PRIVATE WILLIAM OLIVER, 3rd BATTALION 1ST FOOT, THE ROYAL SCOTS (THE POST 1880 ROYAL SCOTS, THE LOTHIAN REGIMENT), LATE 40TH (2ND SOMERSETSHIRE), REGIMENT (THE POST 1880 1ST BATTALION SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGIMENT) AND 7TH ROYAL GARRISON BATTALION
£1,400.00
PRIVATE WILLIAM OLIVER, 3rd BATTALION 1ST FOOT, THE ROYAL SCOTS (THE POST 1880 ROYAL SCOTS, THE LOTHIAN REGIMENT), LATE 40TH (2ND SOMERSETSHIRE), REGIMENT (THE POST 1880 1ST BATTALION SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGIMENT) AND 7TH ROYAL GARRISON BATTALION WHO WAS DISCHARGED FROM THE ARMY (4TH BATTALION 1ST FOOT) IN 1813 AS A RESULT OF INJURIES SUSTAINED WHILST SERVING IN PORTUGAL.
Military General Service Medal 1793-1814, 1 clasp, Busaco (officially impressed: W. OLIVER. 1st. FOOT.). Scattered minor rim nicks and bruises, otherwise attractively toned, Good Very Fine to Almost Extremely Fine.
Medal accompanied by 2 pages copied discharge papers, extracts regimental musters for the period 25th June – 24th September 1810 (Portugal), 25th September – 24th December 1810 (Portugal) and 25th December 1810 – 24th March 1811 (Portugal), Chelsea Pension record, extract 1841 census and copied medal rolls (original (2) and published), confirming medal and single clasp Busaco.
Military General Service Medal with single clasp, Busaco, rare to the Royal Scots, only 9 awarded.
William Oliver was born in Southover, Dorchester, Dorsetshire in 1781 (baptised Lyme Regis 1/4/1781). He enlisted into the 40th Foot on 24/12/1805, seeing service with that regiment to 24/3/1807. Oliver next saw service with the 7th Royal Garrison Battalion, 25/3/1807 to 10/2/1810, subsequently seeing service with the Royal Scots, 17/2/1810 to 30/9/1813, initially with the 4th Battalion prior to joining the 3rd Battalion, and latterly again with the 4th Battalion Royal Scots in Captain Marlay’s Company.
Muster rolls record Oliver as having joined 10th Company, 3rd Battalion Royal Scots on 24/7/1810 from the 4th Battalion at Hilsea. The musters for the period 25th September – 24th December 1810 record Oliver as being continuously with the 3rd Battalion during that period, including 27th September 1810, the battle of Busaco, and in receipt of full pay for those 91 days. The regimental muster for the period 25th December 1810 to 24th March 1811 however record him as being in the regimental hospital for 40 days and for the remainder of that period being “sick at Lisbon”.
Discharge papers record Oliver as being discharged as a result of injuries (“viscera”, damaged internal organs), sustained while Oliver was serving in Spain. At the time of discharge Oliver was described as being a “labourer” and that whilst serving he had been a “good soldier”. After being discharged, Oliver was granted a Chelsea “out” pension of 9 shillings per week from 12/10/1813, the pension initially being paid from the Salisbury pension office, but being paid from the Dorchester officer from 13/1/1852 onwards (at the time Oliver’s pension payments were transferred to Dorchester he was recorded as being 71 years of age).
William Oliver is recorded in the 1841 census as a 62 year old innkeeper resident in Beaminster, Bridport, Dorsetshire, with his 60 year old wife Betty, two daughters and an 18 year old “kinsman”, Daniel Oliver.
The 3rd Battalion 1st Foot played a decisive part in the victory at Busaco. During the action they saw service with Major General Leith’s 5th Division, that Division comprising two brigades, one Portuguese and one British, Major General Sir Alan Cameron’s British Brigade comprising the 3/1st, 1/9th and 2/38th Foot. At a critical moment, as the French were attempting to turn the right flank of the British line along the ridge at Busaco, Major General Cameron advanced his brigade along the reverse slope of the ridge, out of sight of the attacking French, and launched a surprise attack that drove the attacking French troops back down the slopes of the ridge before them. For their services at Busaco the 1st Foot were granted royal permission to wear the battle honour “Busaco” on their regimental colour. Ian Fletcher, in his “Wellington”s Regiments” (1994 and 2005), records the 3/1st Foot as suffering only minor casualties at Busaco, just two men wounded. Unfortunately, the regimental history, “Regimental Records of the Royal Scots” by Leisk and McCance, does not record the number of casualties for Busaco. However, given the important role played by the 3/1st Foot during the battle, the regiment may well have suffered more than just 2 men wounded, and it’s possible that some or all of the 9 men recorded in the medal rolls as receiving the single clasp Busaco only were wounded at Busaco, the wounded perhaps including William Oliver.
The 7th Royal Garrison Battalion was formed on 25/12/1806 from men drafted from the 2nd Battalions of the 14th, 40th, 53rd, 61st and 69th Regiments, with headquarters at Limerick, and was eventually disbanded in Ireland on 14/3/1810, having seen service exclusively in Ireland.