Abraham Finch – my 3rd great-uncle.
Born in 1837, Abraham Finch was a triplet along with Isaac and Jacob, born to parents Henry Finch and Jane Bashford. His Royal Navy record puts his date of birth as 29 June and a note alongside his baptism in the parish register, dated 20 August at St Mary Magdelene Church in Reigate, Surrey, says the three boys were all of the same birth.
By the age of 14 (1851 census) Abraham was working as an agricultural labourer, just like his brothers, but on 9 October 1856 – at the time of the Crimean War – he enlisted for 10 years in the Royal Navy with his brother Jacob. In the documents he was described as having a ruddy complexion, brown hair and blue eyes and stood 5ft 6ins tall.
They served on HMS Illustrious, which had been launched on 3 September 1803 in Rotherhithe. A 74-gun Third Rate ship of the line and the second to carry the name, it won battle honours at Basque Roads and Java before becoming a gunnery training ship in 1854. It was broken up in 1868. According to his navy records, Abraham did not serve his 10 years and was paid off, like Jacob, on 20 June 1857. I don’t know why.
There is no record of Abraham in the 1861 census in the UK but an Abraham Finch was recorded as serving as a Private with the 3rd Battalion of the Prince Consort’s Own Rifle Brigade at Bareilly in the ‘East Indies’ and all the evidence points to him being our ancestor. Today Bareilly is in Uttar Pradesh in India.
The Rifle Brigade was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1800 to provide sharpshooters and scouts for its many skirmishes and battles, and its men served in the Baltic expedition, the Peninsular Wars and the Crimean War. The 3rd Battalion, which in this incarnation was formed in 1855, served during the Indian Mutiny of 1857-1859 while further operations were undertaken against the Mohmands and Shabkadar from 1863-1864.
There is a record of Abraham receiving a medal for service in India – this was probably The India General Service Medal that was in use from 1854-1895. I’ve not been able to find a date for this or any information on when he was discharged but a muster document and payroll for the regiment says that Abraham embarked for England on 27 November 1868, and this may mark the close of his service. He then crops up in the 1871 census as a mason’s labourer living with the Spiers family in Watford, Hertfordshire.
A few months later – on 28 December – he married Helen/Ellen Pratt back in Reigate, Surrey. Then in 1872 Abraham and Helen appeared to emigrate – they travelled to New York on the Alexander Marshall, departing from Liverpool and arriving on 1 April.
It’s clear from the shipping documents, which listed his occupation as a plasterer and Helen’s name as Ellen, that the couple intended to settle in the USA. However, I’ve been unable to find any further record of Abraham and his family anywhere in North America.
Sources: Ancestry.com, Findmypast.com, Surrey Records Office, National Archives reference ADM 139/319/31852 and WO12 / 10175-WO12 / 10183. The latter show Abraham in the various muster and payroll records.