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Who was Henry PEPPERDINE?
For the first time the 1861census included the names of persons on board ships abroad.
So it is that we find a Henry PEPPERDINE, said to be a private in the Royal Marines, aboard the ship HMS Ariadne at Gibraltar on the 7^th April .
There appears to be no trace of this Henry in the 1841 or 1851 census. 

Looking into his service record it appears that he enlisted with the 13^th Company Chatham Division of Royal Marines at Halifax in Yorkshire on 30^th March 1854. He was then a labourer of 5ft 7½ in. He was sworn in at Ripon Magistrates on 3^rd April 1854 and was then aged 18 and said to have been born at Mansfield Nottinghamshire on 28th November 1835. He was of sallow complexion with hazel eyes, light brown hair. A separate piece of paper is a short testimonial by William Charles BURLEY dated 31^st March 1854 stating that he had “known the said Henry for a length of time and he is a very steady man”.  Could William C BURLEY have been the William E BURLEY listed on the 1851 census as a cordwainer aged 26 married to Sarah Ann aged 27 living at Halifax? 

On 16^th January 1855 he joined HMS Pylades and was discharged at Portsmouth 30 January 1856 in Portsmouth. This entry also mentions that his usual place of residence was Lincoln. But he had spent long enough in Halifax for William BURLEY to give him a reference albeit somewhat vague.  

Possibly he had served a Court Marshall sentence of 42 days from 16 May to 26 June 1857.  On 29^th November 1859 he joined HMS Ariadne and was awarded a good conduct badge issued 29 Nov 1860, he was then 25 years old. 

On 31^st March 1861 he was discharged at Gibraltar but immediately re-entered in the ship’s books where he served from 1^st April until his death in Gibraltar 2^nd May 1861.  

A short but eventful life, but who is this Henry PEPPERDINE? No one of that name is baptised at Mansfield. There is a Henry son of John and Mary Ann SANSOM baptised 4 Mar 1836 and Henry son of William and Catherine SHELTON baptised 1 May 1836. Perhaps his father died and mother later remarried a Pepperdine? There is no Pepperdine marriage in the national records after 31 July 1837 which could explain this. 

Elsewhere in his service records he is said to have been born “in the parish of Mansfield, in or near the town of Mansfield in the county of Nottingham”. There is no likely baptism at Mansfield Woodhouse or Blidworth. At Sutton in Ashfield Henry son of William and Sarah HOLLINGSWORTH was baptised 13 Dec 1835 and Henry son of William and Emma MARSHALL of Hucknall on 10^th April 1836.  The parishes of Skegby and Teversall have not been searched nor have the Derbyshire parishes adjacent to Mansfield at Pleasley, Ault Hucknall, Tibshelf, Blackwell, South Normanton or Pinkton.. 

One possibility is that Henry was the first born child of a Pepperdine marriage and his mother returned home for the birth, Henry later being baptised at a church where his parents lived. But why is he not found on the 1841 or 1851 census? 

The Newspaper library at Colindale holds copies of “The Gibraltar Chronicle” from 1 July 1825. Perhaps this will mention his death and name a relative.. 

There are very Henrys of the correct age on the 1851 census.  Of these none appear to have one of the surnames of brides marrying into the Pepperdine family between 1851 and 1861. The search is now being extended to eliminate those Henrys born in the Mansfield area between 1833 and 1837 who can be located on the 1861 census.

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