Images of the security surrounding the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in Washington this week (20 January 2021), many of whom are National Guard, shows the importance of volunteer “weekend” soldiers during times of national crisis. In East Kent in 1811, the local militia was called for two weeks training and ten Woodchurch men “had to go”. We know this because the overseer of the poor compensated their wives for the loss of their husband’s earnings during the training period. The Woodchurch militiamen and their wives were:
- Peter and Sophia Button
- John and Bennett Ditton
- Thomas and Maria Farmer
- James and Barbara Bourne
- George and Elizabeth Dunster
- William and Phoebe Dunster
- William and Lucy Walter
- William and Mary Hudson
- James and Charlotte Knowlden
- Joseph and Elizabeth Lindridge
Married men drafted into the militia had to be under 30 years of age with no more than two children. They agreed to serve in England and would only be called out if there was a threat of invasion. As the militia was primarily intended for home defence, none of the Woodchurch men listed took part in the War of 1812 nor did they participate in the Burning of Washington in 1814, the last time a hostile force attacked the Capitol building.
James Bourne Born 1784 most likely looking at the family tree! There was another James Bourne to the same parents, born 5 years earlier who died young. No record of James wife or children.