32nd Regiment of Foot

Introduction

The information on this page is extracted from a number of sources, including notes sent to Cathy Day by the Regimental Museum in Cornwall, a page from 'The British Army of 1914' and various War Office documents such as pension records and Muster Rolls.

For a list of all Corporals in the Regiment in 1888, see the Adjutant’s Roll. For a list of married Sergeants and Corporals, see the Married Roll.

Brief History

This regiment was first raised in 1702 as Fox's Regiment of Marines, then numbered as the 32nd Foot in 1751. In 1782 it was designated the 32nd, or Cornwall, Regiment then in 1858 it was named the 32nd, or Cornwall, Light Infantry. In 1881 it was renamed as the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.

During 1884, the D.C.L.I. was stationed at Dublin, where its men would be sent after four months training at the newly-built depot at Bodmin, Cornwall. The Regimental Museum has photographs of all the recruits of the time, but unfortunately, they are not named. In 1885, the First Battalion moved to Malta, and three years later, on 18th February 1888, they moved to India, arriving in Madras on 7th March.

In 1890, rebellion broke out in Burma, led by a tribe known as the Tsawbaws. The First Battalion were moved to Mandalay, and the following year took part in what became known as the Wunthoo Expedition which successfully quelled the revolt.

They then returned to India, doing garrison duty successively at Pur and Roorkee (1893), Chakrata and Meerut (1894) and Lucknow (1896). In 1897 a campaign was fought on the North-West Frontier in which the Battalion took part in the Tirrah expedition, seeing active service in Tirrah and the Bara Valley.

During the next two years they were stationed at Peshawar, Rawal Pindi and Lucknow (1898-1899) and Calcutta and Dum-Dum (1900).

In 1901, prisoners of war from South Africa were shipped over to Ceylon to hastily constructed camps, and the First Battalion was given the task of guarding them. The following year they sailed for South Africa as part of the army of occupation, and were stationed at Stellenbosch (1902), Middleburg and Cape Colony (1903) and Wynberg (1904-05).

In 1906, the Battalion returned to England where they were initially quartered at Crownhill Barracks, Plymouth. From there they moved to Woolwich (1907), Gravesend (1908-1910) and Tidworth (1911). In 1913 they were back in Ireland in Curragh and they mobilised for war on 5th August, 1914. They took part in every major battle on the Western Front.

For further information on the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, you could contact the Regimental Museum. Its address is The Curator, Regimental Museum, The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, The Keep, Bodmin, Cornwall PL31 1EG ENGLAND Telephone: Bodmin (0208) 2810.

Adjutant’s Roll

The following is an extract from the Adjutant’s Roll of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry for 1888 when the regiment was in Madras, India. This brief extract is from a single page of the Roll and contains the names of all Corporals. This page was transcribed by Cathy Day of Alice Springs, Central Australia in November, 1998. Cathy's great-grandfather, Job Henry HARMAN, served in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry from 1882 until he transferred to the East Surrey Regiment in 1895. Job finally retired from military service in 1918 and died the following year.

No. of Soldier	Name of Soldier	Rank	Rate of Good Conduct Pay
1527	Ball H.	Corporal	F
380	Harman Job	Corporal	A
381	Harris Thomas	Corporal	C
1833	Henczenberg William	Corporal	B
441	Hodges C.J.	Corporal	H
867	Hunter A.	Corporal	E
1521	James T.	Corporal	E
1740	Keating J.	Corporal	A
1538	Kelly E.J.	Corporal	E
1329	Liddell W.	Corporal	E
1840	Morris T.	Corporal	D
1610	Ovenden H.	Corporal	D
928	Pester H.	Corporal	D
1691	Sandy W.T.	Corporal	B
905	Tabutt C.J.	Corporal	E
240	Teague J.W.	Corporal	H
1247	Thompson G.	Corporal	H
1064	Webb W.	Corporal	C
1185	White James	Corporal	G

Married Roll

The following is the Married Roll of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry for 1889, when the regiment was in Madras, India. This brief extract is from a single page of the Roll and contains the names of Sergeants down to Lance Corproals, with one Private named.

No. of Soldier	Name of Soldier	Rank	Name of Wife	Ages of Children	Date of Being Placed on Marriage Roll
400	Adair, W.	Private	Annie	2 yrs 8 mths / 0 yrs 2 mths	18 Feb 1888
1803	Belt, E.J.	Sgt	Mary Jane	None	5 Mar 1889
2121	Bradley, E.	Corporal	Sarah Ruth	2 yrs 7 mths	10 Jun 1883
2148	Evans, G.	Corporal	Laura	7 yrs 7 mths / 0 yrs 4 mths	23 Apr 1880
2895	Fitzwalter, W.F.	Lance Corporal	Eve Winifred	None	Struck Off
380	Harman, J.	Lance Sgt	Sarah Florence	None	29 May 1889
1340	Hawke, H.	Sgt	Mary Ann	None	18 Feb 1888
1833	Henczenberg, W.	Lance Sgt	Jane	None	17 Feb 1888
1538	Kelly, E.J.	Corporal	Kate	1 yr 9 mths	22 Jan 1883
1308	Misson, G.	Sgt	Bridget	4 yrs 4 mths / 2 yrs 4 mths	7 Dec 1883
1629	Perkins, W.	Sgt	Margaret	None	30 Jan 1889
1851	Reader, W.	Sgt	Ethel B.	0 yrs 11 mths	18 Feb 1888
1691	Sandy, W.T.	Corporal	Elizabeth	None	18 Feb 1888
2114	Trowell, D.	Sgt	Jane	None	17 Dec 1881
191	Warren, J.S.	Lance Corporal	Emma Mole [?]	Child born / 27 Mar 1889	17 Feb 1888