Army pensioner?

[sheena58]

Hi,
My 3xgreat grandfather Kenneth Mackay appears on the 1841 census as an army pensioner, age '65'. He died before the 1851 census but his wife, Catherine appears to be a 'Chelsea pensioners widow'. I had imagined that this probably meant he'd done some long service, especially given the dates when he was likely to have been a soldier.
I haven't been able to find either a birth, or marriage for him on SP. (or anywhere else for that matter)
He appears as a pensioner on the baptism records of his children born between 1811 and 1817, in Inverness and his daughter Helen, my 2xgreat grandmother evaded me for a while as she was recorded under the spelling of McCay but I have recently found her and a sister baptised in Benholm, Kincardine in 1806 and her sister in 1808. The surprise came when I discovered that Kenneth was a weaver. Perhaps by this time he's already too old to be a soldier but I'm curious to know if anyone has any ideas as to how he ended up with an army pension?

Sheena

[SarahND]

Hello Sheena,
Findmypast.co.uk has Chelsea Pensioner records online (for a fee). A search (specifying place of birth: Scotland and year of birth: 1776 +/- 5 ) brings up two Kenneth MacKays, one born 1771 in Rea, Caithness and the other with unknown birth information. I don't have a subscription or credits, so can't see what information is actually there, but it might be worth a look.

All the best,
Sarah

[AnneM]

Hello Sheena

The only real candidate for your Kenneth is the one born in 1771 in Rea Caithness who served with the Cameron Highlanders, the 79th of Foot. If it is your guy he joined aged 31 on 6th November 1802 at Glasgow and served throughout the Napoleonic Wars including at Copenhagen, Quatre Bras and Waterloo. The only snag is that he is abroad at the times when you have found earlier births and is listed as having been a labourer when he enlisted. He also served previously beteen 1794 and 1802. I guess he could have had home leave at times.

He looks like a very likely candidate and if I were you I would shell out the credits to get a good look at all the details which will help you make a decision on whether or not it is actually your Kenneth. I hope he is.

I do wonder if the births in Benholm really are yours.

Anne

BTW What do the death certificates of the children if they survived after 1855 say about the occupation of Kenneth. I'm assuming they married before 1855 given their dates of birth.

[sheena58]

Thanks Sarah and Anne,
I have actually viewed the pensioner records although I unfortunately lost the records thanks to a virus on my laptop. Until I found the Benholm baptisms, I thought the one born in Rea could have been mine. There is nothing to tell me whether he might have had a wife or family.
I'm as sure as I can be that the two baptisms in Benholm are mine mainly because Helen is recorded on census returns as born in Johnshaven, Kincardine which is a couple of miles from Benholm and I have found no other baptism that could be her. The mother of both the Benholm and Inverness children is Catherine Ross. I haven't found the death of any of her siblings but Helen's death certificate has Kenneth as an army pensioner too. Unfortunately, since he died before 1851 the only reference to his origins is the 1841 census born in Scotland but not Inverness-shire. Not much to go on there.
His wife Catherine is living with unmarried daughter Ann in 1851 but seems to have died before 1855 as I can find no death record for her. SP have no baptism records at all for Reay during the period when Kenneth would have been born.
I suppose he could have had home leave, but then I would have expected the baptisms to say he was a soldier...
If these are not my baptisms then I can't find his daughter at all.
Very confusing! *sigh*

Sheena