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Ask the Expert – lost army service records
July’s Ask the Expert puzzler comes from Rita McArthur. Our expert Paul Nixon gets his teeth into a knotty problem that has been common to many of our readers:
“We have found our ancestor’s discharge papers from the 9th Royal Veterans Battalion in 1814. He was discharged to a pension due to disability but we can find no pension records or anything else relating to his army service, which was about 12 years (not consecutive) in total. I have tried the Chelsea Pension records. Any suggestions?
Angus McArthur
Discharged 1814
9th Royal Veterans Battalion (and other regiments prior)
Ref: WO 97 /1135/44″
Paul replies:
“If you’ve found some papers, you’re doing well! Remember, if a man was killed, or was not discharged to pension, his records will not survive in WO 97. Having said that, many record sets that do survive have been ‘weeded’ over the years and so what you see in some files may just be a fraction of what you could have hoped to see.
In your case, I see that Angus McArthur has only two pages surviving in his WO 97 record. All is not lost however. One page clearly states the regiments and periods of service as follows:
3rd Argyle Fencibles – 21st April 1798 – 3rd December 1799
26th [Cameronian, Regiment of] Foot – 17th August 1803 – 24th July 1808
2nd Garrison Battalion – 25th July 1808 – 10th January 1809
9th Royal Veterans Battalion – 11th January 1809 – 24th March 1814
Wikipedia states that:
‘When hostilities resumed with France in May 1803, the Cameronians were based at Fort George, in the Highlands of Scotland. They were brought south to Stirling at the end of July, where they were heavily reinforced from men who had been recruited under the Army of Reserve Act. Over thirteen hundred new men were enlisted, and the regiment was able to raise a second battalion, both having about equal proportions of new and old recruits.’
So it looks as though Angus was one of those thirteen hundred new recruits, and the beauty of knowing the dates he served means that you can consult the muster rolls for the 26th Foot between 17th August 1803 and 24th July 1808. By doing this, you will be able to get a physical description of him when he joined the regiment and see, month by month, where he was stationed. You can’t do this online but you could hire a researcher to do these look-ups for you at The National Archives. See this National Archive link for more information about the muster rolls, pay lists and description books between 1730 and 1898: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/army-muster-1730-1898.htm
Angus would appear to have spent much of his time with the 26th Foot in Germany and had he remained with it a little longer, might well have seen service in the Peninsular war at the Battle of Corunna. However, by this time he had transferred to the 2nd Garrison Battalion, possibly as a result of infirmity. ”
If you would like to have the chance to Ask the Expert, please email your query to casestudies@findmypast.co.uk
Please note that our experts cannot enter into personal correspondence and only a limited selection of queries will be answered per month. We try to select questions which reflect the most common enquiries.
A customer’s discovery in the Chelsea Pensioners records
Customers can often be so much more eloquent about the amazing discoveries that they make in our records than we can. Here’s a great example of what you might find in the Chelsea Pesioners records we released last week:
The details provided are amazing. He moved up through the ranks to become a Sergeant in the Royal Artillery. He was 5′ 6″ tall, with a fresh complexion, grey eyes and red hair. He was a Wesleyan and his occupation was that of a miller when he enlisted. His next of kin is initially named as his father, Philip, then changed to his sister, Mary – confirming her married name and address – then his brother, John, presumably after his father’s death.
He served in India, Egypt and Afghanistan in the 1870s and 1880s. He fractured his right leg in January 1890 when a horse fell on it, whilst he was on duty.
His medical record mentions his vaccinations and illnesses suffered whilst in service. These included hospitalisation from ague, a sprained ankle and primary and secondary syphilis, which was quite common amongst soldiers at that time.
All in all, it makes interesting reading. As well as giving lots of information about James, it also provides additional details of family relationships, consolidating what I knew about my ancestors.
His return from the army in the 1890s could also explain a family myth. My great-grandfather left Devon and eventually settled in Hertfordshire. One of my second cousins had been told he left when his brother returned “a war hero” and took over the running of the family farm. Perhaps his first cousin, James, was the returning war hero and the story has got changed over time?”
Originally posted at: http://www.bbcwhodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5132&hilit=&sid=6c73909b15c27394fdd81ddbd8178a78
A customer's discovery in the Chelsea Pensioners records
Customers can often be so much more eloquent about the amazing discoveries that they make in our records than we can. Here’s a great example of what you might find in the Chelsea Pesioners records we released last week:
The details provided are amazing. He moved up through the ranks to become a Sergeant in the Royal Artillery. He was 5′ 6″ tall, with a fresh complexion, grey eyes and red hair. He was a Wesleyan and his occupation was that of a miller when he enlisted. His next of kin is initially named as his father, Philip, then changed to his sister, Mary – confirming her married name and address – then his brother, John, presumably after his father’s death.
He served in India, Egypt and Afghanistan in the 1870s and 1880s. He fractured his right leg in January 1890 when a horse fell on it, whilst he was on duty.
His medical record mentions his vaccinations and illnesses suffered whilst in service. These included hospitalisation from ague, a sprained ankle and primary and secondary syphilis, which was quite common amongst soldiers at that time.
All in all, it makes interesting reading. As well as giving lots of information about James, it also provides additional details of family relationships, consolidating what I knew about my ancestors.
His return from the army in the 1890s could also explain a family myth. My great-grandfather left Devon and eventually settled in Hertfordshire. One of my second cousins had been told he left when his brother returned “a war hero” and took over the running of the family farm. Perhaps his first cousin, James, was the returning war hero and the story has got changed over time?”
Originally posted at: http://www.bbcwhodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5132&hilit=&sid=6c73909b15c27394fdd81ddbd8178a78