16 Mar 2021

I received the Hampshire Baptism Index 1752-1812 from the Hampshire Family History Society and thought I would go through and extract all the hinksman records.

• 14 Jan 1752, Upham, Ann, dau. of Thos & Damasis Hinksman
• 3 Jan 1755, Crondall, Joseph, son of Thos Hinksman
• 14 Mar 1756, Upham, Mary, dau. of Thomas & Damano Hinksman
• 21 Oct 1766, Winchester St. Swithun, William, son of Wm & Mary Hinksman
• 11 Jun 1772, Romsey, Wm, son of Jas & Sarah Hinksman
• 17 Feb 1776, Twyford, Jane, dau. of Edwd & Jane Hinskman
• 18 Jan 1776, Romsey, Sarah, dau. of James & Sarah Hinksman
• 2 Apr 1777, Winchester St. Michael, Elizabeth, dau. of William & Mary Hinksman
• 26 Oct 1777, Twyford, William, son of Edward & Mary Hinksman
• 27 May 1787, Romsey, Mary, dau. of Martha Hinksman, pauper

And the Hinxmans:

• 10 Aug 1774, Micheldever, Amey D of William & Mary Hinxman,
• 16 Nov 1788, Twyford, Amy D of Edward & Jane Hinxman, Poor
• 10 Mar 1758, Titchfield, Ann D of Ricd & Mary Hinxman,
• 25 Aug 1788, Fordingbridge, Charles S of Elizabeth Hinxman, Fighting Cocks
• 27 Dec 1785, Twyford, Edwd S of Edwd & Jane Hinxman,
• 15 Oct 1782, Titchfield, Eliza D of John & Fanny Hinxman,
• 19 Jul 1754, Titchfield, Elizabeth D of Richard & Mary Hinxman,
• 10 Jan 1782, Twyford, Elizabeth D of Edward & Jane Hinxman,
• 06 Jun 1771, Winchester St Swithun, Elizabeth D of William & Mary Hinxman,
• 20 Oct 1793, Twyford, James S of Edward & Jane Hinxman,
• 09 May 1784, Titchfield, John S of John & Fanny Hinxman,
• 19 May 1786, Titchfield, John S of John & Fanny Hinxman, 2 yrs on 7 Apr last
• 27 Dec 1764, Romsey, John James S of James Hinxman,
• 18 May 1769, Romsey, Joseph S of James & Sarah Hinxman,
• 09 Jan 1791, Twyford, Julet Caroline D of Edward & Jane Hinxman, Poor
• 03 Jun 1762, Houghton, Mary D of Christian Hinxman, bastard
• 01 Aug 1777, Micheldever, Mary D of William & Mary Hinxman,
• 11 Sep 1792, Southampton St Mary, Mary D of Martha Hinxman, baseborn, Poor house
• 19 Apr 1753, Titchfield, Mary D of Richard & Mary Hinxman,
• 19 May 1786, Titchfield, Mary D of John & Fanny Hinxman, 5 yrs on 10 June last
• 12 Dec 1779, Twyford, Molly D of Edwd & Mary Hinxman,
• 24 Feb 1769, Winchester St Swithun, Rebecca D of William & Mary Hinxman,
• 19 May 1786, Titchfield, Richard S of John & Fanny Hinxman,
• 09 Jul 1760, Itchen Abbas, Robert S of Thos & Damoras Hinxman,
• 04 Aug 1756, Titchfield, Sara D of Richard Hinxman, of Barnfarm
• 02 Sep 1764, Itchen Abbas, Sarah D of Thomas & Damaras Hinxman, bn 19 Jul
• 24 Apr 1773, Winchester St Swithun, Sarah D of William Hinxman,
• 22 Feb 1758, Itchen Abbas, Thomas S of Thomas & Damaras Hinxman
• 27 Dec 1764, Romsey, Thomas S of James Hinxman
• 18 Jun 1761, Titchfield, Thomas S of Richard & Mary Hinxman
• 25 Apr 1773, West Tytherley, William S of Mary Hinxman
• 30 Dec 1755, Fareham St Peter & St Paul, Elizabeth Hinxman D of Thomas Hinxman & Sarah Skeats, bastard

And a Hinchman:

• 5 May 1776, West Tytherley, Agnes D of Mary Hinchman, baseborn

Of the above, which William Hinksman could have been recruited in 1799 in Southampton with a possible brother Edward recruited in 1803, probably also in Southampton?

Grouping some of the families shows some candidates.

Edward & Mary

• William, 1777, Twyford
• Molly, 1779, Twyford

Edward & Jane

• Jane 1776, Twyford
• Amy, 1788, Twyford
• Edward, 1785, Twyford
• Elizabeth, 1782, Twyford
• James, 1793, Twyford
• Julet Caroline, 1791, Twyford

Mary

• William, 1773, West Tytherley

James & Sarah

• Thomas, 1764, Romsey (no mother recorded)
• John James, 1764, Romsey (no mother recorded)
• Joseph, 1769, Romsey
• William, 1772, Romsey
• Sarah, 1776, Romsey

William & Mary

• William, 1766, Winchester St. Swithun
• Rebecca, 1769, Winchester St Swithun
• Elizabeth, 1771, Winchester St Swithun
• Sarah, 1773, Winchester St Swithun (no mother recorded)
• Amey, 1774, Micheldever
• Mary, 1777, Micheldever

Twyford parish is 1-2 miles to the south of Winchester; Micheldever is 7-8 miles to the north; Romsey is 12 miles south west and West Tytherley is about 12-14 miles west.

Are the Twyford hinksman/hinxmans two separate families or are Mary and Jane the same person but recorded differently? I need to look at the marriage indexes to find out. I have these on order at the moment.

It’s quite frustrating that there are three candidate Williams in just this small area. There is only one Edward though, so that may be a stronger link to Edward & Jane Hinxman

I did a little background research on the 4th Foot 1st Battalion that William and Edward Hinksman served in. The 4th Foot Regiment is known as The King’s Own Regiment and participated in many historic wars including the War of American Independence. William and Edward served just before and at the start of the Napoleonic Wars.

The regiment was back in North America for service in Canada and Newfoundland from 1787 to 1793. They also took part in the capture of St Pierre and Miquelon, then the expedition to North Holland in 1799. There they were involved in an action on 6th October in which they suffered heavy casualties. ¹

This is when William Hinksman was recruited in Southampton, possibly as part of a drive to regain the regiment’s strength

The regiment served under Sir John Moore at Shorncliffe in 1804 and a second battalion was raised. The 1st battalion then went to Hanover in 1805 and was at Copenhagen in 1807. They were with Sir John Moore in Sweden in 1808 when he took them to Portugal for the ill-fated campaign that resulted in the retreat to Corunna. They were in Baird’s Division. Because of Moore’s influence on their training the regiment suffered less than most. ¹

Edward Hinksman died on 16 Nov 1808. There is no mention of William Hinksman after 1806 but that may simply be because Jeff was not able to consult the records after 1809. The regiment was in Colchester in June 1809.

The regiment was sent on the disastrous Walcheren Expedition which was intended to capture Antwerp. But sickness plagued the whole army and the attempt had to be abandoned. The 4th suffered deaths from the illness but were one of the first Walcheren regiments to be sent to the Peninsula where the 1st battalion joined the 5th Division under Leith at Torres Vedras in Nov 1810. The second battalion went to Gibraltar, spending some time at Ceuta, then at the siege of Cadiz. The battalions were subsequently re-united in Spain.

The following picture is of the 4th Foot 1st Battalion in 1813:

Lt Maguire led the Forlorn Hope of 1st Battalion 4th Foot into the breaches of San Sebastian on 31st August 1813, his 21st birthday. He and his men had cleared the sea wall and approached the breach where he was killed. His men continued the assault. This painting of Maguire as he was hit by a defender’s bullet is by J P Beadle and was hung in the Royal Academy for some years. It is now in the officer’s mess. Lieutenant Maguire was born in the regiment and was regarded as a prominent character in it. He carried a silver beaker with him throughout the campaign, which survives to this day and is placed before the CO of the 1st Battalion of the present regiment, The Royal Lancasters, on dinner nights. ²

I found a scanned copy of the History of the Fourth or King’s Own Regiment of Foot 1839 but unfortunately it is only available via Google Books and not a download. Link: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=pR1Ixr0zKYUC (Update: I managed to find the export option which allowed me to download it as a PDF)

I looked at FamilySearch.org to see if I could find William Hinksman’s death to help in reconstructing his movements. By chance I spotted this marriage:

Marriage in Cheriton, Kent, England, 30 Sep 1803. William Hinksman to Jane Fisher³

No witnesses or other information is available. I looked in the regimental history book to see where the regiment were station in 1803. They were at Shorncliffe from Nov 1802 to 28 Nov 1803 securing the defences against a possible invasion by Napoleon’s forces. Shorncliffe Army Camp was a large military camp near Cheriton in Kent established in 1794 ⁴

This seems like a superb fit for William and Jane Hinksman, my proposed parents of Jane Hinksman. I have ordered a CD containing parish registers for Cheriton from the Kent Family History Society.

On 28th November 1803 the regiment proceeded to newly built barracks at Hythe before returning to Shorncliffe in 1804, being reviewed by The Duke of York. The threat of invasion from France passed and at the end of the season, on 2nd November the regiment returned to Hythe. They left for Canterbury on 9th March 1805 and spent the summer encamped on Beachy Head.

All of those locations are candidates for the birth of any children, possibly including Jane, although her later workhouse records imply she was born around 1809.

I also checked the location of the regiment in March 1806 when the marriage of Edward and Susan Liffen took place in Woodbridge, Suffolk. The regimental history book has this to say:

On the 21st October [1805] the glorious victory at Trafalgar was won by the fleet, which gave Great Britain the uncontrolled sovereignty of the sea: and on the 27th of that month the first battalion of the King’s Own embarked at Ramsgate for Hanover. Having landed at Cuxhaven on the 19th November, it marched up the country and was cantoned at Blumenthal, where it formed in brigade with the twenty-third and twenty-eighth regiments under Major-General Honourable E. Paget [ … clipped for brevity … ] In a subsequent treaty concluded at Vienna, it was stipulated, that Hanover should be occupied by the Prussians and the British troops under Lord Cathcart retreated to Bremen and embarked for England.

The first battalion of the King’s Own landed at Yarmouth in February, 1806 and marched to Woodbridge barracks; from whence it proceeded in May to Colchester: the second battalion was quartered at Chelmsford.

So this fits very well with the marriage between Edward and Susan.

More details from the history:

On 25th July 1807 the regiment departed Harwich and lay siege to Copenhagen, Denmark. They returned to Deal on the 6th and 7th November and marched back to Colchester. The second battalion proceeded to Jersey.

The next year they embarked at Harwich on the 28th April and arrived at Gottenburg, Sweden but almost immediately returned to England. They were ordered to Portugal and landed in Maceira Bay on the 25th August and advanced to Lisbon. They then marched into Spain and arrived at Salamanca on 14th November. Facing overwhelming numbers of French they retreated at great cost 250 miles in winter and arrived at Corunna in 1809, recruiting to recoup strength and awaited shipping to transport them home. They were attacked by the French on 16th Jan 1809 and defeated them so that by 31st Jan 1809 they had landed at Portsmouth and marched to Colchester Barracks where the second battalion was now also stationed after returning from Jersey. They embarked for Walcheren on 16th July and returned after a severe epidemic fever broke out on 16th September.

From this it seems that the best place to look for Jane Hinksman’s birth would be in Colchester. (note: this was not necessary – see end of today’s entry)

I signed up to findmypast to access their military record images since they have a few records of hinksmans around this time.

The first I found was the death of a Charles Hinksman in 1809⁵:

First name(s): Charles
Last name: Hinksman
Age: 34
Death year: 1809
Year: -
Rank as transcribed: Soldier
Rank: Soldier
Ship or corps: 9 Regt
Ship name: 9 Regt
Birth place: London
Prison camp or ship: -
Country of imprisonment: France
Conflict: Napoleonic Wars
Document details: Register of Deaths for British POWs 1794-1813
Archive reference: ADM 103/630
Archive: The National Archives
Record set: Prisoners Of War 1715-1945
Category: Military, armed forces & conflict
Subcategory: Regimental & Service Records
Collections from: Great Britain, UK None

A note in different ink in the certificate granted column states: “John Hinksman Brother of deceased 10 Dec”

The second is a William Hinksman⁶ appearing in the Navy and Royal Marines pension records but no year is given.

First name(s): William
Last name: Hinksman
Year: -
Series: ADM 73
Series/Piece: ADM 73/037
Series description: Greenwich Hospital pensioners 1704-1869
Piece description: General Entry Book of Officers and Pensioners: Index
Year range: 1704-1765
Archive: The National Archives
Country: United Kingdom
Record set: British Royal Navy & Royal Marines Service And Pension Records, 1704-1919
Category: Military, armed forces & conflict
Subcategory: Regimental & Service Records
Collections from: Great Britain, UK None

A record from the Napoleonic War Records 1775 – 1817 collection with no image, of William Hinksman enlisting in 1799⁷:

First name(s): William
Last name: Hinksman
Rank: Serjeant
Regiment: 1/4th Foot
Enlistment year: 1799
Enlistment day: 19
Enlistment month: Jul
WO25 reference: 915
Category: Military, armed forces & conflict
Subcategory: Regimental & Service Records
Collections from: Great Britain, UK None

And Edward Hinksman⁸:

First name(s): Edward
Last name: Hinksman
Rank: Corporal
Regiment: 1/4th Foot
Enlistment year: 1803
Enlistment day: 4
Enlistment month: Jul
WO25 reference: 915
Category: Military, armed forces & conflict
Subcategory: Regimental & Service Records
Collections from: Great Britain, UK None

And a John Hinksman also enlisting in 1804⁹:

First name(s): John
Last name: Hinksman
Rank: Private
Regiment: 1/4th Foot
Enlistment year: 1804
Enlistment day: 19
Enlistment month: Apr
WO25 reference: 915
Category: Military, armed forces & conflict
Subcategory: Regimental & Service Records
Collections from: Great Britain, UK None

There is a record of a “Jns” Hinksman receiving the Waterloo Medal, 1815There is a record of a “Jns” Hinksman receiving the Waterloo Medal, 1815¹⁰

First name(s): Jns
Last name: Hinksman
Year: 1815
Rank: Serjeant
Regiment: 1st Battalion 4th (Or Kings Own) Regiment
Sub unit: Captain Kirwan's Company No.6.
Medal type: Waterloo Medal, 1815
Country: Great Britain
Record set: Britain, Campaign, Gallantry & Long Service Medals & Awards
Category: Military, armed forces & conflict
Subcategory: Medal Rolls and Honours
Collections from: Great Britain, UK None

John Hinksman’s Discharge papers have also survived¹¹

First name(s): Jno
Last name: Hinksman
Birth year: -
Birth town: Bromyard
Birth county: Herefordshire
Birth country: England
Service number: -
Regiment: Waterloo
Attestation year: 1817
Attestation date: ? ? 1817
Attestation corps: King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) - 4th Foot
Discharge date: 26 Jun 1817
Discharge corps: Waterloo
Document type: Discharge
Archive: The National Archives
Series: Wo 121 - Chelsea: Pensioners' Discharge Documents 1760-1887
Reference: WO 121
Box: 0172
Record set: British Army Service Records
Category: Military, armed forces & conflict
Subcategory: Regimental & Service Records
Collections from: Great Britain, England

The document states that he served for 13 1/12 years in the 4th regiment of foot including 2 years as serjeant at Waterloo. No age is given. He is described as 5 feet 8 inches in height with brown hair, grey eyes, brown complexion, by trade a labourer was born in the parish of Edvin Loach in Bromyard in the county of Hereford. He was rendered incapable of further service by reduction wounded at Coruna Badajoss[?] New Orleans and severely hurt in the loins at Salamanca.