Ancestral Trails 2016 » John Thornton ROGERS (1834-1900)

Persönliche Daten John Thornton ROGERS 

• Er wurde geboren im Jahr 1834 in Upper Tooting, Surrey.
• Berufe:
• im Jahr 1871 in Justice of the Peace &, Landowner.
• im Jahr 1861 in Late Captain 33rd Regiment.
• Er ist verstorben im Jahr 1900 in Sevenoaks Weald, Kent, er war 66 Jahre alt.Quelle 2
• Ein Kind von John ROGERS und Harriet THORNTON

Familie von John Thornton ROGERS

Er hat eine Beziehung mit Margaret BAGWELL.

Kind(er):

1. Arthur Edward ROGERS  1871-1950 
2. Frances Elizabeth ROGERS  1869-1903 
3. Margaret ROGERS  1869-????
4. Lilla Agnes ROGERS  1874-1938 
5. John Middleton ROGERS  1864-1945 

Notizen bei John Thornton ROGERS

1851 aged 17, living at Chiltern Candover, Hampshire in the home of his uncle and aunt, Rector Francis Vansittart 35 and Mary Louisa Thornton 27, and cousins Mary Clementina 3, Emelia Jane 2 and Francis Cholmondeley Thornton 1, and six servants.

1861 aged 27, living at 43/44 Pall Mall, St James Square, Westminster with servant Robert G Strutt 34.

1871 aged 37, living at Riverhill Mansion, near Underriver, Sevenoaks Weald with his wife Margaret 29, children John Middleton 6, Frances Elizabeth 2, Margaret 1, widowed mother Harriet Rogers 58, sister Margaret Alice 26 and brother Walter Francis 24 and fourteen servants.

The Diary of a Young Officer in 1854: Part II by Evelyn Rogers
In his diary, John Thornton Rogers recorded details of two days leave in London and of his preparations before he left home to rejoin his regiment, prior to the embarking for the Crimea. After watching the receding figure of his father standing on the quayside as the troopship departed John Rogers went below, on his way to war:

27 October 'This morning it came on to blow very hard and before evening it was a perfect gale. The long Atlantic swell was very fine. I was not at all sick though almost everyone else was. About 10pm we lost our bowsprit and damaged the engines which occasioned our lying to for 12-14 hours.'
28 October 'On coming on deck in the morning the sea was running 'mountains high' as the sailors said. Lots of porpoises jumping. Gale abated, but very heavy swell.'
29 October 'Heavy swell continues but day fine and bright. Men of some drafts rather mutinous'

A look at the map of Europe explains the preference for Queenstown in S.W. Ireland as a point of departure. Standing well clear of the dangerous coasts of Cornwall and Brittany it offered a sailing ship a generally favourable course heading directly south , with the prevailing westerly wind on the beam. 1200 men had boarded the 'Jura' and other ranks would be below deck in such foul weather. The undertones of mutiny are hardly surprising, bearing in mind the lying to for 12-14 hours in the heavy swell. Conditions for the soldiers must have been disgusting beyond words but John is clearly not particularly perturbed. His apparent jauntiness and consuming interest in everything must have maddened his more frail companions. Rogers men are NEVER seasick to this day .

30 October 'Passed Cape Finisterre quite early. Sun rose in great splendour over Corunna. Ran down the cost of Spain and
passed close to Lisbon about 1 1 p.m.'
31 October ... 'Lots of flights of small birds in morning flying in a southerly direction 70 miles from land.'
1 November ' Saw some whales . .. .. Passed Gibraltar about 2.30 p.m. It was very fine but I had fancied it larger."

The Napoleonic Wars were almost as recent as Dunkirk is to us. Corunna was
one of the battle honours of the 33rd Regiment.

3 November ' Passed Algiers a fine looking place . Coast still the same.'
4 November 'Passed the island of Pantellaria by moonlight. The ancient
isle of Calypso. Rather stormy . On a court martial all day . Jobling got 50 lashes administered the same evening. '

From then on his romantic mind is agog with the legends of the Classics. Neither murmurs of mutiny nor the harsh reality of flogging can obscure the delight in passing landmarks of the ancient world.

5 November 'Passed Gozo quite early and ran into the harbour of Valetta about 10 a.m. A French steamer with troops was in the harbour. I went on shore and saw the town which is full of fine architecture. In the evening fraternised with some French officers.' added in pencil 'Battle of Inkerman fought .'

The meeting with the French Officers must be noted because it is the first encounter with any of the allied army .

6 November 'Left Malta at about 11 a.m. Saw some of the wounded from the Alma amongst them Lord Ennismore and one or two more. Took on board two companies of the 62nd in room of the 50th and 55th left behind for mutinous conduct. '
7 November 'Mount Etna visible high in the air. One of the sailors caught a large hawk in the rigging. About 11 p.m. passed Cape Matapan and later at night passed between Cape Malea and Cerigo.'
8 November 'Ran up the coast of Greece and through the Archipeligo. Passed close to Euboea and at night layoff Mitylene waiting to enter the Dardanelles.'
9 November 'In the morning passed the plains of Troy and then through the Dardanelles passing Galipoli. Saw the huge guns and piles of stone shot. Went up the Sea of Marmara . Rained all day. '

Speculating perhaps on ' Fair Helen' he could not then have guessed that his eldest son would one day be fighting at this very place. History DOES repeat itself.

10 November 'Got to Constantinople about daylight. Rather disappointed. Several steamers full of wounded from Inkerman came in and lay tossing and rolling in a heavy swell. Went to Scutari Hospital and saw Major Gough and Greenwood. Afterwards on shore at Pera and Galata. Played billiards and drank Pale Ale.'

Six days earlier Florence Nightingale had arrived but the great barrack hospital
at Scutari was in an appalling condition. Overflowing with the wounded from
the battles of the Alma and Inkerman, it was both unnerving and revolting for a
soldier as yet untried in the art of war. The effect of wounds from sabre, sword,
bayonet or bullet were evident all around, and the sights, smells and groans must
have provoked thoughts which could hardly be dispelled by Billiards and Pale
Ale.

11 November 'Sailed early. Bospherous MOST BEAUTIFUL. Black Sea very black, desolate and rough. Gale from south east.'
12 November 'Cliffs of south coast of Crimea visible about 8 a .m. and high mountains. Off Balaclava abou t 11. Too rough to go in. Lay alongside the unfortunate Prince. Ordered round to Kamersch, anchored in evening.'
13 November 'Landed in afternoon with orders to march up to camp. No road. Went through vineyard and rough mud. Got to French Headquarters at about 9 p.m. and sent to Lord Raglan's where arrived about 10. General Airey [Gen. Airey signed Lord Raglan's order for the Charge of the Light Brigade.] put me up.'
14 November 'Gale of 14th November. '

As can be seen this gale had been brewing up since the 11th. It was a storm
which devastated the Crimea and wrecked more than a dozen ships in Balaclava
harbour, several of them carrying much needed winter supplies. Tents were
swept away and the besieging army on the heights above Sevastopol were exposed
to the elements. The track between the base and the camp became an impassable
morass. It was a grim initiation and the drafts from the 'Jura' were lucky to have
landed safely .

15 November 'Marched to Light Division camp. Everything looked very disgusting. Found Donovan, Corbett, Burke and Quayle.'

Presumably these are brother officers who had left with the earlier drafts. They were already veterans of the Alma and Inkerman battles and their experiences and the present circumstances would have made for a grim reunion.

16 November 'Went on picket in Whitehouse Ravine. Nasty place. Got into a cave to sleep . Cooked my supper on a Russian intrenching spade employed during the day in burying the dead.'

Storms at sea, flogging, mutiny and even the Scutari hospital drew no comments. Now in almost nursery language the two words 'nasty place' are wrung from him and there is an overwhelming feeling of horror, isolation, cold and sheer discomfort. The diary begins to peter out.

21 December 'Russians made a sortie on us in the trenches and carried off some of our blankets. Battle of the Blankets. Poor Holroyd killed. '
23 December (entered at a later date) Byron of 34thS made prisoner. He returned about 10 Sept. having been beyond Moscow.'
Christmas Day 'Went on trenches. Very cold.'

That winter was indeed very cold, the coldest in living memory. As its iron grip closed on the Allied army, the diary also closes with some inky blots and empty pages but John Thomton Rogers must have been both tough and lucky for he did survive the campaign. He received the Crimea Medal and Sevastopol was added to the Battle Honours of the 33rd Regiment.
* * *
On his return to Riverhill before he went off to fight in the Indian Mutiny, he planted an oak tree. It is growing on the knoll in front of the house and is now in its prime. Coming back from the garden or walking home from the farm its superb outline never fails to catch the eye and it is always referred to as the Crimea Oak. It is a living reminder of the man whose portrait hangs in the dining room. In this he seems rather remote and even more so when glimpsed in old photographs, still dapper but with a snow white beard. His distinguished past might easily have become just a string of dates had it not been for his letters and diaries. Letters and diaries and the Daguerrotype, which so poignantly shows a face of untried youth confronting the future, a future which would have been impossible to guess at.

Riverhill is a small country house near Sevenoaks, the home of the Rogers family since 1840.
© Evelyn Rogers June 1 1983

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