 'eloped' north to Yorkshire, bringing only the youngest child with them (maybe this child was Dyson's although the child's birth certificate gives Henry Perren as the father). Dyson and Ellen remained in Bradford until their deaths in 1940 and 1941 respectively, only tying the knot in 1931, something to do with claiming married persons pension. They had two more children together, my grandmother, Sarah Ellen in 1897 and a son John in 1900. I would be interested to know what sort of duties he would have been engaged in whilst in Dover as I am trying to find out how he would have met Ellen and shed some light on the circumstances surrounding their elopement. There are also some illnesses on the medical history sheet that Dyson was hospitalised for which I cannot make out. I would be happy to correspond by private message with anyone who may be able to help. Sadly I don't have any photographs of Dyson to share. Thanks for reading. Wendy |
| Posted by plbramham » Sun Aug 19, 2012 5:29 pm
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 General Global moderator Posts: 1369 |
| Welcome to the forum.
I have found that the 1st Border Regiment were housed in the Grand Shaft Barracks in Dover between January 1891 and 23rd May 1893. A couple of useful websites for The Grand Shaft Barracks are: http://jeffhowe.tripod.com/grand_shaft.htm and http://www.medwaylines.com/thegrandshaft.htm Regarding his ship to India: HMS Euphrates was an iron hulled troopship designed for transporting British troops to India, She was launched on 24th November 1866 in the River Mersey by Laird Brothers of Birkenhead. She was 360 feet long with a top speed of 14 knots with steam engine but also rigged with barque type sails. HMS Euphrates was operated by the Royal Navy, transporting up to 1,200 troops and families from Portsmouth to Bombay. The return trip via the Suez Canal took about 70 days. She collided with German steamer Gutenfels in the Suez Canal on 6th February 1892. She was sold in Portsmouth on 23rd November 1894 and resold for breaking in August 1895. I have the following base posting dates for 1st Btn during his period of service:
Regarding “Jiropur” – could that be “Jaipur” or “Jodhpur” in scrawling Victorian handwriting? Both places were readily accessible(by India travel terms!), especially as they had the railway network by this time. Regarding Sialkot; (From Encyclopedia Brittanica 1911): "Sialkot, or Sealkote, a town and district of British India, in the Lahore division of the Punjab. The town, which has a station on the North-Western railway, is 72 m. N.E. of Lahore. Pop. (1901) 57,956. It is a military cantonment, being the headquarters of a brigade in the 2nd division of the northern army. There are remains of a fort dating from about the 10th century; but the mound on which they stand is traditionally supposed to mark the site of a much earlier stronghold, The town has an extensive trade, and manufactures of sporting implements, boots, paper, cotton, cloth and shawl-edging. There are Scottish and American missions, a Scottish mission training institution and an arts college." I cannot really say what his illness may have been without seeing the document (I know they can be hard to read – I guess doctor’s handwriting has always been bad, and copperplate makes it worse!), but I guess it could have been any type of tropical disease picked up in India. (Very possibly malaria if it recurred). Bear in mind the disease may have been known by a different term in Victorian times. There is also the chance, as Dover was both a docks and barracks teeming with soldiers and sailors, that the affliction was some sort of “social disease”. |
| Posted by IanT » Mon Aug 20, 2012 12:39 pm
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.png) Major Registered user Posts: 252 |
The medical conditions listed are, as far as I can decipher:
The last five entries in Dover & Lydd give no indication of the problem, but he didn't need to be admitted (to hospital) for treatment. Ian |