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ARC TBC Records in India

PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2019 9:03 pm
by EM28
Hello everyone, I have a bit of an ancestor problem and I was hoping that someone much more knowledgeable than me can come up with a way to solve it.

Does anyone know of any way to access records of the British in India other than those in the British Library? My gtx3 grandmother, Catherine, is the problem. I know plenty about her husband, John Stevens, a colour sergeant in the 97th Regiment of Foot, stationed in India from at least 1861 to 1866, their two children, Elizabeth and Frederick were both born there - Elizabeth in 1861 in Ferozepore and Frederick in 1864 in Nowgong. Catherine herself died in Ferozepore in 1866 but I can’t find details of her marriage to John and so no maiden name. There are no records of her in his military files, is there anything I can do or will she remain a mystery forever?

Thank you for reading.

Re: Records in India

PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2019 3:35 pm
by gardener
So you have identified two children:

Name: Elizabeth Stevens
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 24 Sep 1861
Baptism Date: 7 Oct 1861
Baptism Age: 0
Baptism Place: Jubbulpore, Bengal, India
Father: John Stevens
Mother: Catherine
FHL Film Number: 499005

and

Name: Frederick Stephen
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 11 Jun 1864
Baptism Date: 18 Jun 1864
Baptism Age: 0
Baptism Place: Nowgong , Bengal, India
Father: John Stephen
Mother: Catherine
Reference ID: v 108 p 315
FHL Film Number: 499014

is it possible that this is another?

Name: Johanna Adelaide Stephens
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 20 Jul 1860
Baptism Date: 22 Oct 1860
Baptism Age: 0
Baptism Place: Lahore, Bengal, India
Father: John Stephens
Mother: Catherine Andrew
FHL Film Number: 499001

Re: Records in India

PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2019 10:02 pm
by EM28
Blimey, thank you so much, I’m sure it is entirely possible that that’s another child, Stephens and Stevens seem to be used pretty interchangeably throughout the records, I’m away to investigate further.

Re: Records in India

PostPosted: Sat May 18, 2019 12:47 pm
by gardener
It may be a red herring because there is also

Name: Victor Valentine Stephens
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 14 Feb 1864
Birth Place: chr Jullander Bengal India
Baptism Date: 18 Sep 1864
Baptism Age: 0
Baptism Place: Jullander, Bengal, India
Father: John Stephens
Mother: Catharine
Reference ID: v 109 p 290
FHL Film Number: 499015

and that is too close to Frederick's birth. Perhaps there were two John/Catherine combos?

Re: Records in India

PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2019 2:37 pm
by EM28
I did wonder that, I decided to have a look for other Catherine and/or John Stevens records in India and I thought there was a John-Catherine Stevens/Stephens where John’s occupation was described as “civilian”. I have an experimental tree on Ancestry where I pop in unproved theories and see what gets thrown up.
There are vague family tales that suggest an Anglo-Indian relationship and my one of my absolute genealogy top goals is to be able to prove this true, I tend to think Catherine is the likeliest candidate. (I realise I have almost no chance of achieving this but I like having a dream)

Re: Records in India

PostPosted: Wed May 22, 2019 10:05 am
by gardener
Have you seen this? https://valmayyoung.wordpress.com/2015/ ... a-project/ I didn't watch much of it, but apart from the DNA study it also includes some sources for records.

Re: Records in India

PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 11:08 am
by BC Wench
Is this still a Brickwall, or have you solved it?

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