back to The Feltus/Feltis Families in Carlow
George Feltis' Army Discharge Papers (1799)
A Private George Feltis, armourer, was discharged from His Majesty's 5th Regiment of Dragoon Guards in Dublin in 1799 with a scrotal hernia after 21 years of service. He received a service pension and his discharge papers are in the Kilmainham Hospital Pension files.These papers show that he was 38 (so b. ~ 1761), 5' 6" tall, "by trade a watchmaker", and was born "in or near the market town of Carlow". He had served 15 years with the 12th (or Prince of Wales) Light Dragoons, was discharged in 1792 with a rupture which he received on duty while "White Boy hunting at Rathkeale, co. Limerick" note, re-enlisted with the 14th Regiment of Foot but was again discharged after only three months due to his injury and then, after a short recovery period, he served a further 6 years as an armourer with the 5th Dragoon Guard. His name appears as Feltis in some of the documents and Feltiss in others and on all three discharge papers he signed his own name as Feltess.
His name as spelt by an army clerk and the regiment's surgeon:
his Feltess signature:
(Note: the signature looks to us like Feltefs as the the first 's' of the 'ss' is written as a 'long s' (which looks like an 'f') as was normal at the time.)
After his final discharge he would have returned to Carlow and possibly carried on his life as a watchmaker. The fact that he had apprenticed as a watchmaker by age 18 rather than just being a labourer prior to his enlistment indicates that he was either the son of a watchmaker, in which case he could have learned the trade in his youth, or he had enough financial backing to apprentice in a skilled trade but in that case he would have been a younger son of his family not in line to inherit. At that time, in order to keep the family wealth intact, only the eldest son inherited the family's estate, younger sons went into the army with a purchased commission, joined the church, helped run a family business or apprenticed in a skilled trade (the least likely). The fact that he was only a Private after 21 years of service though indicates that he was more likely the son of a watchmaker than the son of a landowner.
So it's unlikely that he was in the Cuthbert Feltus line but would fit more easily into the Richard Feltis line. Being based in Ireland during his service it's quite possible that he was married and had children prior to his discharge.
I've placed him for now as a tentative 1.2.5 in the Feltus of co. Carlow Family Tree.
His discharge papers: (click on a page to see a large image in a new window)
