GONE FOR A SOLDIER

My great great grandfather George Wassell was baptised on the 27^th October 1805 at Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, England, son of Joseph and Rachel Wassell (nee Stringall) who had recently married there on the 13^th June 1805. They had three more children before Rachel died. She was buried on the 1^st January 1815 at Chalfont St Peter. Joseph remarried Elizabeth George (widow) formally Stiles (widow) on the 27^th November 1815. They had seven children.

When George grew up he worked as a gardener until he took the King's shilling on the 12^th March 1829. On attestation to the 7^th Dragoon Guards, George was described as appearing to be 20 years old, 5'11" in height, sallow complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair. According to the pay lists and muster rolls he spent the first few years of his military life stationed at different places in England. He was promoted to Corporal on the 2^nd October 1832 and was soon stationed at Ballincollaig, County Cork, Ireland. The Ballincollaig Barracks were built next to the Royal Gunpowder Mills to protect the supply of gunpowder. At this time the Mills employed about 200 workers and produced 16,000 barrels of gunpowder per annum, which were transported by barge along the canals to the River Lee, as transportation by road was considered too dangerous owing to sparks from the wagon wheels igniting the gunpowder. The Mills are now a museum, having ceased gunpowder production in 1903.

George was promoted to Sergeant on the 1^st February 1836 while serving in Dublin, and soon after he returned with his regiment to England. In 1839 he spent nearly a year as a recruiting Sergeant in Biggleswade, Bedford and Hatfield. 1841 saw his departure back to Ballincollaig and in 1843 the 7^th Dragoon Guards were transferred to Fort Beaufort in the Cape of Good Hope by ship, the voyage taking 86 days. George served in the Cape of Good Hope for five and a half years. He returned to England in 1848 and was promoted to Troop Sergeant Major, stationed at Brighton, Sussex where he was discharged to Chelsea Out Pension on the 27^th November 1849, due to ulceration of both legs. He received a pension of one shilling to be paid at Cork!

Why should George decide to emigrate to Ireland during the latter stages of the Great Potato Famine, when millions of Irish people were dying of starvation and disease or leaving Ireland in the hope of finding a better life elsewhere?

Possibly it was to return to a wife (Elizabeth) who I believe he may have married during his service in Ireland. I have tried to find their marriage, but unfortunately civil registration of marriages did not start until 1845 and then only for Church of Ireland marriages, full registration for births, marriages and deaths did not commence until 1864. Having checked the indexes I found no births, only two Wassell marriages (not related) up to 1901, and four Wassell deaths up to 1919. Two of which need further research, and the other two proved to be George and his widow Elizabeth.

George died on the 8^th February 1870, the certificate stated that he was the Bridewell Keeper at Clonakilty, County Cork, his son Charles registering the death. I believe George was buried at Kilgarriff Church of Ireland Churchyard in Clonakilty, however, the Parish Registers no longer exist. (In 1922 during the Irish Civil War many records including a considerable number of Church of Ireland Parish Registers were destroyed by fire in the Public Record Office, Dublin. Also the Irish census returns 1841 - 1891 were reputed to be pulped into waste paper during the First World War.)

To try and find some answers I arranged a holiday in Ireland. I visited Clonakilty, which is a beautiful small coastal town where nearly every building, including derelict ones, bridges and even the public toilets, were adorned with hanging baskets and tubs overflowing with flowers. After failing to find a headstone for George in the Churchyard I eventually found the Bridewell site, in Jail Road, with a 20 feet high 3 feet thick wall surrounding it. I made enquiries and discovered that Houlihan's the local bakers owned and used the site for storage. The owners of the bakery very kindly sent one of their men to unlock the gates. As the gates swung open I could see the bars of the remaining cell windows, also the outline of where the Bridewell Keepers house would have stood. It was not hard to imagine how bleak it must have been for the prisoners. I visited the small local museum where exhibited on the wall, was the large brass key to the Old Courthouse and Bridewell, which George must have used.

Kilgarriff Church, Clonakilty Prison Bars at Clonakilty Bridewell Old Courthouse and Bridewell Key

Elizabeth, widow of an Army Pensioner, died on the 12^th October 1891 aged 78 years, at 27 Gil Abbey Street, Cork City. This small terraced house still stands in the Cathedral parish St Finbarrs. Matilda Fallon, daughter of Vicars Street, registered her death. Elizabeth was buried in St Finbarrs Cemetery in a non-perpetuity plot, therefore there is no headstone. The burial entry says that she was born in Cork, member of the Church of Ireland, aged 80 years. How can I find her maiden name? as without it I cannot trace my Irish ancestors.

Charles Joseph Wassell (born circa 1849 in Ireland) and his brother William James Wassell (my great grandfather born circa 1860 in Ireland) came to England after the death of their father.

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