FRANCIS GREAVES born March 1771. Pensham, nr. Pershore, Worcestershire. No record found of marriage or death.

I contacted Lt. Col (Retd.) C.P Love, Hon. Archivist of the Worcestershire

Regiment Museum Trust, at Norton Barracks, on 26th January 2005, seeking information of the above named Francis and arranged an interview on the 9th February.

Francis is mentioned in the Last Will and Testament of John Greaves on 19th January 1810.

"To my son Francis I give the sum of One Hundred Pounds if he shall survive to return to England, if not, the said legacy to sink into the residium of my estate."

James Greaves, our direct ancestor son of Ann and nephew of Francis was also left £100.

Col. Love gave me the record book of the Military General Service

Medal 1793-1814.A Roll of the names of the 26,240 Officers and

men of the British Army who fought in the Peninsular and elsewhere, together with the battles they took part in and who survived until 1847 when they eventually received the Medal.

I thought the 29th Regt. of Foot was the best bet as it is known as the Worcs. Regt .but was assured by Lt. Col. Lowles, the expert on the 29th's history, that it was not necessarily so because the percentage of soldiers in the 29th was headed quite substantially by the Irish (50°0) followed by the Scots (about 12°0) then Lancastrians and about fourth or fifth by Worcestershire men.

I started with the Royal Horse Guards, then the 1st & 2nd Life

Guards.

1st 2nd 5th Dragoon Guards

3rd 4th 7th 8th Light Dragoons

10th & 15th Hussars

12th 13th 14th 16th & 18th Light Dragoons.

A George Greaves was Troop Sergeant Major in 16th Light Dragoons Royal Artillery Peter and Stephen Greaves Ptes. Royal Sappers and Miners

5th Foot guards George Greaves Lt. 20th Foot Robert Greaves

23rd Foot John Graves (2 clasps) 29th 30th Foot John Graves 1 Egypt 32 Foot Anthony Graves Capt.

42nd Foot Finlay Mathieson and William Mathieson (my mother's family)

67th Foot Roger Greaves Barrosa Clasp. Pte.

92nd Foot William Mathieson Vittoria-Pyrenees-Nivell-Nivel 95th Foot Joseph Greaves Orthes-Toulouse Royal Waggon Train-Medical Dept-Commissariat-Royal York Chelsea Pensioners-West Indian Regt-Isle of Man Volunteers

I ploughed through every one of the 26,240 Officers and men but no

Francis-Incidentally names given without a rank were privates.

I went back a second time to ask them to look through the casualty rolls in case he had been wounded or killed but there was no record of it. They told me it was like looking for a needle in a haystack as we did not know the Regiment he started in.. The only hope is the National Archives Muster of soldiers who served-their Attestation and Discharge Documents in Index W.0 97 in London. A very long shot costing time and money.

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Email: Lionel Graves (lionel@graf-tek.com).