#CountyClare #Military #Ireland
William1 M. Gavin is the only identified child born to I believe William2 GAVIN (c1750 – TBA) and Janet SMITH (c1750 – TBA). There is a though that perhaps the middle initial is false and it was just a mis transcription from the abbreviation Wm at a point in time.
William1 wrote a diary whilst serving in the military and so it is working backwards from a version of this that attempt to identify parentage. He joined a Highland regiment and not sure during that time whether this would only have been possible if based locally.
If this is the right link then William1’s parents were presumably born mid 1750s and married in Skene, Aberdeenshire on 15 August 1772 1. It is not clear whether they were born in Scotland as with William2 also being in the army it is possible that they he at least just ended up there for a time.
A William GAVIN was christened on 20 July 1775 in Midmar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. There is only about 10 miles between Midmar and Skene so it seems logical. There is no other baptism evidence for further children. Either they didn’t have any or had moved on therefore making it difficult to confirm.
Per ‘The Diary of William Gavin’ 2 it seems he joined the Highland Light Infantry as Ranker and by 1806 had ultimately become Quartermaster Sergeant. His travels took him to the Cape of Good Hope, Buenos Aires and Portugal. There was also an expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 which took a lot of men from malarial disease but he drank gin which helped him combat the fever.
Following year back in Portugal and then went home that winter (where this is I’m not sure but think Ireland) and returned to the Army in July 1811. He was promoted to Ensign and he then changed Battalion following a death and appointed Quartermaster on 02 April 1812. The regiment went to France in 1813 and then back to their base in Ireland when the war ended.
He has then gone to Belgium and played a significant part of the Battle of Waterloo and subsequent march on Paris. After it was all over, he procured an appointment to the 4th Dragoon Guard and settled in O’Briensbridge which is on the border of County Clare and County Limerick very near the border with County Tipperary.
At some point he has met Alicia O’BRIEN (1798 – 1869) who had been baptised in Dublin. They married in Cork on 02 February 1815 at the Holy Trinity Church of Ireland. He was 40 at the time and she just 17 it seems. As this is nowhere near O’briensbridge wondering if they met first and then moved inland 120km together.
They went on to have three sons born 22 April 1818, 29 July 1820 and 11 October 1822 respectively called Michael GAVIN (1818 – 1885), William3 GAVIN (1820 – 1869) and Daniel O’Brien GAVIN (1822 – 1873).
The evidence for the latter end of his military career comes in the Pension request of Alicia as his widow. He had been a Quarter Master on Half Pay of the Fourth Regiment of Dragoon Guards when he died at Fishers Lodge on 19 October 1834. Before that he had been a Quarter Master in the 71st Regiment of Foot serving on Full Pay. I believe he had the rank of Captain. There is clearly much more detail about his background and life in the diary.
William2 and Janet must have passed away prior to 1850 since would be in their late 90s if not older. Unlike England and Wales with 1837 start date the compulsory Scottish registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths didn’t come in until 1855. Unless there is more detail about them in the diary then no more knowledge to be had from after his 1775 baptism.
Not sure what happened to Alicia after William1 died in 1834 but presumably just brought up the three boys. All three sons married and had children. They were also all in the military and will therefore have their own records. William3 died in 1869 from a quick illness whilst still serving in Sierra Leone and Daniel in Cardiff during 1973 where he was the Superintendent of Dock Police. Probable death for Michael in 1885.
[A recent update from a cousin is that he had been advised the original of the diary had been destroyed but this was incorrect information and was actually bought at auction by the National Library of Scotland. He has had it scanned and sent on to some of us descendants. Unfortunately not had chance to look closely yet and is very difficult to read but glad to know it is safe at least.
There is also lots more family history referenced in the biography of his granddaughter that I have written and is held offline. I also have a copy of the transcribed diary as well as now sight of the original. There are also documents re the family showing up in Family Search full text searches but have yet to transcribe them.
William M GAVIN was a 5x Great Grandfather to me. There are a number of descendants who have taken DNA tests and in touch with some.
Footnotes –
Most research undertaken using Ancestry, FreeBMD and Google Maps. Additional resources listed below if utilised.
- FamilySearch – https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XBWL-VJR? ↩︎
- Gareth Glover Collection – http://www.garethglovercollection.com/the-diary-of-william-gavin/ ↩︎