Ignore what I wrote yesterday about the Thomas Seaton who was a sergeant in the Royal Artillery.
I found the following postings on a website-----you probably have all this, Grace, but others may be interested.
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Hi Guys I came across this site when looking for info regarding Thomas Lennox Seaton. He was my wife's Grandfather.
I have come to a halt finding any info on him other than what HE HAS quoted in the newspapers and what my in-laws & their rellys have been able to supply. He has only 3 living rellys left & only one of them (87) can actually remember him as a child.
I have a painting of him in full uniform dating in the early 1920's and a couple of battered photos. I have his medals (unnamed & unnumbered) but the ribbons are gone & I also have the gold buttons from his dress uniform. He was supposedly a 'boy' when he joined the RN (around 1866-8) rising to the CPO position on the HMS Inflexible. I cannot find any reference to him migrating to Australia in the late 1890's either assisted passage or otherwise.
Would anyone have any info advising how to get a crew list for the HMS Inflexible to see if he really was who he purported to be ?
thanks in advance, Paddy B
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paddyb,
Welcome to the forum!
I checked the National Archive on-line catalogue. They list only 9 men named “Seaton” who were born between 1839 and 1852 that joined the navy. None of them were Thomas Seaton.
What are the medals that you have?
What year was he on “Inflexible?” You will probably need to contact the National Archives at Kew to find any crew list.
Petty Officer Tom
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Thank you for the welcome and replies. The medals are 1879 South Africa & 1882 Egypt, the ones I have are only 11/16 of an inch in diameter. I am trying to get a hold of the originals about 2000 miles away if they still exist. The great grandson, who I have been told has them, is elusive to say the least.
We think that he may have joined the RN @ 14 or so & we know that he was in Cairns Aussie in 1897, Married in 1899 in Cairns. His DOB is around 1854. That puts him on 'Inflexible' around 1868 + or - a couple of years.
I have searched Ancestry.com with negative results. I think I have nearly exhausted the N Archives UK over the months.
Cheers
Paddy
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Hi Petty Officer Tom, I have had a bit of a win. The info re T L Seatons medals.
1. COMASSIE on the bar. N98004. T L Seaton. AF HMS Rattlesnake. 1873-74.
2. 1879 on bar, South Africa, T L Seaton, Leading Seaman, HMS SHAH.
3. Alexandria on bar, 11th July on bar, T L Seaton, 2nd Class PO, HMS Inflexible.
With a bit of luck more info will surface now.
Cheers, Paddyb
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Paddyb,
I have checked two different medal rolls for the Royal Navy involved in the Zulu War. Thomas Lennox Seaton is not on either roll.
It is possible that they accidently left him off, and that he applied for the medal at a later time. If you find a copy of his service record it will show the dates that he served on HMS Shah. He would have to have served on board at any time between 6 March 1879 and 24 July 1879 to be entitled to the medal without clasp, and from 7 March to 21 July 1879 with the Naval Brigade in Zululand to be entitled to the “1879” clasp.
If you can prove that he served on “Shah” during the time periods listed above, he would be entitled to the medal as being “verified aboard, not on roll,” or “VANOR”.
Have you been able to locate his service record, or is your information relayed to you by a relative? If you have had the opportunity to see his South Africa Medal, what is engraved on the rim? A photograph of the medal, especially the engraving on the rim, would provide more information.
You mentioned earlier that you had “a couple of battered photos” of Seaton. Are you able to post any of them on the forum?
Now we come to the part that makes me doubt Thomas Seaton’s memory. You posted a copy of an article in the ‘Moring Post’ dated 10 October 1899. The following is a quote from that article:
“The next medal shown was the ‘South African,’ bearing the date July 4th, 1879, when the battle of Ulundi was fought by 8000 British troops and blue-jackets against 25,000 Zulus. Here Seaton fought with the Naval Brigade for seven hours in that historical hand to hand struggle between the trained forces of England and the intrepid warlike Zulus, who, armed with sniders, assegais and kerri sticks, threw themselves fearlessly and constantly on the points of the British bayonets and seamen’s cutlasses when they were shot and cut down in thousands.”
1. The bar on the medal would not have had “July 4th, 1879” on the bar.
2. Other than Lieutenant A. B. Milne, there were no naval personnel at the Battle of Ulundi.
3. I know only a little about the Battle of Ulundi, but the numbers of combatants and the length of the battle (7 hours) appear to be off.
Petty Officer Tom
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Hi Petty Officer Tom.
I think an hour or so would see out the Ulundi battle . The only Battle in the zulu war that went near 7 hrs duration was
R.Drift which was about 12 hrs ??.
Cheers 90th.
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Petty Officer Tom,
The info was from a relly. She made no mention of the 4th July 1879 on any medal as reported in the newspaper article. The only mention she made of a date was on the HMS Inflexible medal showing 'Alexandria 11th July' on the bar. She never mentioned a service record either but I will ask her if she has one.
I will contact her and ask for photos of the medals & rims if possible.
The 2nd photo showing the names of the 2 outsiders have the names reversed. Tom Seaton is on the right side.
cheers, Paddyb