The story of a Scottish soldier
Sgt. John Drummond
Watchmaker, soldier, farm worker and genealogist, John Drummond was born in
Crieff in Perthshire, Scotland in 1791. From what we know of him John lead a most
interesting life, having fought in 11 battles of the Napoleonic War including
Waterloo, before emigrating to Australia in 1831.
John enlisted in the 71st Highland Regiment in 1807 and must have lied about his age
as he claimed to have been 18 whereas he was in fact only 15. Why he lied will never
be known, perhaps it was for the same reasons that many young boys did so in the
First World War. But perhaps he was unhappy in his civilian vocation of watchmaker
which was recorded at enlistment. However, since he was as young as he
was, it’s highly improbable he was a qualified watchmaker but more
likely an apprentice. Apprenticeships at that time were mostly 7 years and
it’s unlikely he would have commenced one before the age of 11 or 12.
Getting out of an apprenticeship at that time was not so easy either as it
was a legally binding contract with severe penalties should the contract be
broken. One way around this however, was that an apprentice not happy
in his situation could enlist in the Army or Navy and he could be released
without such penalty.
John would later be awarded the Military General Service Medal, (often referred to as
the Peninsular Medal) for his part in the campaign which was fought across the
Iberian Peninsula. His medal had 10 clasps on the ribbon detailing which battles he
took part in. This was 34 years after the last battle and 47 years after the first that the
medal commemorates, and the next of kin of the dead (unless the veteran had lodged a
claim prior to his death) were not eligible to claim. Therefore the numbers issued
were never going to be large. The medal was issued in 1848 to those 25,500 plus men
who had made a valid claim. John Drummond must have claimed his medal from
Australia by mail.

Sgt. John Drummond was also awarded the Waterloo medal which was the first medal issued by the
British Government to all soldiers present during a campaign or battle. The Waterloo Medal was
awarded to all who fought at the battles of Ligny, on the 16th June, 1815, Quatre Bras, 16th June, and of course Waterloo, on the 18th June. Military records indicate that John was a private in
Captain Samuel Reed’s company and he was promoted for his part in the battle. Every soldier present at either of these battles was also credited with two extra years service, to count for all purposes.
It (the Waterloo Medal) is also the first campaign medal awarded to the nextof-kin of men killed in action. The Waterloo Medal also has another distinction in that it was the first on which the recipient's name was impressed around the edge by machine. It is also likely that Sergeant John
Drummond received the Long Service & Good Conduct medal but evidence of this has been difficult to trace. His Statement of Service records his general conduct as being very good and it also noted the fact that he had been severely wounded in his right leg at the battle of Fuentes D’Onoro on
the 3rd of May 1811 and was also wounded in the back, at the battle of Vittoria on the 21st of June 1813. Captain Samuel Reed his company commander, was also wounded in this battle which took a heavy toll on the regiment. It lost Colonel, the Honourable Henry Cadogan, Captain Hall, Lieutenants Fox and Mackenzie, 6 sergeants, 1 bugler and 78 rank and file all being killed, with 280 officers and men being wounded. After remaining in France until the end of October 1818, the 71st embarked for England, and arrived at Dover on the 29th of that month. From 1818 to 1822
the regiment performed garrison duties at various places in England. During this time John Drummond married Jean Currie at Falkirk in Scotland on the 4th of March 1822, whilst on leave before his regiment left for Ireland. In 1822 the regiment sailed from Liverpool for Dublin, where it arrived
on the 3rd of May, and remained there till the beginning of October, when it was marched to the south of Ireland. Here it remained until May 1824, having its headquarters at Fermoy. During this time Sgt Drummond and his wife Jean had a son also named John on the 25th of August at Fermoy.
They had a second son named William on the 6th of December 1825 at Falkirk in Scotland. The regiment
during this time increased in strength and the front-line battalions were in North America as garrison troops in Canada. It’s highly probable that by this time, Sgt Drummond was part of
one of the four depot companies left behind by the regiment. John and Jean had two more children in Britain, another son called Peter who was born at Hull in England and a daughter called Janet who was born at Falkirk in Scotland where Jean’s family lived. John was discharged from the army
aged “40” in May of 1828 (he was actually only 36) having completed 23 years and 74 days of service (his actual service plus 2 years credit for his part in the battle of Waterloo). His discharge papers stated that he was “hereby discharged in consequence of worn out constitution from length of
service” His description from his discharge sheet has him as being 5’ 6” in height, brown-haired, blue-eyed and of fresh complexion. In his new civilian status, John and his family moved from
England to Falkirk once again, but in 1831 they emigrated to Australia. Shortly after arriving in Sydney, John Drummond found work at Inverary Park near Bungonia in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. Inverary Park was the property of David Reid who was the son of Surgeon Lieutenant Dr. David Reid. During their time at Inverary Park, John & Jean had another 3 boys, they being David Reid Drummond, James and George McDuff Drummond. It appears the family remained in this
area until sometime in the 1850’s when they moved to the Ovens River district in Victoria where Mr David Reid also had extensive properties at Wooragee. After settling in this area, a number of
John & Jean’s sons purchased land around Wooragee, Woolshed and Beechworth which had recently
opened up to settlers due to the presence of gold. Shortly before he died in 1865, John wrote his genealogy (5 A4 pages) covering a period of 120 years spanning the Jacobite War of the 1740’s through the Napoleonic War up to the Crimean period. The dates and place names he gave have been
checked against other sources and his recall was remarkably accurate. In 1858 ex-Sgt John Drummond gave up his army pension for the widows and children of the Crimean War. He died at the Ovens Benevolent Asylum (Beechworth Hospital) in 1865 aged 73 of heart disease. He is buried in the Presbyterian section of the Beechworth cemetery. Sgt John Drummond was my partner Royce Jarvis’ great great grandfather.
Glenice Brauman
http://www.tfhsdev.com/pdf/devnews-may06.pdf

Comments also by
Romaine Macpherson

Thank you for this very interesting life history of John Drummond. Please note that Dr. David Reid, whose property Inverary Park was near Bungonia, NSW, lived until 1840 - hence when John Drummond arrived there Dr. Reid was still very much in evidence and David Reid (II) was only about eleven. Perhaps you may edit your history slightly with respect to this. Dr. Reid and his son David Reid are my forbears. David Reid (II) married Mary Romaine Barber, daughter of George Barber and Isabella Hume of Glenrock, Marulan in 1844. This David headed to Victoria in about 1838. Dr. Reid's wife, Agnes Dyce, managed the property with her younger sons from 1840 until Inverary Park was sold about 1852.