Hi - I live in Australia and after the recent passing of my dad I am researching the TOMKINS family from Richards Castle and Monmouth. I know they joined the Shropshire infantry and fought in the Boer War. Father was John and son was Charles who migrated to Australia. I can't seem to find much at all and so are appealing for help. Any help is greatly appreciated.
thanks
Hello, my name is W Tomkins, my ancestors came from Richard’s Castle, but to my knowledge none of them stayed there after 1740ish, I am sure that the ones you refer to are the people from Pencombe, Herefordshire who went there to farm in the 19th century. The Pencombe TOMKINS originated there from memory about 1600 or earlier, some may have filtered into nearby villages as well. They were a compact group what I remember and should not be difficult to sort out.
I know of no Monmouth TOMKINS because I never needed to.
Bill.
Hello from Shrewsbury
There are Boer War service papers for 5999, Charles Tomkins
all the best PHIL
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Hello
The first thing to note is that Richard's Castle is an Ancient Parish partly in Herefordshire and partly in Shropshire. See England & Wales Jurisdictions 1851 on the Family Search web site.
Note that you need to include the apostrophe in Richard's for the results to come up.
The county boundary cuts through the northern part of the village of Richard's Castle leaving most of the actual village in Herefordshire, so much depends on whether your family originated from the actual village or the wider parish as to whether you need to look in Shropshire or Herefordshire records.
Having said this the 1891 census has them living at Overton in Shropshire but the places of birth seem to have been altered by the enumerator.
There are some Boer War casualties listed on Ancestry but I can't immediately see anyone who looks like your family members.
Perhaps you can add a bit more detail (dates, places, etc) about your family in the hope that someone might pick something up. Do you know when Charles TOMKINS emigrated to Australia?
Mike