Whereas many other military records provide information about officer-class soldiers, these records relate to ordinary, non-officer class soldiers. This makes it more likely that you will be able to find details about your ancestors. The connection with ‘Chelsea Pensioners’ is that the pensions were administered through The Royal Hospital at Chelsea. The great majority of pensioned soldiers were out-pensioners and did not reside at the Hospital itself.

Why are these records so special?

The records provide rich detail and colour to our ancestors’ lives to a level that is difficult to find elsewhere. There are usually six or seven records per soldier, whereas an individual would only get one line in, say, a 19^th century census record. Most of the service records note all of the regiments in which a soldier served, with both start and end dates, ranks attained, and the total service rendered, again in years and days, in each rank and regiment. Service in either the East or West Indies is noted separately.

The reason for the soldier’s discharge (illness or wounds) is given, as are remarks on general conduct while in the service, and notations on height, complexion, eye and hair colour, and civilian occupation. The form is dated and signed by both the soldier and commanding officer. In the absence of photographs, these records are an essential tool in providing an insight into what your ancestors actually looked like. These records are among the most popular at The National Archives as family historians and genealogists have realised how valuable they are.

The Chelsea Pensioner Service Records are made up of servicemen from all over the British Empire. Below is a percentage break down of where the servicemen were born:

• England = 68.9%
• Ireland = 17.6%
• Scotland = 8.3%
• Wales = 2.2%
• West Indies = 0.6%
• India = 0.4%
• Sark = 0.00073%

Debra Chatfield

Our marketing manager, Debra Chatfield, said: “The Chelsea Pensioners’ British Army Service Records are a wonderful resource for family historians. Unlike many other military records, which often only provide information about officer-class soldiers, these records are of ‘ordinary’ soldiers.

These fascinating, detailed records enable you to find out so much about your soldier ancestors, even including what they looked like, long before the invention of photography. The colour images of handwritten records provide amazing insights into the lives of our military ancestors.”

Interesting characters in the records

William Milligan, Spike Milligan’s grandfather, served in the Royal Artillery. He was born in St John’s, Newfoundland, British America and was a carpenter until he joined the British Army on 2 September 1869, aged 18 years in Belfast. On joining the army they recorded his ‘vital statistics’ as follows: 5′9″ (69 inches), 34 inch chest, 126 lbs, ‘fair’ complexion, grey eyes, brown hair, Roman Catholic, pulse (regular): 76 beats, respiration: 14 inspirations, muscular development: good, distinctive marks: “Slight varicose back of left leg”.

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John Henry Fry, the three day soldier - back in 1888 John Henry Fry signed up to become a soldier for the British Army in Exeter. He was born in Barnstaple, Devon in 1870 and grew up to work as a labourer before he decided to sign up to the British Army.

On 25 September 1888, aged 18 years and 3 months he joined the British Army stating he would be willing to serve the British Army for 12 years and would like to serve in the Rifle Brigade. On his enlistment papers his physical description is as follows: 5′5 1/4″, 124lbs, 32 3/4 inch chest, ’sallow’ complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, and he belonged to the Church of England.

A 12 year service, however, was not to be. On 27 September 1888, aged 18 years and 3 months, after just 3 days’ service, John Henry Fry left the British Army. His character on being discharged was recorded as “Good during his three days’ service” and his cause of discharge was recorded as “In consequence of his not being likely to become an efficient soldier”.

Using other records available on findmypast.co.uk, John Henry Fry can be found to have moved to Cardiff by the time of the 1901 and 1911 censuses.

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Start searching our Chelsea Pensioners Service Records now.

The findmypast tram proved a popular feature with all the departures pulling a large crowd. Our clippies gave engaging and informative talks throughout the weekend which described in detail how to use findmypast when researching your family history. Here you can see the journey in action:

Our research bay was busy all weekend, with members of the findmypast team answering queries and helping people with their research. Mary, who uses findmypast.co.uk in her research, came to the exhibition with the hope of overcoming a problem. We helped Mary to track down her maternal great-great grandmother who was proving elusive to trace. Our experts also found Mary’s great-great grandmother’s parents, which meant that she now has new avenues of research to explore.

The event was hugely successful and we received lots of valuable feedback about our stand and our website. We’d like to thank everyone who visited our shop, tram and research bay and hope you enjoyed the event as much as we did.

There has never been such a stark contrast between the career choices of today’s young people when compared to the manual jobs of their ancestors. In the 1911 census some of the most popular occupations recorded include working in domestic service, agriculture, mining, building and the cotton industry. In contrast, less than 1% of young Brits in the 21st century would like to have a manual job such as a builder or plumber.

Here you can see a 1911 census return for singer Tom Jones’ maternal grandparents, Albert Rees and Ada Jones, who were in the coal-mining industry. Jones is Tom’s stage rather than birth surname.

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Debra Chatfield

Our marketing manager, Debra Chatfield (pictured right), says: “It seems the growing obsession with celebrity has really impacted on young people’s career choices these days, as our study reveals how the more non-traditional jobs now come high up on the wish-list.

“Times have certainly changed when it comes to young people’s career choices. A look at the 1911 census provides a fascinating insight into the professions of our ancestors and you can really see how times have dramatically changed. On the other hand, in some cases, it can be interesting to see how some families have carried the same profession down through the family tree to the modern day. In our recent study it was revealed that, worryingly, a fifth (22%) of those aged 18-24 years do not know what their ancestors did for a living.”

Find out what your ancestors did in our complete census records from 1841 to 1911.

You can also pick up some fantastic deals from our Edwardian shopkeeper in the 1911 shop. Offers include £25-worth of PayAsYouGo vouchers for £19.99, a three month subscription for £45 instead of £50 and a 12 month subscription for £135 instead of £150. These subscriptions include access to the 1911 census records as well as all the other great features we have to offer. When you buy any voucher worth £9.99 or more you’ll get a Family History Starter Pack with a free copy of our new video tutorials, designed to help you get the most out of our site.

There will be free access to the findmypast.co.uk website in our research bay so come along and get stuck into your research - you can meet the findmypast.co.uk team and pick their brains for tips!

We look forward to seeing you there.

November 2009 - Mrs J Sheldon
December 2009 - Mr R Cartledge
January 2010 - Mr K Peterson

The prize is now a year’s Full subscription and will be awarded quarterly. The next winners will be drawn later in the year.

November 2009 - DJ Bradley
December 2009 - Dr Roger Allen
January 2010 - Carole Sturgiss

We are now awarding the prize on a quarterly basis so the next winner will be drawn later in the year.

The collection also includes the records of baptisms in London’s Docklands, some of which provide a fascinating insight into popular baby names of the 1700s, including exotic-sounding names such as ‘Hephzibah’, ‘Delight’ and ‘Philadelphia’.

The findmypast.co.uk ‘London Collection’ includes:

• City of London Burial Index – records from all the churches in the City of London from 1813 to 1890
• West Middlesex Marriage Index – detailing 84,863 marriages in 61 parishes from 1538 to 1837
• London Docklands Baptisms – comprising 407,558 baptisms for London’s docklands areas 1712 to 1933
• London and West Kent Probate Indexes – mainly detailing wills and administrations from 1750 to 1858
• The Matchworkers’ Strike – listing participants of the strike of over 700 men, women and teenage boys and girls working at the Bryant and May factory in East London in 1888, the same year as the Jack the Ripper murders

The original City of London Burial Index was created by Cliff Webb and produced by the West Surrey Family History Society in 1991 and re-issued in 1997. It contains details from 75 of the 98 churches within the City of London.

Find out more on our City of London Burials page.