My 5 x Great Grandfather James Galvin (sometimes spelt Gallavin but possibly originally Gallivan in Ireland) married Elizabeth Karran of Castletown on 26 Oct 1782 at Malew. James in the marriage register was described as a “private soldier in the battn of Manx Fencibles”. James might have been Irish going by his surname and it is known that some recruits came from outside the island. James and Elizabeth only had one child (Elizabeth born in 1784) and James died in 1791 (the will doesn’t provide much extra information). He was possibly in his 40s when he married and Elizabeth was possibly in her 30s. James could be the James Galavan baptised at St. Michan's RC in Dublin in 1738.

I asked the Manx Museum about whether there are any military records such as a muster roll from the period of this incarnation of the Manx Fencibles (1779-1783). They said:-

“We have: Orderly Book Captain Quayle’s Company, Royal Manx Fencibles (South) dated 1782. There may be other archives relating to that period although most of what we have are later than that. However you would need to inspect them yourself or get a researcher on the island to do that for you.”

Can anyone help with a look-up or recommend a researcher? What I want ideally is a photo JPEG image e-mailed to me of a military record listing James in the Manx Fencibles and hopefully giving some information such as his place of origin and age to solve the mystery of his background.