TOPIC:

For a couple of years now, I have had the pleasure of owning the QSA to 8227 Sergeant T. J. Davies of the Special Service Company (Militia) of the RMRE.
However, I have been unable to find any attestation papers through the usual sources.
I called in to the regimental museum at Monmouth Castle this year on their final day of opening before the 'closed season ' and left a request for further information from the regimental archives. No reply as yet.

Could anyone of my learned fellow forummers please point me in the right direction as regards service records for Sgt. Davies and the RMRE?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. The attestations must be out there somewhere!

Cheers Steve

Hi Steve
FYI
www.monmouthcastlemuseum-archives.org.uk...unc=listallresources



Maybe worth a try?

Regards

Dave....

Thank you Dave, I'll give it a try.

Steve - following the link supplied by Dave and using the "Search Database" facility on the rhs of the screen gave:



Moving to Ancestry and searching Public Family Trees for a Thomas John Davies born in Wales in1865 (+/- 2 years) gave a lot of possibilities but this one immediately caught my eye:



Where is Llanwonno? According to Wikipedia "a hamlet high up in the hills between the historic mining valleys of the Rhondda and the Cynon in Rhondda Cynon Taf, deep in the heart of the South Wales Valleys. Llanwonno consists of St Gwynno's Church and an inn – The Brynffynon Hotel."

He actually fits quite well in other ways as he appears on the 1871 & 1881 Cenuses but then disappears unlike the rest of the family who can be found on the 1891 Census - so consistent with him joining the Army in 1882. In 1871 his father was a "collier" but had become an "engine driver" by 1881 - suspect a stationary engine associated with a coal mine. Thomas's 3 brothers were all "colliers" but 16 year old Thomas was a "haulier" but that could also have been coal mining associated. How it is known he died in SA is not clear but one of the PFT creators claiming this has a wonderful c1914 studio "cabinet" photo of one of his brothers and wife suggesting the death in SA may be knowledge within the family.

David and Dave,
Many thanks for your leads.
You can imagine the difficulty in finding anyone with my surname in South Wales!

The man from Llanwonno sounds very promising given the Census data, and even more intriguing that he died on SA.

Thank you for taking the time to investigate.

Cheers Steve