Samuel Insull, Peninsular War veteran

1784 - 1846  (~ 62 years)

• Name	Samuel Insull
  Suffix	Peninsular War veteran
  Born	c 1784	Aston?, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
  	Place of birth as given in his Army enlistment records (when he gave his age as a younger 19 - born c 1784). From 1841 census his year of birth can be calculated as c 1782 and from his burial record his year of birth can be calculated as c 1781.
  Christened	16 Mar 1785	Birmingham St Philip, Warwickshire, England
  	The only existing baptism traceable for Samuel is Samuel Insely son of Samuel and Catharine Insley baptised 16 March 1785 at Birmingham St Paul, Warwickshire. This couple has other children baptised under the surname Insull and although we can't prove this was Samuel's baptism and parentage, it seems likely to be correct. In 1798 his putative father Samuel Insull marries a second time to Ann Fisher in the parish of Aston, so perhaps this shows the connection of that Insull family to Aston.
  Gender	Male
  Occupation:	1803	Plater (at the time of his enlistment in the Army)
  	[From: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol7/pp81-139] Plated Goods and the Assay Office: Birmingham specialized early in the production of goods which appeared to be what they were not. Yet there was one honest and several dishonest ways of producing such objects. The honest way was to cover a hard and serviceable base (mostly copper and brass) with a layer of gold or silver sufficiently thick to stand up to wear, to fasten this layer securely to the base and to declare the quality. To produce the material for the manufacturer of the finished article was the task of the plater. The art consisted in using the smallest possible quantity of precious metal to achieve the desired quality. If the plated sheet was to be machine-stamped or pressed into a complex shape or if it was to serve as a foot or handle subject to constant wear, it had to be thicker than if it was to be merely hand-shaped and perhaps engraved. Since the piece bore the maker's mark, it was in his interest to produce something that would stand up to use. The trade originally had its home in Sheffield and was brought to Birmingham in the mid-18th century. John Taylor and Boulton and Fothergill first produced plate on a large scale but the main users of plated sheets were the 'toymakers', the candlestickmakers, and the producers of buttons and buckles: in fact all the small establishments which could not roll their own plate. Soho and some of the large makers of plated goods rolled their own sheets. After about 1800 severe competition began to confine the production of the rolled metal to a few large producers (notably Waterhouse and Ryland), who were particularly skilled in making a little go a long way. The difficulty faced by the makers of plated goods was the need for assaying and hallmarking before sale. There was no assay office in Birmingham before 1773 and this obliged the manufacturers to send their completed wares to London or to Chester, the two places privileged under legislation dating back to Edward I. This not only caused delay but, as Boulton frequently complained, led to unnecessary risks of damage on a journey of 140 miles which took four days, so that he had the expense of making, transporting, and assaying for nothing. The fact that neither the Birmingham nor the Sheffield producers took any serious steps to remedy the deficiency before 1773 speaks rather for the assumption that the trade had only begun to expand substantially in the early seventies. The move came, primarily, from those whose names and marks were already registered at the Goldsmiths' Hall Assay Office. There were about a dozen of these and three more, including Boulton and Fothergill, were entered at Chester. But the total number of licensed makers of plate was 40 by that time. Samuel Garbett, giving evidence as a refiner of gold and silver before the committee of the House hearing the petition, mentioned these licensed makers as proving the extent of the trade, but the opponents of the measure, mainly the London goldsmiths, alleged that they faked assay marks or, at any rate, tried to pass off as silver and gold articles made from base metal. This charge may well have been correct in many cases. Nevertheless, the two new assay offices were sanctioned and the conduct of the local one placed in the hands of the 'Guardians of the Standard of Wrought Plate in Birmingham'. The guardians appointed their first assayer, James Jackson, in the summer of 1773 and the office at Little Cannon Street started operations in September. Boulton was the first to use it and the first list of articles marked, containing 70 types of wares, gives some idea of the diversity of the operations at Soho.
  Military:	25 Nov 1803	Coldstream Foot Guards, enlisting at Battle, Sussex, England
  	Samuel Insull served in the Coldstream Foot Guards. He enlisted at Battle, Sussex, on 25 November 1803 in the 2nd Battalion of the Foot Guards (the Coldstream Guards) for unlimited service, stating his age as being 19 (WO25/875): 1804-05: 26 June Westminster Samuel’s first appearance in the muster roll in Lt. Colonel Howard’s Company. 31 January 1805 Samuel shown on furlough. WO12(Musters) /1701 1805-06: 29 June 1805 Westminster Samuel in Howard’s Company and shown on duty 5 February 1806 WO12/1702 1806-07: 2 July: Westminster Samuel in Howard’s Company WO12/1703 1807-08: 1 Dec 1807 Chatham Samuel noted on Furlough in Lt. Colonel Sir William Sheridan’s Company WO12/1704 1808-09 No muster WO12/1705 Samuel was on Foreign Service with the 1st Battalion Coldstream Foot Guards. From the WO17 Monthly Returns of the Coldstream Guards and the WO12 Musters, we know that Samuel served with the 1st Battalion from Dec 1808 until Jan 1815 in Portugal as part of Wellington’s Peninsula Army. 1810-11: 24 Jan 1810 Westminster Samuel on Foreign Service in Lt. Colonel Henry Brand’s Company muster taken for 183 days from 25 December 1808 to 24 June 1809. WO12/1706 Monthly Return 1809 shows Brand’s Company in the 1st Battalion on Foreign Service in Spain. HQ at Cadiz. WO17 Monthly Returns)/78 Monthly Return 1810-11 as above WO17/79-80 2 Feb 1811 Westminster Samuel shown on Foreign Service in Henry Brand’s Company 182 days from 25 December 1809 to 24 June 1810. Muster lists a long list of dead. WO12/1707 1812 Foreign service Henry Brand’s Company back at Westminster - no Samuel, but the muster shows Samuel now in Colonel Joseph Fuller’s Company on Foreign Service. Muster taken for 183 days 25 June to 24 December 1811. WO12/1708 1813 Foreign service Joseph Fuller’s Company are shown back in Westminster but no Samuel. Westminster 20 January 1813 Samuel is shown in Brand’s Company on Foreign Service 183 days from 25 December 1811 to 24 June 1812.. WO12/1709 1813 29 Jun Foreign Service Samuel present in Brand’s Company on Foreign Service 183 days from 25 June 1812 to 24 December 1812 As above Monthly Return 1812-13 Foreign Service Shows Brand returning to London as acting Major in command of the 2nd Battalion at Home. Colonel Joseph Fuller is shown in command of the 1st Battalion in Portugal. NB. Although the officers in command of each company change locations the actual company of men remain in place thus Samuel remained in Portugal. WO17/81 Monthly Returns to 1813 Foreign Service Coldstream Foot Guards: this shows that they had two battalions the 1st on Foreign Service the 2nd battalion in England at various locations with barracks in London until Nov 1813 when they are shown with 6 companies on Foreign Service. WO17/258 1813 29 Jun Foreign Service Westminster: Brand’s Company back in England no Samuel. Samuel is shown on Foreign Service in Major General Henry Chester’s Company WO12/1710 1815 13 Jan Foreign Service, then England Westminster: Samuel is shown present in Major General Henry Chester’s Company on Foreign Service. In the same muster book Samuel is shown present in Captain L. F. Adams Company and is back in England and shown on duty. WO12/1711 Although Samuel did not receive the Waterloo Medal (Battle of Waterloo was 18 Jun 1815) he would, if he had lived, been entitled to the Peninsula Medal or Military General Service Medal 1793-1814, as it is correctly known. The medal was not instigated until 1847 and issued 1848. Unlike the Waterloo Medal which was issued to those who had served at Waterloo the MGS had to be applied for by which time many of those eligible were dead. Samuel’s presence is further confirmed by the Chelsea Hospital Prize Records for the Peninsula War in WO164. The payments to both officers and men were distributed in 6 payments as shown below. The registers of payment show the money was paid to Samuel himself: 1st Payment for the period 2-12 May 1809 Pte Samuel Insull paid 7s 2d 20 March 1816 2nd Payment for the period 5 March to 16 May 1811 Pte Samuel Insull paid 6s 3d 22 March 1816 3rd Payment for the period 13 January to 15 April 1812 Pte Samuel Insull paid 7s 6d 22 March 1816 4th Payment for the period 14 May to 21 October 1812 Pte Samuel Insull paid 6s 4d 22 March 1816 5th Payment for the period 14 May to 31 December 1813 Pte Samuel Insull paid 8s 5d 22 March 1816 6th Payment for the period 1 January to 10 April 1814 Pte Samuel Insull paid £1 14s 3d 22 March 1816 From the above Samuel was almost certainly present at all the main battles of the war starting with Talavera. The presence of the 1st Battalion Coldstream Foot Guards and the various Divisions and Brigades at Peninsular War battles where known: 27 Jul 1809 Talavera 1st Division John Cope Sherbrooke, Henry Ford Campbell’s Brigade 27 Sep 1810 Busaco 1st Division Brent Spencer, Edward Stopford’s Brigade 5 Mar 1811 Barrosa 2 Companies only of Coldstream Guards were with the force under Sir Thomas Graham at the fall of Barrosa 3-5 May 1811 Fuentes de Onoro 1st Division Brent Spencer, Edward Stopford’s Brigade 16 May 1811 Albuera The 1st Division and a Guards Brigade not present at Albuera. Allied Army commanded by Beresford 19 Jan 1812 Ciudad Rodrigo As above, neither 1st Division nor a Guards Brigade present 6 Apr 1812 Badajos As above, no Guards Brigade present 22 Jul 1812 Salamanca 1st Division H. Campbell, Fermor’s Brigade 21 Jun 1813 Vitoria 1st Division Kenneth Alexander Howard, Edward Stopford’s Brigade 25 Jul -1 Aug 1813 Pyrenees 10 Nov 1813 Nivelle 9-13 Dec 1813 Nive 27 Feb 1814 Orthez 10 Apr 1814 Toulouse The Guards Brigade under the Command of Brigadier General H. Campbell (1/2nd (Coldstream) Foot Guards and 1/3rd Foot Guards sailed for Cadiz 15 January 1809 but on arrival were refused admittance and went instead to Lisbon arriving 13 March 1809. Wellington was now in Command of the Peninsula Army and at the Battle of Talavera 27 July 1809 the 1/2nd Foot Guards under Campbell in the Guards Brigade were in the 1st Division under John Cope Sherbrooke. The Guards were always placed in the 1st Division which was regarded as Wellington’s strongest Division. In the Orders of Battle that I have checked the 1st Division are not shown present in action at Siege situations such as Badajos and Ciudad Rodrigo. Wellington did not use the Guards in the assaults, where at Badajos the Allies lost 3350 during the assault (2500 in the main breaches) out of a total of 4760 officers and men. The book “Origins and Services of the Coldstream Guards” by Colonel Sir Daniel Mackinnon published 1833 includes Samuel’s arrival in the Peninsula 1809 up to 1814 when he is shown back in London. The 1st Battalion disembarked at Portsmouth 10 July and marched to Portman Street Barracks arriving 4 August 1814. Samuel was discharged to a Long Service Pension of one shilling a day from 30 March 1825 and gave his intended residence as London (ref. WO117/1). 7 x Pension Returns for London 1st West District show Samuel receiving his pension until 30 June 1846, when he is then transferred to South London District (he went to live with his daughter Sarah and her husband Henry Rumsey and their children. The pension return for September 1846 records Samuel’s death on 18 September 1846 age 60.
  Residence:	1816 - 1821	Rose Street (off Garrick Street), Covent Garden, London, England
  	In 1816 and 1821 when daughters were baptised, Samuel's address was given as Rose Street.
  Physical Description:	1825	Physical description form Army discharge papers
  	Height: 5 feet 6 inches Hair: Brown Eyes: Grey Complexion: Fresh
  Occupation:	1803 - 1825	Soldier in the Coldstream Foot Guards
  Residence:	6 Jun 1841	28 Little Chapel Street (now Caxton Street, not far from Victoria Street, Westminster), Westminster St Margaret, London, England
  	1841 census: Samuel Insull age 58 and a Plater not born in the County (wife) Ann Insull age 63 not born in the County (daughter) Mary Insull age 21 born in the County [I am unsure if daughter Mary Insull above is a step-daughter, or a daughter born circa 1819 whose baptism has not been found]
  Occupation:	1842
  	Plater
  Military:	1846	Chelsea Pension records - Pensions ceased by death
  	Regiment: 2nd Foot Guards Rate of pension: 1/- Rate of poundage: 5p Ct [?] Name: Samuel Insell Permanent pension Date of death: 18 September 1846 [sic? Line above his entry has same date of death] Age at decease: 60
  Died	Dec 1846	3 Cork Street (now Bantry Street), Camberwell, London, England
  	died at the home of his daughter Sarah Rumsey, nee Insull. Cause of death given as paralysis which he had for 12 months before his death. His daughter Sarah gave his age at death as 70 years.
  Buried	27 Dec 1846	Camberwell St George churchyard, London, England
  	Age given in the burial record as 65 and residence as Cork Street (home of his daughter Sarah Rumsey). Address: 55 Wells Way, Camberwell, London Borough of Southwark, Greater London, SE5 7TW England. St George’s Church was built in 1824 to accommodate the local population explosion, which was too much for the Camberwell parish church of St Giles. The church was severely damaged by fire in 1980 and left roofless and vandalised for most of the 1980s. It re-opened in 1994 as thirty ‘Mediterranean-style’ one-bedroom flats, run by St George’s Housing Co-operative. The remains in the crypt were re-buried in Nunhead Cemetery in 1993. [https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2418476/st.-george-churchyard]
  Person ID	I68	Grant
  Last Modified	13 Aug 2021

  
  

  Father	?Samuel Insull, Carpenter and joiner in Birmingham,   b. c 1754,   d. Feb 1823, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England  (Age ~ 69 years)
  Relationship	Putative
  Mother	?Catherine [Mason],   b. c 1752,   d. c 21 Sep 1798, Birmingham St Philip, Warwickshire, England  (Age ~ 46 years)
  Relationship	Putative
  Married	The only easily traceable marriage of a Samuel Insull (and variants) to a Catherine is Samuel Insley m Catherine Mason 2 Feb 1777 at St Peter, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England. Might possibly be the couple, as first son William born 1779 in Birmingham.
  Family ID	F776	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Sarah Jeacock,   d. 1821, likely at Rose Street, Covent Garden, London, England
  Married	16 May 1815	St Martin in the Fields, Westminster, London, England
  Children	1. Mary Ann Insull,   b. Aug 1816, 5 Rose Street, Covent Garden, London, England ,   d. Jun 1820, Rose Street, Covent Garden, London, England  (Age ~ 3 years)  [Birth]   2. Mary? Insull,   b. c 1820, London, England + 3. Sarah Insull,   b. Jan 1821, 12 Rose Street, Covent Garden, London, England ,   d. 15 Jun 1859, 30 Robert Street, Bromley by Bow, London, England  (Age ~ 38 years)  [Birth]
  Last Modified	9 Jun 2019
  Family ID	F35	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Ann Gill,   b. c 1777,   d. 14 Sep 1844, 28 Little Chapel Street (now Caxton Street), Westminster, London, England  (Age ~ 67 years)
  Married	18 Nov 1821	St Mary Lambeth, London, England
  Last Modified	13 Jun 2019
  Family ID	F720	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos		28 July 1809: Battle of Talavera in the Peninsular War by E. Walker
  		Uniform of a Private of the Coldstream Guards - Peninsular War