Johanna Kearney wife of Moses Stockey
Married 1848 in Clonmel, County Tipperary Ireland

Moses Stockey, my great, great grandfather, was born in 1821 in the Heckingham Workhouse near the town of Loddon in Norfolk England. From these humble beginnings, Moses at the age of 17.5 years joined the 47th Regiment of Infantry on the 17 of January 1838.
Moses was a trade laborer before joining the 47th Regiment where he loyally served just short of 19 years before he was discharged due to disability.
His service record describes him as : 5 foot 9 1/2 inches tall, dark complexion, brown eyes, dark brown hair.
His service record also states he served:

• 6  years 3 months in  the Mediterranean
• 2 and 1/2 years West Indies
• 2 years 8 months in  British Guinea
• 5 months in Turkey
• 8 months in the Crimea

During his enlistment, No. 1261 Private Moses Stockey received three good conduct badges, a Crimean Medal, and three clasps for Alma River Sept. 20, 1854, Inkerman Nov. 5, 1854, and Sebastopol, Sept 25 1854 to Sept. 8, 1955.
He was wounded at the battle of Inkerman in the Crimean War 5/11/1854 which was the first battle that Florence Nightingale appeared on the field.
Moses met and married his wife Johanna Kearney in  1848 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland.  He was discharged from the army in 1857 from Famoy, County Cork, Ireland.

Moses Stockey/Stockley Portlaw, Waterford, Ireland

Moses and Johanna had eight children including a son Moses Stockey born in 1860 in Portlaw, Waterford Ireland who later immigrated with his family to Saint John, New Brunswick , Canada.  It is likely that following his discharge Moses may have found employment in the cotton industry at Portlaw. Raw Cotton from the Confederate Southern Sates was being blockaded by the Union North, and this resulted in an economic depression in all the textile trades by the early 1860s – a period known as “the cotton famine”. This created great economic hardship in Portlaw for the cotton industry and Portlaw became the main port for the blockade runners.  In any event the family moved to the  Manchester area in England sometime after 1868 when their last child was born.  They do not appear in the 1871 census for England so it is likely they returned to England after 1871. In the 1881 Census, the family is living in Eccles, outside of Manchester, England

Background to 47 Regiment 
In the 40 years before the outbreak of the Crimean War, the 47th  Regiment was only in England for four years. The Regiment otherwise served in overseas garrisons, guarding British trade routes and the frontiers of the rapidly expanding colonial Empire. Its stations spanned the world, from the West Indies to Gibraltar, Malta, and the Ionian Islands, and on to Arabia, India, and Burma. Ireland counted as a home posting, as indeed it was for many of the officers and men.  Overseas tours in the early 19^th Century were frequently very long, and when the  1^st/47^th sailed from Cork in 1806 they were not to return to Britain until 1829, having in the meantime served in South America, South Africa, India, the Persian Gulf, and Burma.

The Crimean War

A Times correspondent wrote of the winter of the Crimean War:

The condition of our army was indeed miserable, pitiable, heartrending.  No boots, no greatcoats – officers in tatters and rabbit skins, men in bread bags and rags; no medicine, no shelter; toiling in mud and snow week after week, exposed in open trenches or in torn tents to the pitiless storms of a Crimean winter.

Reference notes to this post:

1. Copy of  Discharge Paper  No 20,074 Forty-Seventh Regiment of Infantry Fermoy Barracks 3 November 1857′ Private Moses Stockey.
2. 1871-1901 Census, United Kingdom
3. Stockley spelled with “L” starts appearing in the 1901 UK Census.  It is unclear why this change occurred it may have been simply a recording error by the Census taker and then continued on through various official and unofficial documents.