William Clifford - Private 83rd Regiment.

A letter from Private William Clifford, former servant to the late Lieut. Rob Clifford of the 83rd Regiment, requesting a sum of money left to him by his late master. Dated at Boyle (Co. Roscommon) 2 November 1835.

The letter reads:

"In June last I presented a petition to the Right Hon^ble Lord Clifford praying for the payment of the sum of eight pounds which had been left to me in his brothers will (The Hon. Lieut. Rob Clifford, 83rd Reg^t) but not having received any reply to that petition, I take the liberty to request that in consequence of my being a poor man with a large family, you will be pleased to use your endeavours to obtain His Lordships Consent that the money may be transmitted to me as early as convenient. I am Sir, Your Most Obedient humble servant. W^m Clifford. Private 83 Regiment. servant to the deceased".

The letter is addressed to W. Wilham (or Witham?) Esq^re, 8 Grays Inn Square, London. It is back-stamped "Boyle No 2 1835"

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The 83rd Regiment of Foot was raised in 1793 by William Fitch, their colonel, in and around Dublin, for service in the French Revolutionary Wars. Their first service was overseas, seeing action and garrison duty in the West Indies between 1795 and 1798. Following this they were returned to Europe, and fought under Wellington in the Peninsular campaign. In this they saw action at Talavera, Busaco, Badajoz and Salamanca. In 1815 they again served under Wellington in the Waterloo campaign, which saw the final defeat of Napoleon. In the post-war colonial period the 83rd were stationed in India, and were engaged in the Sepoy rebellion of 1857. In 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms the 83rd amalgamated with the 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot to become the 1st battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles.

(Wikipedia: 83rd Regiment of Foot.)

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