WLIIAM TOOMEY ALIAS WILLIAM TOMMEY AND FIRST FOOT REGIMENT (General)

by Mike Pinchin , Bedford, England, Sunday, January 17, 2016, 19:21 (3015 days ago) @ sidtoomey01

Hello Sid,

The documents associated with the discharge are also available on Genes Reunited. As already stated in a previous reply they do not give any clues to his parentage but they do show a few things of interest:-

The 1853 discharge papers refer to him as TOOMEY but his 1831 attestation papers (also included) refer to him as TOMMEY, which is how he signs.

He was attested in 1831 and rose to be a Sergeant in 1835. In 1836 he was court martialled for drunkenness, imprisoned for four days, and reduced to the rank of Private. However, by 1839 he was promoted to Sergeant again.

He served extensive periods abroad in Canada, Nova Scotia and the West Indies.

The reason for discharge was, “ rendered unfit by general debility produced by length of service, not caused by constitutional predisposition or aggravated by vice or intemperance”. He was “unfit for service in consequence of general debility and worn out.” His overall conduct was described as “very good”.

The discharge seems to have taken place in Dublin, Ireland. The papers were signed by the Principal Medical Officer at Dublin (21 Nov. 1853) and the Office of the Adjutant General, Dublin. The place of discharge is difficult to interpret but could be an older spelling of Bray, just south of Dublin. He also expressed the intention to dwell in the same place after discharge. Perhaps this is why he vanishes since the records of the Irish censuses after this date are fragmentary or non-existent.

If the two are to be identified as the same I suppose the main question is why he should give his birth parish as Westbury if he was born in Churchdown?