I have come across the journey extracts of my paternal ancestor dating from 1819 to 1844.
In it he describes being in the 4th battalion royal artillery on board the Manchester of London when it was shipwrecked off the coast of Portugal on its return home in 1827. He describes the conflict as the war of succession.
The description of Portuguese towns and marching distances give the text some credibility. As do the later entries which i have verified through local (new zealand) records.
However, i am struggling to find a ship of this name. Also, unless mistaken, i thought the spanish war of succession was well over by 1827.
His notes say he was otherwise garrisoned at woolwich, england.
Are their any u.k military experts who can verify the likelihood of this journal entry?
What can certainly be confirmed is the existence of ship HMS Manchester in 1814, as a hired store ship which fits the description but not much additional information is provided
For clarity could you expand this part:
In it he describes being in the 4th battalion royal artillery on board the Manchester of London when it was shipwrecked off the coast of Portugal on its return home in 1827. He describes the conflict as the war of succession.
What date did the shipwreck happen? Did the shipwreck had something to do with the conflict? Was this conflict in Portugal or somewhere else? Do you happen to know where was the ship returning from?
Great Britain was involved in several wars at around 1827, one being Liberal Wars of Portugal which seems to fit some of the description, but that started in 1828, so possibly slightly too late
One other possibility might be artillery battalion being stationed at Gibraltar or Malta, or even sent to Greek War of Independence where British had fleet sent in 1827, and described as being "sent home" after October. However I am not familiar with any details so it's just a guess from which one might dig further
Here is the extract in question by Bomdadeir John Gibson: "I was shipwrecked upon the second of March about four o'clock in the morning on the coast of Portugal about 2 leagues above Santonia from the ship called the Manchester of London 1827. After the shipwreck we stopped 4 days in Veania and was most kindly treated by the inhabitants of the place and much respected more so than if we had been in our own country thurfor have grat reson to be thankful. Than we marched to the city of Apparla which was three days march it is a very fine citty and thar is a grat many people that can speak English and I experienced a grat dale of kindness in that town. On returning to England he was stationed at Woolwich, Kent”.
I cannot find a place named Santonia on a map in Portugal. However, the references to Veania and Apparla could be modern Viana do Castelo and Apúlia. The distance between these two cities looks like it would take 3 days if fully laden and on foot.