Guide to the Records of the South Staffordshire Regiment (80th Regiment) relating to Australia and New Zealand (as filmed by the AJCP), 1793-1905

Request this via the Catalogue

Filter Online content

Some materials from this collection are available online.

Show only online content

Online content

View online

Summary

Collection number:

M815

Creator:

Staffordshire Regiment Museum

Extent:

5 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Digest, volume 1 (1793-1897); volume. 2 (1793-1899). The digest was initially written about 1881 and maintained until 1889. It records service of the Regiment giving details of stations at which employed, dates of arrival and departure from these stations, and military operations. It also mentions officer movements and comments on the effect of convict guard duty on the discipline of the Corps.

Roll 1804-1881. 'Nominal and Descriptive Roll of the 80th Regiment' with entries for name, date of enlistment, age at enlisting, height, trade or occupation, place of birth and remarks such as transferred, discharged, or death. Arranged by date of enlistment.

Record of Stations 1793-1905 listing dates of embarkation and disembarkation.

Letter 'Purchase of Ensigncy in 98th Foot by Mr Stafford W. Vardon 31/5/59'. Directed to General Monteith of the Indian Army from the Horse Guards.

Biographical / Historical:

The 80th Regiment of Foot was raised by Lord Henry Paget in 1793, largely from members of the Staffordshire Militia who were tenants of his father, the Earl of Uxbridge. It immediately saw action in Flanders and the Netherlands and it was part of the British force that expelled Napoleon from Egypt in 1801. In 1802 it absorbed the Staffordshire Volunteers and from then on was called the 80th Regiment (Staffordshire Volunteers). The Regiment served in India from 1803 to 1817.

In May 1836 a detachment of the Regiment, led by Major Narborough Baker, left Gravesend as the guard on the convict ship Lady Kennaway. It arrived in Sydney in October 1836 and 25 further detachments followed as convict guards in the next two years. In March 1837 Baker was given command of the Regiment and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. The regimental colours arrived in July 1837. The headquarters of the regiment were initially at Windsor and in 1841 they were moved to Parramatta. The troops were deployed widely, with detachments sent at various times to the Illawarra, Berrima, Wingello, Newcastle, Liverpool, Port Phillip, Bathurst, Cox's River, Emu Plains, Moreton Bay, Portland Bay and Port Macquarie. Some troops continued working as guards on convict road gangs. Under the command of Major James Nunn, other soldiers were assigned to the Mounted Police and some took part in the massacre of indigenous Australians at Waterloo Creek in January 1838.

In 1839 Major Thomas Bunbury led a detachment to Norfolk Island to serve as the garrison. Following a minor mutiny, he was recalled to Sydney in the same year. In 1841 Bunbury was sent to New Zealand. His detachment, which numbered from 80 to 100 men, was employed on various manual tasks, such as timber-cutting, bricklaying and carpentry. The soldiers built the first stone barracks at Auckland. Bunbury was also responsible for taking the Treaty of Waitangi to the South Island and Stewart Island and gathering signatures. In June 1840, at Cloudy Bay, he took possession of the South Island in the name of the British Crown. The detachment returned to Sydney in 1844.

In 1844 Sir Maurice O'Connell, who was commander of the Australian military forces, was appointed Colonel of the 80th Regiment. He held the post until his death in 1848. In August 1844 the Regiment left Australia and sailed to India. Baker retired in 1845 and was succeeded by Bunbury as commanding officer. The Regiment served in the First Sikh War (1845-1846), the Second Burmese War (1852-1853), the Central Indian Campaign (1858) and the Zulu Wars (1879).

In 1881 the 80th Regiment merged with the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment (which had originally been raised in Lichfield in 1705). The 80th formed the 2nd Battalion in the South Staffordshire Regiment. In 1959 the Regiment merged with the North Staffordshire Regiment to form the Staffordshire Regiment. In turn, the Staffordshire Regiment was absorbed into the Mercia Regiment in 2005.

Reference: W.L. Vale. History of the South Staffordshire Regiment (Aldershot, 1969).

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:: Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:: Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.