9th Generation

Born - 1804, Donegal, Ireland

Died - 2 April 1861, Poorhouse, Aberdeen

James’s story has mainly been pieced together due to the Military records I found. What a gem to find! Not only does it gives you details of the person’s place of birth but of their appearance. James Flood was 5ft 6inches tall at 19 years old. He had a fresh complexion, grey eyes, round face and dark brown hair. He was from Killimore in Donegal and travelled to Cavan to sign up 10 November 1822. He went to the West Indies on 27th June 1825 with the 63rd Foot Soldiers.

“In the 1820’s the regiment (63rd Foot Soldiers) was deployed to Ireland a deployment that would last until 1826 – this is where James signed up.  The regiment was involved in an expedition to Portugal due to fears of impending insurrection in the country and landed there in January 1827. The rebel cause largely subsided, thanks largely in part due to the expedition made by the British forces. In 1829, the regiment began providing escorts for convict ships traveling to New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania). The rest of the regiment became garrison troops in the latter colony. A detachment of the regiment was present at the foundation ceremony of Perth in 1829, and had arrived in Western Australia that same year, on the warship HMS Sulphur. The regiment transferred from Australia to India in 1833”.

We know that James had a daughter in 1836 so I am unsure how long he served for although his records do state he went to the West Indies.

The next record I find for James is 30 years later, in the 1861 census, in Scotland. He is living with another James Flood, who may be his son, in the Poor House in Aberdeen. His son is described as a lunatic. It is worth noting that the label lunatic over 150 years ago is very different to what it is described as today. The family had come through the Potato Famine in Ireland, I do not even think my worst nightmares come close to what they survived.

As mentioned above James’ daughter Mary was born in Aberdeen around 1836 which would indicate that they had been living in Aberdeen for 25 years by the 1861 census. His daughter is living in a lodging house in 1861 and his wife is living in Shuttle Lane (This street comes up a lot). I believe that James and his wife lived separately for some time, this was not unusual for the Irish Paupers as they went to whatever poor house would accept them.

James died only weeks after the census was taken, he was a Hawker by trade which indicates he had no fixed abode. He died of Bright’s disease and Dysentery. Bright’s Disease is an old term for a group of kidney disorders that cause inflammation of the tiny blood vessels that filter waste and fluid from the blood. He would have gone to the Poor House knowing he was going to die there.

As James doesn’t have his parents (not even his wife) mentioned on his death certificate and I have no record of his birth certificate, due to the variations of Flood that could be used in the Gaelic language, I will be unable to take this line further back.

Daughter – Mary Flood

Wife – Mary Haggarty

Sadly this story will end here as I have no information to go further back.