10 Sep 2023

Yesterday we visited The National Archives in Kew to examine the muster rolls of the 4th Infantry regiment for the early 1800s. I wanted to fill in the gaps in my knowledge of my ancestor William Hinksman who served as a sergeant throughout the Napoleonic Wars and to learn his ultimate fate.

We did find his death recorded in the records. He died on 30th March 1820 on the island of Tobago in the Caribbean, part a small detachment of a larger force that had been sent to Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago. We also found that William had been seriously ill in Lisbon for several months during the Peninsular war and was eventually invalided back to England.

We also found two mentions of Jane, William’s wife, in the lists of soldier’s wives.

These are the notes I took from the records. We also took various photos although almost all of the ones I took with my Sony camera which I had mounted on the stand above the table failed to capture the whole document. Most of those images are cut off on the left where the names of solidiers are written.

These are the notes I took for each volume we examined:

WO12/2201 - 4th Foot, 1st battalion, 1803

25 Dec 1802 - 24 Jan 1803
William Hinskman (sic), corporal in Captain Chaplin’s company. Remarks: “from sergt 25 Dec.”"

25 Jan 1803 - 24 Feb 1803
William Hinskman (sic), corporal in Captain Chaplin’s company. Remarks: “recruiting at Southampton. Subsisted to 24th February”. He took route no.3.

25 Feb 1803 - 24 Mar 1803
William Hinksman, a corporal in Captain Hemman’s late Captain Chaplin’s company. Remarks: “to sergeant from colonels the1st March. Recruiting at Southampton.”

25 Mar 1803 - 24 Apr 1803
William Hinksman, sergeant in commandant’s company, the Earl of Chatham. Remarks: “recruiting at Southampton.”

25 Apr 1803 - 24 May 1803
William Hinksman, sergeant in commandant’s company. Remarks: “recruiting at Southampton”

25 May 1803 - 24 Jun 1803
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. Remarks: “recruiting at Southampton”

25 Jun 1803 - 24 Jul 1803
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. Remarks: “recruiting at Southampton”

25 Jul 1803 - 24 Aug 1803
William Hinskman(sic), sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. Remarks: “from recruiting at Southampton 20th July. [Into sth lay] Ensn Craig to 28 July [??]”

also,

Edward Hinksman recruited 2nd July by Ensn Craigg

25 Aug - 24 Sep 1803
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
Edward Hinksman, private in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
Ensign Craigg is not in Captain Piper’s company.

25 Sep 1803 - 24 Oct 1803
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
Edward Hinksman, private in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.

25 Oct 1803 - 24 Nov 1803
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
Edward Hinksman, private in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.

25 Nov 1803 - 24 Dec 1803
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
Edward Hinksman, private in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.

WO12/2208 - 4th Foot, 1st battalion, 1817-1819

25 Dec 1816 - 24 Mar 1817, regiment stationed in France
William Hinksman, sergeant. No remarks.
John Hinksman, sergeant. No remarks.

25 Mar 1817 - 24 Jun 1817, regiment stationed in France
William Hinksman, sergeant. No remarks.
John Hinksman, sergeant. In remarks there is a ditto from the previous line which reads: “sent to England to be discharged, 16 July to 18 April (sic)”. In the muster roll column are dittos from the previous line which read “Supernumerary in Engd”

25 Jun 1817 - 24 Sep 1817, regiment stationed in France
William Hinksman, sergeant. No remarks.
John Hinksman, sergeant. Remarks: “Supery Dischd in Engd 25 June”. His name has been struck through in red.

25 Sep 1817 - 24 Dec 1817, regiment stationed in France
William Hinksman, sergeant. No remarks.

25 Dec 1817 - 24 Mar 1818, regiment stationed in France
William Hinksman, sergeant. No remarks.

25 Mar 1818 - 24 Jun 1818, regiment stationed in France
William Hinksman, sergeant. No remarks.

25 Jun 1818 - 24 Sep 1818, regiment stationed in France
William Hinksman, sergeant. No remarks.

25 Sep 1818 - 24 Dec 1818, regiment stationed in France
William Hinksman, sergeant Remarks: “rationed to Oct 31st”. There is a red cross in the third muster.

A note in the rolls reads: “Mem. the Regiment embarked at Calais on the evening of the 29th October 1818 and received rations on shore for the 21st (sic). Landed at Dover 30th October and marched same day by a war office route to Hythe on its way to Winchester. The men rationed for other periods were sick, convalescent+who preceded the Regt or who were left on duty and did not embark until afterward.”

25 Dec 1818 - 24 Mar 1819, regiment at Winchester
William Hinksman, sergeant. No remarks.

25 Mar 1819 - 24 Jun 1819
William Hinksman, sergeant. Remarks: “at Tobago”

25 Jun 1819 - 24 Sep 1819, regiment at Granada, Trinidad and Tobago
William Hinksman, sergeant. Remarks: “at Tobago”. In red is written “Det no 32”. There were 4 sergeants in Tobago.

25 Sep 1819 - 24 Dec 1819
William Hinksman, sergeant. Remarks: “at Tobago”

WO12/2209 - 4th Foot, 1st battalion, 1820-1822

25 Dec 1819 - 24 Mar 1820
William Hinksman, sergeant. Remarks: “at Tobago”

25 Mar 1820 - 24 Jun 1820
William Hinksman, sergeant. Remarks: “died 30 March”

William also appears in the list of deaths and deserters:
Amount of Effects and Credits, including the Value of the Necessaries left behind, after deducting the Debts: £15 18s 3d.
Amount of Debts exceeding the Effects and Credits: £1 1s 5d.

Every entry on the list had an amount in both columns, so it’s not clear how to read it. The wording implies that the last column is a debt remaining after the effects and credits have been calculated, yet since everyone has this debt regardless of the value of their effects, so it must have been the amount deducted from the previous column.

William’s effects are far greater than anyone else on the list. The next highest amount was £4 attributed to a private.

There were 55 entries on the list, of which 5 deserted. Of the remaining 50, 3 drowned, the rest were just recorded as “died”.

We checked to make sure he didn’t appear in the following muster.

WO12/7540 - 67th Foot, South Hants Regiment, 1798-1799

We checked this book to see if William was present in the Sth Hants regiment before he joined the 4th Foot. We saw no mention of him.

WO12/2205 - 4th Foot, 1st battalion, 1809-1811

25 Dec 1808 - 24 Mar 1809, infantry at home
William Hinksman, sergeant. No remarks

25 Mar 1809 - 24 Jun 1809, infantry at home
William Hinksman, sergeant. Remarks: “on furlow from 25 March to 5 April”. He marched route 21.
Route 21 was a war office route from Winchester to Colchester and was marched from 9th to 19th April

25 Jun 1809 - 24 Sep 1809, infantry at home
William Hinksman, sergeant. His reason for missing third muster was “Sick in general hospital” (there were several other sergeants who were sick). Remarks: “Ration from 16 July to [—–], @6º 16 days general hospital 9º”

also, on a page headed “Return of the allowances made for the women and children of the 1st battalion, 4th foot King’s Own, to take them home on the regiment embarking for foreign service”:

Jane Hinksman, 1 child, received £1-6, company 8, no. 4

The women appear to have received £1-1 each and 5s per child.

Below the list is a statement certifying that the women were the lawful wives of non commissioned officers and privates and that they were left behind on the embarkation of their husbands.

(According to the regimental history they embarked for the Netherlands in July and returned in September).

25 Sep 1809 - 24 Dec 1809, infantry at home
William Hinksman, sergeant, company 8. Remarks: “On furlough from 13 Oct to 23 Nov”

25 Dec 1809 - 24 Mar 1810, infantry at home
William Hinksman, sergeant.

25 Mar 1810 - 24 Jun 1810, infantry at home
William Hinksman, sergeant.

25 Jun 1810 - 24 Sep 1810, infantry at home
William Hinksman, sergeant.

25 Sep 1810 - 24 Dec 1810, infantry at home
William Hinksman, sergeant. He was absent from the second and third musters with the reason “Sick at Lisbon”. Remarks: “26 days in general hospital”.

At the top of the page is written “Memorandum: the regiment embarked on board his majesty’s ship Agincourt and Brune Frigates on 24 Oct, received rations that day.”

The Agincourt ¹ and Brune² had both been recently refitted as troop carriers.

There is another return of allowances made for the women and children of the regiment:

Jane Hinksman, 2 children, received £1-11, company 8

25 Dec 1810 - 24 Mar 1811
William Hinksman, sergeant. He was absent from all three musters with the reason “Sick Absent”. Remarks: “29 days in general hospital.”

25 Mar 1811 - 24 Jun 1811
William Hinksman, sergeant. He was absent from all three musters with the reason “Sick Absent”. Remarks: “82 days in general hospital.”

25 Jun 1811 - 24 Sep 1811, regiment in Portugal
William Hinksman, sergeant. He was absent from all three musters with the reason “Sick Absent”. Remarks: “25 days in general hospital.”

25 Sep 1811 - 24 Dec 1811, regiment in Portugal
William Hinksman, sergeant. He was absent from all three musters with the reason “Sick Absent”. No remarks.

WO12/2206 - 4th Foot, 1st battalion, 1812-1814

25 Dec 1811 - 24 Mar 1812, regiment in Portugal
William Hinksman, sergeant. He was absent from the first two musters with the reason “Sick Absent”. He was absent from the third muster with the reason “On commd at Belem”. No remarks.

25 Mar 1812 - 24 Jun 1812, regiment in Portugal
William Hinksman, sergeant. He was absent from all three musters with the reason “On commd at Belem”. No remarks.

25 Jun 1812 - 24 Sep 1812, regiment in Portugal
William Hinksman, sergeant. He was absent from the first two musters with the reason “In Engd”. Remarks: “Invd and sent to England by a Medical Board at Lisbon 4 July. Subd to 24 July. To 2nd Bn 25 Aug.”

25 Sep 1812 - 24 Dec 1812, regiment in Portugal
No mention of William.

WO12/2197 - 4th Foot, 1st battalion, 1798-1799

25 Jul 1799 - 24 Aug 1799
This month the regiment recruited 352 volunteers from the Hereford and Denbigh militias. William was also recruited but we could not find his name in the long list of militia recruits to the 2nd and 3rd battalions. According to the history of the regiment 2700 men volunteered to join the King’s Own that month.

We did notice a Charles Gilkes being recruited from Bucks.

William was listed twice, once as a private and once as a corporal:

William Hinksman, private in Captain Hitchman’s company. Remarks: “from private 14th”. He was stationed at Barham camp and took route No 3 to get there, which went from Horsham to Barham. The regiment had been stationed at Horsham the previous month. (This “No 3” is the mysterious N3 that Jeff transcribed on his visit.) . There are ditto marks in the Remarks column below the “from private 14th” text. The entry above has “Sth Hants” written in it. He was paid from 28th July to 14th August.

William Hinksman, corporal in Captain Hitchman’s company. Stationed at Barham camp. Remarks: “To corpl 15 Aug. Sth Hants”. He was paid from 15th August to 24th August.

We couldn’t find William in any recruitment lists for the previous months.

WO12/2204 - 4th Foot, 1st battalion, 1806-1808

25 Dec 1805 - 24 Jan 1806
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company. Remarks: “To corpl 2nd Jan”

25 Jan 1806 - 24 Feb 1806, regiment at Hannover
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.

25 Feb 1806 - 24 Mar 1806, regiment at Woodbridge barracks
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.

25 Mar 1806 - 24 Jun 1806, regiment at Woodbridge and Colchester
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.

25 Jun 1806 - 24 Sep 1806, regiment at Colchester
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company.No remarks.
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.

25 Sep 1806 - 24 Dec 1806, regiment at Colchester
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. Remarks: “On furlough from 18 Oct to 7 Nov”.
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company. Remarks: “On furlough from 18 Oct to 7 Nov”.

25 Dec 1806 - 24 Mar 1807, regiment at Colchester
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. Remarks: “On furlough from 6 Jan to 22 Jan”.
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company. Remarks: “On furlough from 6 Jan to 30 Jan”.

25 Mar 1807 - 24 Jun 1807, regiment at Colchester
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Piper’s company. Took route No. 9. Remarks: “Stoke”.
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company.
Route 9 was “out quarters for elections”

25 Jun 1807 - 24 Sep 1807
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
John Hinksman, private in Captain Williamsons company.
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Wilson’s company. Remarks: “from Captain Piper’s 25 Jun”

There was also a return for allowances paid to the women of the regiment to take them home. No Hinksman was listed. (Both William and Edward were married at this time.)

25 Sep 1807 - 24 Dec 1807, regiment at isle of zeeland and colchester
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
John Hinksman, private in Captain Williamsons company. Remarks: “On duty”
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Wilson’s company. No remarks.

25 Dec 1807 - 24 Mar 1808, regiment at Colchester
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Wilson’s company. Remarks: “On furlough 20 Feb to 9 Mar”
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
John Hinksman, private in Captain Williamsons company. No remarks.

25 Mar 1808 - 24 Apr 1808
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Wilson’s company. No remarks.
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
John Hinksman, private in Captain Williamsons company. Remarks: “In Braintree”

25 Apr 1808 - 24 Jun 1808 (2 months)
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Wilson’s company. Remarks in red: Maidstone from 25th May. 3rd Muster: “On Command”. Remarks: “On Command with Prisoners of War 30 May. Subs to 25 May”
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
John Hinksman, private in Captain Williamsons company. No remarks.

25 Jun 1808 - 24 Sep 1808
William Hinksman, sergeant in Captain Wilson’s company. Remarks: “from Command with Prisoners of War 1st July. Subsd by [DP —?] Maidstone to 24 June”
Edward Hinksman, corporal in Captain Piper’s company. No remarks.
John Hinksman, private in Captain Williamsons company. No remarks.