Person:Edmund Crossman (1)

Edmund Douglas was named after his maternal grandfather, Edmund Douglas (1773-1846).

Edmund was probably educated at Berwick Grammar School.[2]

Robert's sons invariably lodged with some clergyman-tutor. Many reverend gentlemen, unable to subsist on the meagre stipends available, supplemented their small income in that way. Edmund's board cost £13 per term when he was in his late teens.[2] (£1 in 1853 = £126 in 2019, therefore his board cost the 2019 equivalent of £1,638 per term or £6,552 per anum)

At the age of 15 (1851) he is living in Shernhall Street, Walthamstow, East London.

He joined the 49th (Hertfordshire) Regiment of foot. During the Crimean War, the 49th Regiment was part of the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division of the British Expeditionary Force, the Brigade being commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel W H Adams of the 49th. Landing on the west coast of the Crimea in September 1854 the 49th took part in the battles of The Alma(Sep 1854), Inkerman(Nov 1854) and the siege of Sevastopol(Sept 1855) (all three later awarded as battle honours) enduring two harsh Crimean winters.

He purchased the rank of Ensign (2nd Lt) in the 49th on 18 May 1855. "Edmund Douglas Crossman, gent., to be Ensign, by purchase in succession to Lt Fitzgerald, whose promotion, by purchase, on 10th November 1854, has been cancelled" [4](Colburn's United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal 1855 Part II. Promotions and Appointments p.339)

He purchased his promotion to Lieutenant on 23 Nov 1855.[5](Hart's Army List 1857). 20 Oct 1856 According to British National Archives.

Brother James Hiscutt became a Freeman of Berwick-Upon-Tweed Jan. 30, 1855, followed by Edmund Douglas Nov. 22, 1856. He was a lieutenant in the Cape Mounted Riflemen. They still gave their address as Chigwell. (BB) [2] p.46

Edmund became a Freeman or Burgess of Berwick-Upon-Tweed on Nov. 22, 1856. (BB) By then he was a Lieutenant in the Cape Mounted Riflemen. He was a Lieutenant in the 49th Regiment in 1855. He served in the Crimean War and was present at the fall of Sebastapol in 1856 (the fall of Sevastopol was actually in Sept 1855). He then transferred to the Cape Riflemen and left for the Cape in 1857. He retired as a Captain in 1859. He then married Mary Stuart and they had two daughters:

1)Mary Douglas Crossman—about 1861. She received 1,000 pounds in the will of her grandfather Robert Crossman. She married Chaplain to the Forces Murry MacGregor, eldest son of Major-General Murry MacGregor, in 1880. (SP)

2)Sarah Emma Crossman—May 3, 1862 in Cape Colony. (D,BLG,01) She also received 1,000 pounds in her grandfather Robert Crossman's will. She married Robert Westly Busk Sept. 15, 1885 (BLG) He was born in 1854 at Blackheath, Kent (01) and was a colonial produce merchant. They lived in British Columbia and at King's Stanley, Gloucester. Sarah died Oct. 27, 1930 at Eastbourne, Sussex at the age of 68. (D,BLG) They had one son: [2] p.73

18 Feb 1857 at the age of 22 he was initiated into the British Lodge nbr 419 Folio Nbr 189.(From the England, United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921)

He apparently left for the Cape in 1857 to join the Cape Mounted Riflemen (Imperial).[2]

By 1858 he is listed as a Lieutenant in the Cape Mounted Riflemen (Imperial).(Hart's Army List 1858).

He retired as a Captain in 1859.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Mounted_Riflemen

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/SOUTH-AFRICA-EASTERN-CAPE/2008-06/1214540920

He died in 1867 at the age of 32 in Berwick presumably having left a family of 5 children back in South Africa with his wife Mary. What caused such an early death? Was it war wounds? Why did he leave his family to travel to England? Was it to receive needed treatment for an illness or wounds to which he succumbed?

1. ↑ Palmer's Index to The Times Newspaper 1867 Winter Quarter Jan 1 - Mar 31 p.69
   p. 69.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Crossman: A Family History of the Ancestors and Family of Alexander Crossman (1895-1984).
3.   Bulletins and Other State Intelligence Compiled and Arranged from the Official Documents Published in the London Gazette, Part 2
   1311.

   https://books.google.com/books?id=6t4sAAAAMAAJ&dq=edmund+douglass+crossman&source=gbs_navlinks_s

4.   Colburn's United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal 1855 Pt 2
   339.

   https://books.google.com/books?id=G_8bAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA339&dq=edmund+douglass+crossman&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj__5H0n5XmAhXTvJ4KHRrpBb8Q6AEwAXoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=edmund%20douglass%20crossman&f=false

5.   p 322 The Cape Mounted Riflemen, in Hart's Annual Army List 1857.

   https://books.google.com/books?id=GyowAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA564&dq=edmund+douglas+crossman&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjljYSAo5XmAhWVvZ4KHUZfB804ChDoATABegQIAhAC#v=onepage&q=crossman&f=false

6.   British National Archives.