MY ANCESTOR WHO FOUGHT AT THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO

Thomas GLENDINNING is my maternal first cousin, six times removed, who was born in 1797 in either Canterbury or Portsmouth. He was one of 13 children born to Adam GLENDINNING, a Quartermaster in the 2nd Royal Dragoons before joining The Royal Waggon Train in 1805, and Elizabeth CROOK. Adam was born in Castleton Parish in Roxburghshire and was the son of my 6xgreat grandfather, also named Adam GLENDINNING, a farmer and shepherd in Castleton. (The Glendinnings back to at least the early 1700's lived in Castleton Parish). Adam and Elizabeth appear to have retired back to Scotland and both died in Newcastleton in the mid 1800's.

Thomas became a Cornet (originally the third and lowest grade of commissioned officer in a British cavalry troop, after Captain and Lieutenant) in The Royal Waggon Train on 9th December 1813, aged 16. This part of the British Army was formed in 1794 (then called the Royal Waggoners) and served the need for a dedicated and reliable military transportation organisation. It served throughout the Napoleonic Wars, notably at the Battle of Waterloo.

After this battle, for the first time, every soldier who fought was awarded a medal, regardless of their rank or role. All soldiers names were inscribed in a book called The Waterloo Roll Call and the page relevant to my cousin is undernoted.

Thomas received his Waterloo Medal and in 1816 was promoted to Lieutenant in the 60th Regiment of Foot. In 1821, he and his wife, Jane, moved to Canada, still in the Army. He died in Ontario, Canada in 1870 with the rank of Major.