I represent Richard Aspley. I was a private in His Majety’s 31st Regiment of Foot, Capt. Archibald Hamilton‘s company. The 31st was an infantry regiment that arrived in 1765 and – with a brief transfer to St. Augustine in 1769 – remained until 1772. The Mrs. Aspley enumerated in the Return of Women & Children of the 31st Regiment in Sept 1768 was my wife. My name appears in the 1767-1768 ledger books of Pensacola merchants Richard and Caleb Carpenter. I was retired from the 31st in 1773 after 33 years of service; that record says I was born in Newcastle-Under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England, 1720. Genealogical research reveals that my wife’s name was most likely Elizabeth Sutton, though not quite enough records have been found to verify this for certain. If she is Elizabeth, she and I were married in Staffordshire, England, in 1740.
Sources: 19, 49, 124, 146