Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy (24 page)

You can find Army Lists in various institutes. A full set from 1759 is in The National Archives. Additionally, the original manuscripts of the Army Lists from 1702 to 1752 can be located in TNA series WO 64. The British Library also has a complete set from 1754. The National Army Museum, the Imperial War Museum, regimental museums and other large reference libraries also have collections, although not always complete collections.

Another unofficial publication,
Hart’s Army Lists
, should also be consulted if your ancestor’s army service fell in the relevant time period. Hart’s lists cover the years 1839 to 1915 and give more details than are found in the Army Lists, including short biographies of the officers and career details.
Hart’s Army Lists
were published on a quarterly basis and cover the regular British Army and officers of the British Army in India. An incomplete set of
Hart’s Army Lists
is located at The National Archives on open shelves. The complete collection can be found in series WO 211, along with the working notes Hart used to compile his lists for 1839 to 1873.

As there was no army-wide service record-keeping system until 1914, service records will be found in many different record series. There is no one single document providing the entire service career for an individual. Instead records were kept separately, by both the regiment and the War Office, although the War Office did not start collecting this information until the early nineteenth century. Both these sets of records are now held at The National Archives in series WO 25 (for War Office records) and WO 76 (regimental records). Additionally, there is an incomplete name index to these collections (also at The National Archives). As it is incomplete, searches should still be made in both series, even if the name of your ancestor does not appear in the index.

War Office Records in WO 25

As stated, the War Office records do not contain complete service histories for every officer in the British Army. Rather, they comprise an assessment of officers at various points in the nineteenth century. Five surveys were taken at different dates during the century, officers being required to send returns on their statements of service at that point in time. As the officers themselves were responsible for giving this information, there are gaps in the data as not every officer completed the returns in full. Each survey can now be found in WO 25 and some surveys contain more information then others. The details for each survey are listed here.

1
.
1809–10 (WO 25/744–748)

The survey is arranged alphabetically and contains only details of service history.

2
.
1828 (WO 25/749–779)

This survey is more detailed and contains information about service completed before 1828. It is arranged alphabetically and military history is provided along with dates of commission. Further information relating to marriage dates and birth dates of children is also included.

3
.
1829 (WO 25/780–805)

Organized on a regimental basis, this survey only refers to officers active at the time. It provides the same information found in the second series. In addition the wives of soldiers are indexed separately; their maiden names are provided along with their date and place of birth and, occasionally, their date of death.

4
.
1847 (WO 25/808–823)

The survey is arranged alphabetically and contains information very similar to that found in the second survey.

5
.
1870–72 (WO 25/824–870)

The survey covers some returns outside those dates and is arranged by the year the returns were compiled and thereafter by regiment.

If your ancestor was an officer in the Royal Engineers, their service records can be located in WO 25/3913–3919, covering the years 1796 to 1922.

Regimental Records WO 76

This series contains the records made by individual regiments which were subsequently transferred to the War Office. As such they are organized on a regimental basis and the entire series covers the years 1764 through to 1913. Of course there will not be information for every regiment from 1764 and the level of information for each regiment also varies, although generally more detailed records were kept through the course of the nineteenth century. To begin searching these records refer to the name index (mentioned above). However, if the name is not found, it is advisable to search anyway. Identify where
the records for your ancestor’s regiment are within the series and search through.

There are certain regiments that do not have their records within either WO 76 or WO 25, but in other series. Below is a list of such regiments:

•
 
Royal Garrison Regiment Officer service records (1901–05 only): WO 19

•
 
Gloucester Regiment service records (1792–1866): WO 67/24–27

•
 
Royal Artillery officer lists (1727–51): WO 54/684, 701

A pay list of officers (from 1803 to 1871) can also be found in WO 54/946.

Records for Granting of Commissions

Apart from the service records themselves, documents relating to the granting of commissions can provide additional information. The purchase of commissions was instituted in the reign of Charles II and was not abolished till 1871. It was possible to buy a commission up to the rank of colonel, although the Commander-in-Chief could award free commissions. An officer was awarded their rank by these royal commissions and the date of these commissions can be located in numerous published sources (the Army List, the
London Gazette
,
The Times
, etc).

Perhaps the most interesting documents regarding the granting of commissions are the actual applications for purchasing or selling such commissions. These are also held at The National Archives, in series WO 31, and cover the years 1793 to 1870. The applications contain a lot of personal information, such as baptismal dates. They often have letters of recommendation attached, which can give further details about the character of the candidate and information about his life (such as education and employment details) and his parentage.

Other records of relevance concerning the system of commissioning officers include:

•
 
Warrants issuing commissions from 1679 to 1782, in SP 44/164–418. After 1855 they can be found in HO 51.

•
 
The awarding of commissions was recorded in commission books by the Secretary of State for War. The books cover the years 1660 to 1803 and can be found in WO 25/1–121.

•
 
Succession books recorded the promotions and transfers of officers. They are organized by regiment and date. The regimental records can be found in WO 25/209–220 for 1754–1808, and another set of records in WO 25/221–229 for 1773–1807.

The Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers regiments have their commission records in series WO 54, for the years 1740–1855.

Half-pay Records

As pensions were not introduced until 1871 a system of half-pay was used instead. Begun in 1641 to compensate officers in reduced or disbanded regiments, it soon became a method of retaining officers as they still held on to their commissions whilst on half pay. Officers on half pay can be found in the Army List. There are also original records in WO 23, although little genealogical information is provided in this series.

The series PMG 4 is more genealogically relevant, the ledgers recording payments of half pay from 1737 to 1921. The series is alphabetically indexed after 1841 and it is possible to find the date of death and, after 1837, addresses of the recipients. The more modern ledgers also give date of birth details.

In order to join any government service an individual had to provide birth or baptismal details. Hence, collections of these baptismal records have survived in the following series (which both have indexes):

•
 
WO 32/8903–8920: 1777 to 1868

•
 
WO 42: 1755 to 1908. This series also includes marriage, death or burial and birth/baptismal certificates for children

Widows’ pension records may also be useful. Widows were entitled to pensions far earlier than retired officers, in 1708.

•
 
WO 25/3995 and 3069–3072 are registers for bounty paid to widows between 1755 and 1856. It is fully indexed

•
 
WO 25 has numerous pieces relating to applications for pensions and may include details of remarriage. You will also find further information in PMG 10 and PMG 11

‘
To join a government service a person had to give birth or baptismal details
.’

Lastly, it may be worthwhile searching the records for pensions paid to children and other dependent relatives. Such pensions were introduced from 1720, and were paid out of the Compassionate Fund and the Royal Bounty. Registers recording who received this money and the amount they were paid, from 1779 to 1894, can be found in WO 24/771–803 and WO 23/114–123. Further ledgers can also be viewed in PMG 10 for 1840 to 1916.

The majority of the British Army was composed of non-commissioned officers (sergeant major, colour sergeant, sergeant, corporal, lance corporal) and rank-and-file soldiers – privates – who were collectively known as ‘other ranks’. Before 1806, enlistment was for life; from 1807, discharge was permitted after 21 years’ service, and after 1817 soldiers could seek an early discharge after 14 years. Rates of pension were calculated according to length of service, and are discussed later. For most periods in history these men were recruited voluntarily, with conscription being used only on a few occasions. These men usually came from the poorest sections of society, often being labourers endeavouring to escape poverty, even though the pay was very little. Additionally, a disproportionate number were recruited from Scotland and Ireland.

Employment conditions for the other ranks were far from ideal. The majority of the barracks, which housed the soldiers, were cramped and often had poor sanitary conditions. The quality and quantity of food was also inadequate, although rations for beer were generous, leading to the reputation of drunkenness of many of the soldiers. Not every soldier was automatically entitled to marry, and housing for spouses was also limited. These poor conditions were addressed following the failures of the Crimean War in the 1850s. Reforms were introduced in the 1870s in order to improve the living conditions of the soldiers, hoping that this would in turn improve their fighting ability.

The National Archives holds the vast majority of service records for other ranks, found in a variety of places.

Soldiers’ Documents, 1760–1913

If your ancestor was a soldier during this period, the easiest place to begin searching for any surviving documentation is within the ‘soldiers’ documents’ series of WO 97. Although they are often referred to as ‘service records’ the documents were compiled for pension purposes and are not actual service records. They were created when a soldier was discharged and awarded a pension by the Royal Hospital at
Chelsea. The Royal Hospital was created in 1682 to house soldiers who had been injured whilst on active service. Pensioners were termed either ‘in-house’ or ‘out-house’ pensioners, depending on whether they took up residence at the Hospital or received a pension at their private residence. Most surviving individual soldiers’ documents were created in the administration of this pension rather than as specific service records. As such the records are not complete for every serving soldier but, until 1883, only for those discharged to pension. Nor will there be any record for any soldier dying on active service. Additionally, soldiers who were discharged from the Army by purchasing their way out of their remaining period of service would not be included. From 1883 to 1913 the series is fuller and most soldiers should be within these records.

If you do find your ancestor’s record amongst the series, there is usually a good amount of detail to be gleaned from it. Most documents include:

•
 
Full name

•
 
Age and place of birth

•
 
Physical description

•
 
Trade or occupation before joining the Army

•
 
Details of next of kin after 1883

The series have been compiled using the following documents, although not every document would have survived for each soldier:

•
 
Discharge forms issued on the day the soldier was discharged from the Army

•
 
Attestation forms, compiled the day the soldier officially enlisted into the Army

•
 
Proceedings of the regimental board, including a record of service, detailing the service career of the soldier

•
 
Any supporting documentation relating to discharge

•
 
Past service questionnaires if other documentation for the soldier’s service did not survive

•
 
Affidavits to declare that the soldier was not receiving funds from any other public body

Records for the early period are less complete, but should contain discharge papers at least. The more modern documents usually contain at least the discharge form and attestation papers.

The actual documents themselves are arranged differently according to different time periods. The dates refer to date of discharge not date of attestation. The series is broken down as below:

•
 
1760–1854: WO 97/1–1271
The records are arranged on a regimental basis, and then alphabetically by the surname of the soldier. This set of records has been fully transcribed by name and it is possible to do a simple name search in The National Archives online catalogue.

•
 
1855–72: WO 97/1272–1721
These are organized on a similar basis to the collection above, by regiment then surname. However, there is no online index to date and it is only feasible to search within the records if the regiment is known.