Private William Keevers (1790.......)

Back To . . . 3rd Foot The Buff's The East Kent Regiment.

surnames17th

Surnames of the 57th

Descendants

This information was kindly supplied by Denise Holder dholder6@bigpond.com

Area Settled :

 

 

Children :

10 Children

History & Achievements :

William Keevers was born in Margate, North Kent in England on 11th March, 1790. He grew up to become a dedicated soldier and enlisted on 3rd December, 1810 as a Private, and was a soldier of the 6th Enniskillen Dragoons and the 18th Hussars till 10th September, 1821. William fought in the Peninsular War as part of the Duke of Wellington's army, as well as fighting at battles in Victoria, Pampeluna and Orthes in Spain, Pyrenees and Toulouse in France. William also fought in the Battle of Waterloo;for which he was awarded the Waterloo Medal, which is with the War Memorial Museum in Canberra. The medal is inscribed "Corporal William Keevers 18 Hussars Wellington Waterloo June 18, 1815". William married Sarah Slack around 1819 in England.  He then re-enlisted on 12th June, 1822 as a Private in the 3rd East Kent Regiment of Foot (The Buffs). He and Sarah came to Australia on 13th March, 1823.  It seems William was a guard on one of the convict boats.  William and his brother Edward were in a Garrison in Hobart for a short time in 1824, where Edward died. William was promoted to Corporal in Sydney on 25th December, 1826.  The 3rd Regiment was recalled to England in 1827. William then transferred to the 57th West Middlesex Regiment of Foot on 25th October, 1827, and later to the Leicestershire Regiment of foot until his discharge on 30th September, 1833.  In 1825, William became the first Drill Instructor for the NSW Mounted Police under Captain Francois Nicholas De Rossi ( 1825-34).  for a period from 1832-33 William was in the Governor's Guards (Governor Darling). In  1834 William purchased 100 acres of land at West Dapto which he called "Hussar Farm".  In 1845 he sold this land and moved to Jamberoo, as it was thought to have better work opportunities for his children.  Though William and Sarah lost one child before coming to Australia, they had 10 more, who all married and had children of their own.  I have found that their grandchildren numbered 75.

William was 5 feet 10 inches tall, dark complexion, grey eyes and brown hair.  It shows his promotion to corporal and that he was in the 18th Hussars for 10years and 282 days, ad in Waterloo 2 years. a. William and Sarah's descendants live far and wide nowadays, but some still live in the Jamberoo area, near Shoalhaven in south NSW.   William's account book with his regimental number has 17th Regiment of Foot on the front, but he was with the 3rd East Kent Regiment of Foot (The Buffs) I think when he came to Australia. 

 

References

Family Members, Military records of the Regiment , Pay rolls, Pay Musters, Cemetery Records, Church Records & General Muster Records. Reference:

The information is intended for short Historical value only,

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© Copyright B & M Chapman (QLD) Australia

Last revised: December 05, 2008.