Our first record of William Couchman is his marriage on 17 April 1850 by the Revd Buchanan A.M. Officiating Chaplain to the 56th Regiment at Gibraltar. William married Mary Schuttmayr. Both were previously unmarried. Witnesses were J. Whittaker Sergt 56th Regt, Margaret Warren and Francis Schuttmayr. 103

The marriage entry shows that William was a Sergeant in the 56th Regt. The 56th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment in the British Army from 1755 to 1881. It was the West Essex Regiment in 1854 and later became the Royal Anglian Regiment.

The regiment was stationed in Gibraltar from April 1850 to May 1851and the Muster Rolls show that Sergeant William Couchman, Number 2159, was there with his regiment. In May and in July to September of 1850, and in January and March 1851, he was recorded as “on guard”

In May 1851 the regiment left Gibraltar aboard the Resistance, to sail to Bermuda. 104 William spent 45 days on board ship between late May and early July 1851.105

From July 1851 William was with his regiment in the British Colony of Bermuda. Until November 1851 he was at Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda. From December 1851 to March 1852 he was on Ireland Island, the northwesternmost island in the chain which comprises Bermuda. There he would have been one of the regular soldiers defending the major Royal Naval base and dockyard which guarded the western Atlantic Ocean shipping lanes. From April to October 1852 William was in garrison employ, and from November 1852 to March 1853 he was deployed on a detachment to Mount Langton, where the Governor had his official residence near Hamilton. 106,105

In September 1853, an outbreak of yellow fever aboard the convict hulk Thames in Bermuda harbour spread to the barracks; of a detachment of 500 men present, more than a hundred died. 107 Altogether nearly 230 of its officers and men died in Bermuda from yellow fever in 1853. 108The regiment was ordered home in December 1853 109 and sailed about 31 December but did not reach Dublin until January 1855, again in the Resistance. 110 5

After a brief spell in Ireland, the regiment was ordered overseas to fight in the Crimean War (1853–1856). This war was fought between Imperial Russia on one side and an alliance of France, the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire on the other. Most of the conflict took place on the Crimean Peninsula, with additional actions occurring in western Turkey, and the Baltic Sea region. Allied troops landed in the Crimea and besieged the city of Sebastopol, home of the Tsar's Black Sea Fleet and the associated threat of potential Russian penetration into the Mediterranean. The city was captured on 8 September 1855, after a year-long siege. 5

The 56th Regiment arrived off Balaklava in late August 1855, saw some service at the end of the Siege of Sebastopol, and was awarded the battle honour "Sebastopol". William Couchman was promoted to Colour Sergeant at Sebastapol on 19 Mar 1856.A medal awarded to him after the battle is now in the possession of his GG granddaughter Lesley McNaughton. Inscribed around the rim of the medal is “2159 Serjt W Couchman 56th Regt” It was this medal which gave us the information needed to start researching William’s army records. The front of the medal shows Queen Victoria and is dated 1854; the back has the word “Crimea”. “Sebastapol” is shown on the bar above the medal.

The regiment boarded HMS Algiers to leave the Crimea on 11th July 1856, part of the final rearguard to depart. 111 The regiment was stationed in Ireland; until the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny. It sailed for India in late August 1857. 112

Many years later William’s granddaughter was sent a letter by relations in England. It was written 25 March 1858 by a soldier in India The last page is missing but we believe the letter was sent by William Couchman. It is addressed to his sister (no name), mentions his wife (no name), who was pregnant, and his children. He mentions Mary who we assume was his wife Mary Couchman née Schuttmayer. The soldier had arrived in Bombay on 20 Jan 1858 after 147 days at sea. After nine days in Bombay barracks, they had marched for 32 nights arriving at Belgaum, East India, on 2 Mar 1858. They marched at night because of the heat.

Although the 56th regiment remained in India through the Mutiny, it did not see active service. William Couchman was listed in the Muster Rolls at Poorundhur from April to June 1861.5
The regiment remained in India until December 1865 but William was marked 'non-effective', (in other words discharged), on 14 Jan 1863, the day on which he embarked for England. He was being sent to Netley Hospital near Southampton. The hospital records show that he was paid for 75 days from 14 Jan to 29 Mar and victualled on board the Gosforth until 23 April 1863 but died at sea. 102

Colour Sgt W. COUCHMAN, #2159, 56th Regiment, Coldstream Guards (Flag bearer) in Crimean War, medal from Sebastapol, 1854.

Report from professional researcher -
R W O'HARA
15 Ruskin Avenue
Kew
TW9 4DR
Bob

I searched WO 97/1560
This is the record of the personal documents of soldiers who were discharged between 1855 and 1872. William's records were not there.

Without knowledge of his regiment, the search would have stopped at this point, but as you had told me he was in the 56th Regiment of Foot, I was able to look in the regimental muster rolls in the hope of being able to go some way towards reconstructing his career.

I first located him in WO 12/6594, on 1st April 1853 when the regiment was stationed in Bermuda and William was a Sergeant, regimantal number 2159. Apparently he was deployed on a detachment to Mount Langton. In records WO12/6596-7, the regiment continued at Bermuda, (William is still a Sergeant but is now detached to Boaz and then to Hamilton, Bermuda) until circa 31 Dec 1854 when they set sail for Dublin. The next move of any significance is to the Crimean War when the 56th is located at a camp in Sebastopol and William Couchman is promoted to Colour Sergeant on 19 Mar 1856.

William was marked 'non-effective', (in other words discharged), on 14 Jan 1863 and thereafter he is not mentioned on the muster rolls. In some regiments, when a soldier is marked 'non-effective', details of his place of birth, date of enlistment, trade prior to enlistment and age on enlistment are all given. This is what I was hoping for. I am afraid the 56th regimental clerk did not observe this procedure and we have been deprived of some vital information.

Another possibility for details of discharged soldiers are the pension records. Accordingly, I searched WO 117/10, (for discharges from Jan to Jun 1863) and WO 23/49 (for discharges from the 51st to the 70th of Foot between 1855 and 1865). I failed to find any reference to a pension for William Couchman and I can only assume that he did not do the necessary 21 years service.