ALY MORRISON'S "BUTTERFLY" ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD OF WARGAMES AND TOY SOLDIERS

Sunday 23 February 2020

A Little Bit of Family History... My Great Great Grandfather

Greetings...


Things are still a bit slow on the toy painting front so, I thought that I would share a little bit of my family history with you...


When I was visiting Edinburgh I found out a bit more about my family's military heritage...


I remember my Grandmother saying that she had been bounced on the knee of a Crimean War veteran...
As she was actually born in the Sergeants Quarters at Stirling Castle ,I have always assumed that she was referring to a member of The Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders...


Apparently not... She was talking about her Grandfather... My Great Great Grandfather...


Edward Bolton... Gunner Royal Horse Artillery.







I am hoping to find out a bit more about J Troop... It would be quite fun to try and recreate an action Edward Bolton took part in on the tabletop...


Many thanks to my friends and family (Trish and Linda) for finding this for me...


All the best   Aly

16 comments:

  1. It's always nice to find an ancestor who 'did something' (mine where mostly farm labourers) however one of my mothers family was in the RHA and served in the Waterloo campaign .

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    1. I am hoping to find out if there were any earlier generations serving in the Napoleonic Wars...
      It seems my ancestors were down the mines, In the foundry or the Army...
      All the best. Aly

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    1. I was delighted to find this out...
      What with the Crimean War being a particular interest to me...

      All the best. Aly

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  3. Great find Aly! Has this reinvigorated your design mojo and can we expect to see some more Crimean figures soon?

    I have never been one to look too deeply into the past lest I find something murky! I have nothing as exciting as a Crimean veteran in my past, but things have floated to the surface in the past: six direct and in direct relatives (including two great uncles) who served in the Great War from the very start to the end and all survived - another distant relative wrote a book based on their diaries which is an interesting read; another great uncle who served in a highland artillery regiment who was killed at Gallipoli; a tenuous link to a relative who sailed on the Titanic, was rescued from the water and survived; and a great-grandfather who had a very successful late 19th Century business manufacturing concertinas.

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    1. I have actually made some new Crimean War figures... I shall post some images in the next week or so....
      I wouldn’t worry about finding something murky in you past... you would have had nothing to do with and therefore aren’t to blame...
      Also it makes things a bit more interesting...;-)...
      I like the sound of the person making concertinas...

      All the best. Aly

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  4. This is an excellent discovery! Perhaps this revelation will lead to more interest in Crimean War gaming?

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    1. It is indeed an excellent discovery...

      An yes it has....;-)

      All the best. Aly

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    1. It is indeed... I am hoping to find out more.
      All the best. Aly

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  6. Nice discovery Aly...I guess our obsession with all things military history mean this type of historical gem is much more exciting to us than to the average punter.....my maternal grandfather served in WWI but then 90% of all Europeans would have an ancestor who served in that war...my father was too young for WWII. I would love to find an ancestor was in the Napoleonic wars or was a Covenanter but I don't suppose I will ever find out...

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    1. I find all of it interesting Keith...
      My genealogist friends tell me that some of the information about ‘earlier’ periods can be found in church records... I guess you just have to know what you are looking for... I also bow down to their superior knowledge.
      All the best. Aly

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  7. Family history is fascinating, even if it throws up naught but peasants! I can count on a Great Uncle who served in the Boer War and Great War, another lost at Jutland. Another Great Uncle served in the Coldstream Guards trench mortar section from 1915. In the Second World War I can muster an uncle at Pegasus Bridge on the evening of DDay, another uncle in Burma, and a father all over the world in the Royal Navy. Post War another uncle was at the A Bomb tests in the Pacific. All long gone now sadly...

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    1. Have you got pictures of your ancestors...
      I think it’s incredible to be able look into the face of a relative who may well have witnessed something as memorable as the charge of The Light Brigade.
      I am also amazed at how few generations it takes to get back the 1850s or earlier.

      All the best. Aly

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  8. Another great find! Lucky You!

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    1. It does make one wonder what else is out there...

      All the best. Aly

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