Civilian vs Enlisted Armourers

[JMD]

I have two ancestors who were armourers with the Army. One held the post of "civilian armourer" in British garrisons in Canada - first at KIngston (1844-48) and then Montreal (1849-70). As far as we know, he was hired in his native Birmingham and posted shortly thereafter to Canada. The second enlisted in the Corps of Armourer Sergeants in 1861 in his native Pimlico, and was attached to the 2nd West India Regiment (1863-70) and the Canadian Militia (1872-84). It is apparent that the army employed both civilians and soldiers as armourers in the mid-19th century, but I am curious to know under what conditions the former were engaged and whether there was a distinction in how the two groups were deployed. Has anyone looked into this?

[Peter]

Hello JMD.

I’ve bumped this up in the hope it might attract a response “second” time around.

However, assuming it doesn’t, I can only suggest you post some details of Thomas Reeves’ military / post military career in a separate thread ….. ensuring you include Kingston (or Montreal / Canada) in the heading!

There are a couple of your countrymen who are very knowledgeable who post here and who might be able to offer some comments. Perhaps they can offer something regarding employment of civilian armourers in the early British garrisons.

Regards,

[Waggoner]

JMD,

I agree with Peter, the details of their careers would be most interesting - and may help to provide some answers to your questions. Have you looked for the service papers of your Armourer Sergeant ancestor? I suspect the National Archives for his British service and the Library and Archives Canada for his Canadian period.

All the best,

Gary

[JMD]

Thank-you for your suggestions, gentlemen.

Re Armourer Sergeant Daniel Blackford, I do have a copy of his military service records as well as some original correspondence. The main points are as described in my first post - enlisted at Pimlico in 1861, service in Barbados, Jamaica and Nassau with the 2nd West India Regiment, one year furlough in London, a year at the small arms factory in Birmingham, posted to the Canadian Militia in Montreal, and discharged in 1884. His entire period of service in Montreal was spent on St-Helen's Island where the arsenal and munitions stores were located. He continued to live on the island following his discharge where he worked as a civilian in the Military Stores. Interestingly, he re-enlisted in the Canadian Militia as a quartermaster sergeant in 1903, at the age of 66,and served exactly 3 years - I don't know the reason for this.

As for civilian armourer Thomas Reeves, I have no formal records about his time in the British garrisons at Kingston and Montreal, apart from the birth records of his children and one census entry. He too lived on St-Helen's Island, where part of his house served as the officer's mess. We do know that when the British garrison was withdrawn from Canada in 1870, Reeves moved to downtown Montreal, where he opened a gun shop. His entries in the city directories of the early 1870s indicate that he was the sole agent for the Martini Henry Rifle.

JMD