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| william [2025/07/15 20:59] – [William Augustus Murray Prior] judith | william [2025/07/15 21:00] (current) – [William Augustus Murray Prior] judith |
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| William was Thomas and Eliza Prior's younger son, a soldier and artist. He was born on 18 November 1821 at [[wp>Bruges|Bruges]], then in the Netherlands, now in Belguim.((((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry; Thomas Bertram M-P, //Some Australasian Families Descended from Royalty//, ms, n.d., p.24.)) He was baptised at [[wp>Bray,_Berkshire|Bray]] in Berkshire on 19 January 1825.((notes written in Thomas Prior’s prayer book, ((Provenance: J. Godden.)) His baptism as a three-year old is further confirmation that his parents were [[wp>Evangelical_Anglicanism|evangelical Anglicans]]. His second name was probably a tribute to his uncle Augustus Skynner.((TLM-P, Diary, 19 August 1882, ML.)) \\ | William was Thomas and Eliza Prior's younger son, a soldier and artist. He was born on 18 November 1821 at [[wp>Bruges|Bruges]], then in the Netherlands, now in Belguim.((((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry; Thomas Bertram M-P, //Some Australasian Families Descended from Royalty//, ms, n.d., p.24.)) He was baptised at [[wp>Bray,_Berkshire|Bray]] in Berkshire on 19 January 1825.((notes written in Thomas Prior’s prayer book, ((Provenance: J. Godden.)) His baptism as a three-year old is further confirmation that his parents were [[wp>Evangelical_Anglicanism|evangelical Anglicans]]. His second name was probably a tribute to his uncle Augustus Skynner.((TLM-P, Diary, 19 August 1882, ML.)) \\ |
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| William joined the army as an ensign((lowest rank of commissioned officer in infantry regiments)) in the [[wp>59th_(2nd_Nottinghamshire)_Regiment_of_Foot|59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot]]. As evidence from this time, we have: some loose blank pages, originally part of a book, with the inscription ‘W.A. Murray Prior. 59th Regt.”; //The Kings Regulations and Orders for the Army//, 1 June 1837, with the name in it of 'W A Murray Prior 59th Regt'((Provenance: J. Godden.)); and a 1842 account book with the name W.A. Murray-Prior, Ensign 59th Regiment, Jersey.((in NLA, Ms 7801, Box 6)) ((Note that Tomas Bertram M-P claims William was an Ensign in the 8th Foot Regiment, //Thomas Bertram M-P, Some Australasian Families Descended from Royalty//, ms, n.d., p.24.)) His service with the 59th Foot Regiment is confirmed by his army record for 1841.(([British] National Archives, War Office, WO 76/156/35 William Augustus Murray Prior. Regiment: 59th Foot. Date of Service: 1841.))\\ | William joined the army as an ensign((lowest rank of commissioned officer in infantry regiments)) in the [[wp>59th_(2nd_Nottinghamshire)_Regiment_of_Foot|59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot]]. As evidence from this time, we have: some loose blank pages, originally part of a book, with the inscription ‘W.A. Murray Prior. 59th Regt.”; //The Kings Regulations and Orders for the Army//, 1 June 1837, with the name in it of 'W A Murray Prior 59th Regt'((Provenance: J. Godden.)); and a 1842 account book with the name W.A. Murray-Prior, Ensign 59th Regiment, Jersey.((in NLA, Ms 7801, Box 6)) ((Note that Tomas Bertram M-P claims William was an Ensign in the 8th Foot Regiment, //Thomas Bertram M-P, Some Australasian Families Descended from Royalty//, ms, n.d., p.24.)) His service with the 59th Foot Regiment is evidenced by his army record for 1841(([British] National Archives, War Office, WO 76/156/35 William Augustus Murray Prior. Regiment: 59th Foot. Date of Service: 1841.)) and his sketchbook as described below.\\ |
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| William died at Portsmouth from a gunshot wound on 5 February 1844 – presumably an accident when training. He was buried in the Portsmouth Garrison Cemetery. Decades later when listing his family, William's brother TLM-P wrote that William died aged 22 years, 2 months and 18 days old – a precision which suggests profound grief.((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry; TLM-P, genealogical notes in John & John B. Burke, //A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland: M to Z//, London: Henry Colburn Publisher, 1846.)) Five years later, TLM-P and his wife named their second son William Augustus: sadly this William died as a baby.((J. Godden) recollects her mother complaining that she wanted to call her son William but was told by her mother-in-law not to as it was unlucky - all William M-Ps died; she then thought of the name '[[john_murray_prior_bertram_murray|John]]' but for reasons this link makes clear, that was not approved by the family either!))\\ | William died at Portsmouth from a gunshot wound on 5 February 1844 – presumably an accident when training. He was buried in the Portsmouth Garrison Cemetery. Decades later when listing his family, William's brother TLM-P wrote that William died aged 22 years, 2 months and 18 days old – a precision which suggests profound grief.((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry; TLM-P, genealogical notes in John & John B. Burke, //A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland: M to Z//, London: Henry Colburn Publisher, 1846.)) Five years later, TLM-P and his wife named their second son William Augustus: sadly this William died as a baby.((J. Godden) recollects her mother complaining that she wanted to call her son William but was told by her mother-in-law not to as it was unlucky - all William M-Ps died; she then thought of the name '[[john_murray_prior_bertram_murray|John]]' but for reasons this link makes clear, that was not approved by the family either!))\\ |