FORRED Robert
This regiment was first raised in 1702 as Colonel Richard Coote’s Regiment of Foot. In 1751 it became the 39th Regiment of Foot. Between 1782 and 1807 it was known as the 39th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot. In 1807 it became the 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot until the Army reforms of 1881.
In 1810-1814 the regiment served with distinction on active service in Spain against Napoleonic forces during the Peninsular War. It fought at Albuhera, Vittoria, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes and Toulouse. It then served in Canada during the War of 1812. The regiment returned to Europe to join the occupying forces in France, before seven more years in Ireland from 1818.
In 1825 the regiment left Ireland to return to England in readiness to board convict ships as guards to New South Wales, Australia. Captain Joseph Wakefield, Sergeant John Hale, and 18 rank and file soldiers embarked with other troops on Woodman, Regalia, and Earl St Vincent, arriving in Sydney, NSW between April and August 1826. By November they were on board the brig Amity bound for King George’s Sound under the command of Major Edmund Lockyer, with among others, 23 convicts and two convict overseers.
This temporary military post later became the home of settlers at Albany, Western Australia. The final detachment of soldiers of the 39th in King George’s Sound returned to Sydney in May 1831. The regiment left for Madras between July and December 1832 and remained in India for the next 13 years, including the Coorg (1834) and Gwalior (1843) campaigns. In 1854, the regiment sailed for the Crimean War, serving at Sevastopol.
[Sources: The National Army Museum.
Chichester and Burges Short.
Illustration: Historical Record of the Thirty-ninth, or the Dorsetshire Regiment of Foot, by Richard Cannon].
| NAME: Robert FORRED | Name variations: Forehead, Forhead, Forrid, Forward |
|---|---|
| Birth Date and Place | 12 May 1796 Shepton Mallet, Wells, Somerset, England [deduced WO97-553-7]. |
| Baptism Date and Place | Not found. |
| Marriage Date and Place | 1st: 22 May 1837 Shepton Mallet Parish Church, Somerset [Parish Register p.268, no.309]. As Forehead. 2nd: 1859 Sep Qtr Shepton Mallet, Somerset [GRO Reg.# 5c 917]. As Forward. |
| Spouse | 1st: Jane LEWIS widow of Abraham HUTCHENS [Somerset Archives Bishop Transcripts]. 2nd: Sarah HALLET. |
| Children | None. |
| Occupations | Weaver. Soldier. Chelsea Pensioner. |
| Census of England & Wales | 1841 Great Ostery, Shepton Mallet, Somerset. Occ. Annuitant. As Forehead [HO107-963-11-15]. 1851 Great Ostery, Shepton Mallet, Somerset. Occ. Boot and Shoemaker and Chelsea Pensioner. As Forehead [HO107-1933-472-11]. 1861 Great Ostery, Shepton Mallet, Somerset. Occ. Chelsea Pensioner. As Forward [RG09-1661-105-26]. |
| Death Date and Place | 22 May 1866 Curd Street, Shepton Mallet, Somerset [GRO Reg #5c 401 Jun Qtr; Somerset Archives D-P-SHE 2-1-24]. |
| Burial Date and Place | 28 May 1866 Parish Church St Peter and St Paul, Church Lane, Shepton Mallet, Somerset OR Shepton Mallet Cemetery, Waterloo Road, Shepton Mallet, Somerset. Actual burial ground not verified [Somerset Archives D-P-SHE 2-1-24]. |
| Death, Funeral, Obituary Notices | None found. |
| Will and Probate | None. |
| BRITISH ARMY | |
| Regiment | 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment. |
| Soldier No. and Rank | #51 Private. |
| Attestation Date and Place | 12 May 1813 Weymouth, Dorset (aged 17 years). |
| Physical Description | Height: 5 ft. 3 ins. Complexion: fair. Eyes: grey. Hair: dark brown. |
| Service/Campaigns | France – four years; Canada – one year; New South Wales – six years, four months; East Indies – three years, three months. |
| Promotions | None. |
| Medals and Clasps | Peninsular War: Pyrenees* (Jul/Aug 1813), Nivelle (Nov 1813), Nive (Dec 1813), Orthes (Feb 1814) Garis (Apr 1814), Tarbes (Mar 1814), Toulouse (Apr 1814), Bayonne (Apr 1814). [WO100-6-141; WO97-553-7]. |
| Casualty/Medical | According to the Surgeon’s report, it appears that this is a case of disability arising from being worn out in the service and disease of the right shin bone, contracted in and by the service, without being attributable to neglect, design, vice, or intemperance and the Regimental Board approves of the opinion of the Surgeon [WO97-553-7]. |
| Courts Martial | None. |
| Arrival Australia: Ship and Date | Woodman embarked 9 Nov 1825, Deptford, Kent, England [WO25-3503-50]. Departure: 6 Dec 1825, London. Arrival: 29 Apr 1826, Hobart, VDL [Hobart Town Gazette 6 May 1826]. Departure: 27 May 1826 Hobart, VDL. Arrival: 7 Jun 1826, Port Jackson, NSW. [Sydney Gazette 10 Jun 1826]. |
| Arrival Western Australia: Ship and Date | Amity. Departure: 9 Nov 1826 Port Jackson, NSW. Arrival 25 Dec 1826 King George’s Sound, New Holland [Lockyer SLWA 919.412/ALB]. Amity: Departure 7 Oct 1829, King George’s Sound, WA. Arrival 31 Oct 1829 Port Jackson, NSW [Sydney Gazette 3 Nov 1829]. |
| Military Postings within Australia | HQ Sydney 7 Jun to 9 Nov 1826. Thereafter voyage to King George’s Sound. King George’s Sound 25 Dec 1826 to 7 October 1829. HQ Sydney November 1829 to February 1830. Norfolk Island 6 Feb to October 1830. HQ Sydney November 1830 to October 1831 inc. Duty. Bathurst, NSW November to 31 Dec 1831. Mount Vittoria, NSW January 1832. Parramatta, NSW February 1832. Windsor, NSW March 1832. Parramatta, NSW 1 Apr to 30 Jun 1832. Sydney 21 Jul 1832 embarked for Poonamalee, Madras*. [Sourced from Musters & Pay Lists WO12-5263 TO 5266 inclusive]. |
| Discharge Date and Place | 10 Jan 1837 (after return from Bangalore to England on 4 Oct 1836, Gravesend) [WO97-553-7]. |
| Age at Discharge | 40 years. |
| Length of Service | 24 years 102 days [WO97-553-7]. Reckoned half period in East Indies 1 year 222 days & further service 1 year 10 days. |
| Chelsea Pension Reference | WO97-553-7. |
| Admission to Pension Date | 8 Feb 1837 Shepton Mallet [WO23-9-84]. |
| Pension District | Bristol [ditto]. |
| Pension Amount | £1 1s. ½d. [ditto]. |
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
* The Military General Service Medal clasp for the Battle of Pyrenees is not included in the War Office discharge to pension documents [WO97] for Robert Forred. However, I believe I have located the relevant medal roll record here, although I have no key to the remarks thereon. Of the remaining actions in which Forred was engaged, a further four clasps were instituted in 1847 for Nivelle, Nive, Orthes and Toulouse. Whether Forred made application and received the Medal and relevant clasps is unknown.
* Passage to India 1832. Six companies of the 39th regiment embarked at Sydney on the 21st July 1832, in three divisions, and disembarked at Madras on 22nd September, 10th and 14th October. The remaining four companies embarked at Sydney on 3rd December and arrived at Madras on 21st February the following year. As I have been unable to locate Robert Forred in Sydney after 30th June 1832 [WO12-5266-178], I assume that he embarked for Poonamalee in the first group of companies arriving in the Madras Presidency.
Diane Oldman 2024