There are a couple of questions remaining on Matthew Price’s military service.

I had previously established Price’s career in the Honourable East India Company (HEIC) Madras Army and there did not seem to be any gaps [01] [02]. You can see the results here.

Some modern sources mention that he had been in the Guernsey militia and that, after serving in India, he served with the 40th Regiment (2nd Somersetshire) of the British Army and came to Australia with that regiment on the HMS Vulcan. The HMS Vulcan certainly brought half of the 40th Regiment to Australia, departing Cork, Ireland, on 15 July 1852, via Lisbon, Sierra Leone, and the Cape of Good Hope. and arriving at Melbourne on 19 October 1852. It carried Lieutenant Colonel Valiant, 20 officers, 596 rank and file, 69 women, and 60 children [03].

Although the timing is right, I have not found anything to corroborate Price’s involvement with the story of the 40th Regiment and the HMS Vulcan. He does not appear in the various issues of the official annual A List of the Officers of the Army and of the Corps of Royal Marines or the commercially-published Hart’s New Annual Army List.

Part of the problem is that most researchers do not understand the difference between the HEIC Madras Army and the British Army. So far, I have not found a contemporary source for the link to the 40th Regiment.

The earliest published reference to his military career (other than official and semi-official sources) was in his obituary in the Poverty Bay Herald, which tells us that: “At the age of nineteen, he was entered as an ensign in the 1st Regiment of Light Infantry Militia, afterwards obtaining his captaincy, and serving for some years on active service in India” [04].

Having another look at his HEIC Cadet papers, Price notes that he had been commissioned a Lieutenant in the 1st Regiment of the Guernsey Royal Light Infantry Militia on 14 March 1836. There is also an attestation from his commanding officer – also a Price. So far, I have not found another reference to when he joined the militia. He could have joined as an Ensign (the lowest commissioned rank), but it is equally possible that he joined as a Lieutenant.

Price applied to enter the service of the HEIC Madras Army in early January 1837 and was examined and passed on 11 January 1837. Working through documents and various issues of the East-India Register [05], we find that he was commissioned with the rank of Ensign on 31 January 1837. On 22 January 1838, he was assigned to the 34th Native Infantry (as an ensign) and promoted to Lieutenant on 1 April 1839. He was appointed the regiment’s adjutant on 3 March 1846 and was made a Brevet Captain on 31 January 1852. He resigned from the service on 1 February 1853. The East-India Register has him in England when he resigned, but he was actually in Australia. It is possible that he submitted his resignation before departing for Australia.

On resignation, his “official” rank was Lieutenant, but the rank of Brevet Captain allowed him to use this latter rank in civilian life as “Captain Price.”

Price appears in the March 1851 UK Census [06], so he was certainly in England before resigning from the HEIC Madras Army. He gave his occupation as Lieutenant, East India Company Comptroller’s Service. Price was visiting the family of his sister, Mary Caroline, and her husband, William Henry Bonsey. The Bonseys also moved to Australia, arriving at Melbourne on the Marlborough on 4 November 1852. Bonsey was a solicitor and became a Police Magistrate in January 1853.

Price’s first Victorian Public Service appointment was as Acting Police Inspector on 4 January 1853. Price’s wife and their six children arrived at Melbourne on the Kent in April 1853. Timing-wise, it would make sense for Price to be on the Marlborough with the Bonseys, but he does not appear in the passenger list.