[Juliet Dewa]

My Family name is Lee and I have very little information about their time in India from about 1850 to about 1886. My Great-Grandfather, William Lee, was in the Royal Artillery, trained as a gunner at Sheerness and is listed as a sergeant in the Baptism details of his children, I have found on Ancestry.com. He married a girl of 14, my great-grandmother, in Agra, and one child, Elizabeth Adelaide, was born in Agra. My GGM was named Ann Nolan but I have no idea how she came to be in India. She was Irish, born in Sheffield. From my own conversations with my grandfather and great Aunt, I know that my GGF was the superintendent of a prison, either Allahabad or Lucknow. I wonder if he worked at Agra first. The next 2 children, Edward (my grandfather), and Theresa Margaret are listed as born in Lucknow but the description of the place from my Great Aunt sounds more like Allahabad. She said it was where 2 holy rivers meet and Indians bath in the holy waters. There were festivals where thousands came. She told me my GGF rode on an elephant, that would kneel only for him to mount. I have been in touch with a researcher at Naini prison in Allahabad but he tells me there are no records, pre-independence at the prison. I have scoured the websites of the Royal Artillery, the India Office, the National Library, the National Archives, Forces Records, Ancestry and FindMyPast.com to no avail. I have a a service number 1240 but that doesn’t seem to work. I have read there was a list called the unattached list, for army personnel who were working in non-military tasks, like prisons. However, I have no idea how to find this list. Has anyone any idea where I should go next?

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