Waterloo 1815

I have been digging away in the North American records for the past few weeks but not found anything coherent enough to for the subject of a blog. However, look out for something soon on Family Bibles.

Thursday was the two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and, out of curiosity, I looked up whether there were any Swindells (etc) who received the Waterloo Medal.

The Waterloo Medal was conferred upon every Officer, Non-Commissioned Officer and Soldier of the British Army  (including members of the Kings German Legion) who took part in one or more of the following battles: Battle of Ligny (16 June 1815), Battle of Quatre Bras (16 June 1815), and the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815).

There were three:-

Samuel Swindall, a private in the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Regiment Foot Guards

John Swindle, a private in the Light Company 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards
Josh (Joseph) Swindles in the 1st Battalion 91st Regiment of Foot

Samuel was recruited in Nottingham and formally enrolled at Dover on the 6th of December 1813. He was probable the Samuel Swindall born about 1790-1795 in Nottingham who married Elizabeth Shepherd in Sneinton (Nottingham) on the 21st of October 1825. He became a shoemaker and had two sons before dying in 1853.

John Swindle was recruited in Ticknall, Derbyshire - probably in the same recruitment drive as Samuel since he was enrolled at Dover on the same date. He is possibly the John Swindall, son of Charles and Mary Swindall, who was baptised on the 26th of February 1897 at Church Gresley, Derbyshire - a couple of miles from Ticknall. If so, he set himself up as a potter in Oakham, Rutland, on his discharge and then later farmed a small plot of land. He probably never married and died at the ripe old age of 91.

Joseph Swindles was a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars compared with the other two. He had been recruited in Glasgow in 1799 at the age of 21 - his trade had been that of a weaver. He was posted out to join his regiment in the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, before returning to Europe. He took part in the Peninsular Campaigns before being posted to Belgium and thus fighting at Waterloo (strictly speaking Quatre Bras). He was discharged in February 1819 at York with a very good character reference and must have returned to Glasgow since we find him marrying Elizabeth Steward there on the 30th of January 1820.

There were many other Swindells who fought in the Napoleonic wars but these were the three who fought in the Waterloo campaign. More research is required to identify their ancestors and descendants (if any) but they will have to await their turn.

More about the Swindell Surname