George Surmon Jenkins

**Aled Roberts** · 08-12-2009, 00:32

Great stuff Ross.

Thanks for the update. I look forward to seeing what Kevin finds.

Regards

Richard

yeomanterry · 08-12-2009, 16:47

Gents
I think you may want to check out the date of the South Wales Borderers.

The Regiment was formed as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot in 1689, becoming known, like other regiments, by the names of its subsequent colonels. It became the 24th Regiment of Foot in 1751, having been deemed 24th in the infantry order of precedence since 1747. In 1782 it became the 24th (The 2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot. The 1st Warwickshires were the 6th (1st Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot. In 1776 the Regiment was sent to Lower Canada (now Quebec)

The 24th (The 2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot became the South Wales Borderers on 1 July 1881.

The Battle of Rorke's Drift was on 22nd January 1879 part of the Zulu war next to the Tugela River in Zululand South Africa.

Ergo the 2nd Warwickshire were at Rourkes drift, the South Wales Borderers were formed 18 Months later.
So if you are searching for the correct regiment the gent served in it was the 2nd Warwickshire 24th of Foot.
all good Warwickshire lads Know that

**rawj1** · 08-12-2009, 17:07

Hey yeomanterry,

Mea culpa! My error for conjoining the two different regiments back in message # 5 even though I knew better. I don't think the other respondents were confused by my mixed terminology, thankfully.

**rawj1** · 14-12-2009, 01:54

2nd update.

Kevin started his research on G.S. Jenkins this Saturday (Dec. 12, 2009) and I'll summarize what he has found so far. He has tracked him from enlistment with the 2/23 until the end of his six years of service and transfer to the Army Reserve. He has then found him in the musters at the Depot at Wrexham on May 1, 1878 which may mean his marriage in April of 1878 was precipitated by his impending recall to the colours. He is given a new regimental number on recall. Kevin hopes to track him from that point when he next visits the archives of the PRO, probably next weekend.

So maybe the old boy was in the Zulu War after all... stay tuned !

Ross

**rawj1** · 30-12-2009, 22:53

Final update (for those who have been following this thread):

Kevin finished his research on George Jenkins and found that after he was recalled from the Army Reserve in May of 1878, he was released back to the reserve a couple of months later so George never was in South Africa or the Zulu War.

In Kevin's words "..as a man at the 23rd Depot Bn. (which also cared for the 24th Foot) he'd have rubbed shoulders with the men who died in South Africa in 1879.. who knows if talking about this in later life didn't lead to the misconception by relatives that he too had served there."

Below is a summary of what Kevin found:

George Jenkins – 23rd Foot

25/11/1870 – George Jenkins is recruited at the Cardiff district and joins the 2/23rd Foot at Chatham as #2090 of that unit on 03/12/1870. He is stated as being 19 years 2 months old.

02/08/1871 – 2/23rd move from Chatham to Woolwich.

1 to 29/11/1871 – On furlough

23/08/1872 – 2/23rd move from Woolwich to Gravesend and embark for passage to Ireland.

28/08/1872 – 2/23rd move from Kingston to Mullingar.

26/11/1872 – 1st penny of good conduct pay is granted after 2 years service.

11/06/1873 – 2/23rd move from Mullingar to the Curragh,

27-30/09/1873 – On furlough

20/11/1873 – 2/23rd move from the Curragh to Cork to prepare to embark on ships for service in the Gold Coast.

Ashanti Campaign

20/03/1874 – 2/23rd arrive at Portsmouth and travel to Shorncliffe.

09 & 10/10/1874 – 2/23rd move from Shorncliffe to Portsmouth and board ships to Gibraltar.

26/11/1876 – Receives 2nd penny of good conduct pay after 6 years service.

24/02/1877 – Leaves Gibraltar for discharge to the Army Reserve at Netley after 6 years of colour service.

01/05/1878 – Recalled from the Army Reserve, re-numbered as #1414 and joins the 23rd Brigade Depot at Wrexham.

31/07/1878 – Discharged back to the Army Reserve at the 23rd Brigade Depot, Wrexham.

I must add that I have been very pleased with the thoroughness of Kevin Asplin's research work and the reasonable cost that it entailed and I heartily recommend him to anyone else needing research done at the PRO in the UK.

**Aled Roberts** · 30-12-2009, 23:25

Thanks for the report Ross.

I am really pleased that Kevin came up trumps for you. Looks like you have a pretty complete picture of service now.

Regards

Richard