William was in the RAMC Shoebury Garrison at the time of his marriage.
The Shoebury Garrison was an army barracks on the mouth of the Thames Estuary. A signal station was erected in 1797-8 at the start of the Napoleonic Wars to communicate with Sheerness in the event of a French invasion. It was replaced by a coastguard station and six cottages in 1825 which were later absorbed in the Garrison's Officers' Mess. Part remains in the Mess and is the only pre-Garrison structure surviving.
By the early 1870s, the Station had been substantially completed. From 1865 the Station was used also by the National Artillery Association as an annual competition range with well over 1000 military competitors. Tented accommodation to the rear of the Barracks was provided and the area became known as Campfield.
The Station played a central role in artillery development such as rifled barrels, breach loading, Hale's war rockets, Captain Boxer's shrapnel, quick firing weapons including machine guns and the replacement in the 1890s of gunpowder with cordite.It had close links with William Armstrong whose company became one of the main armaments innovators and manufacturers and many of that company's weapons were tested at Shoebury.
