We have just added 7,247 extra Chelsea Pensioner British Army Service Records and 44,130 extra images to our WO97 collection.

The National Archives describes this set of records (WO97 boxes 6323-6383) as ’supplementary series formed from documents which were found to have been misfiled when the post-1913 records were sorted’.

There are now 1,041,092 records in the entire WO97 Chelsea Pensioners collection on findmypast.co.uk

This new release means that if you haven’t been able to find your ancestors in our Chelsea Pensioner records, it’s definitely worth searching again now. These new records provide an alphabetical list of soldiers by last name which spans over 100 years.

Search the Chelsea Pensioner records now to find your missing ancestors.

We’ve just added 341,888 records and 1,928,868 images to our Chelsea Pensioners collection for the period 1901-1913.

This completes the WO97 series of our Chelsea Pensioner collection and brings the total amount of these records and images on findmypast.co.uk to 1,033,845 records and 6,131,443 images.

This collection comprises records of men pensioned out of the British Army 1760-1913. The connection with ‘Chelsea Pensioners’ is that the pensions were administered through The Royal Hospital at Chelsea.

For the first time on-line, in colour, you can now see Territorial Force attestations. The Territorial Force was formed in 1908 and so these men would not have appeared in earlier record releases.

Also for the first time, you can view – in colour – attestations for men who joined the Volunteer Service Companies during the Boer War. These men, who had previously served with Volunteer battalions, re-enlisted with these special volunteer service companies and served alongside regular soldiers in the regular regiments.

Here’s a full breakdown of which records we’ve already published on the site and which are still to come:

These records are very special. They’re the closest you can get to looking at a photo of you ancestor as they contain detailed descriptions of a soldier’s physical appearance and any distinguishing features, for example, tattoos or scars. There are usually six or seven records for each soldier and you’ll also be able to see your ancestor’s signature.

We’re working in association with The National Archives and in partnership with FamilySearch on this ongoing project.

Remember that these records are free to search, like all the records on findmypast.co.uk. Even if you’re not sure that any of your ancestors could have been Chelsea Pensioners, try searching the records - your ancestor may have only served in the army for a short time before they were pensioned out.

Find your ancestors in our Chelsea Pensioner records today.

I joined findmypast.co.uk in August after seven years in India managing a team of software engineers. That’s probably about as far detached from family history as it gets. On the other hand, I have over 25 years’ experience researching British military history and have a number of military-related blogs including one on army service numbers between 1881 and 1918, a subject very close to my heart.

Paul Nixon with son Tauran

Findmypast.co.uk’s publication of the Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records (WO97) opens up a vast new range of military records dating from 1760 to 1913. What’s more, the records are in excellent condition and have been scanned in colour, which really makes them come alive.

The beauty of the WO97 series is that the records encompass many different numbering systems. My own data has focused on the numbering system introduced in 1881 as part of Cardwell’s reforms, but WO97 goes back a full 120 years before this, enabling today’s patient historian to really study British military history in depth. In terms of military campaigns, in this series alone you’ll find records of men who fought at Waterloo alongside those who fought the rebels in the Indian Mutiny; Egypt and Sudan campaign veterans, Boer War veterans; in fact records of ordinary soldiers who took part in virtually every British military campaign between 1760 and 1913.

I list below sample records for the 1st and 2nd (regular) battalions of The King’s Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment). The regiment was formed on 1 July 1881 from the 4th (King’s Own Royal) Regiment of Foot and was established as the newly formed regiment for North Lancashire. It started numbering from 1 in July 1881.

Use the information below to narrow down the date on which your ancestor joined this regiment. For instance, if he had the number 444, and was soldiering with the King’s Own in the late 19th Century, he must have joined between 2nd June 1883 and 21st March 1884.

A word of warning, however. Numbering in the British Army is far from a simple matter and regiments could and did start new number series for other battalions - or indeed the same battalions - within the regiment. For instance, by 1908, the King’s Own had five battalions and the number 444 had already been used four times, once for the 1st and 2nd Battalions, once for the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, and once each for the 4th and 5th Territorial battalions.

The King’s Own - Regular enlistments 1881-1913

10 joined on 9 July 1881
271 joined on 16 December 1882
397 joined on 2 June 1883
599 joined on 21 March 1884
1012 joined on 12 March 1885
1632 joined on 22 July 1886
1923 joined on 1 January 1887
2300 joined on 19 January 1888
2561 joined on 15 January 1889
2981 joined on 11 June 1890
3244 joined on 24 June 1891
3506 joined on 31 January 1892
4061 joined on 24 July 1893
4317 joined on 17 February 1894
4650 joined on 12 January 1895
5019 joined on 29 January 1896
5311 joined on 3 May 1897
5671 joined on 14 April 1898
5923 joined on 24 March 1899
6288 joined on 2 April 1900

The 1st Volunteer Battalion, The King’s Own, sent over 150 of its volunteers to South Africa to serve with the 2nd Battalion. Such was the number of men wishing to serve with the Volunteers that a 2nd Volunteer Battalion was formed and its headquarters was set up at Lancaster. Those volunteers who made it to South Africa fought in several actions and guarded prisoners at Ladysmith.

Numbers within the range to 7200 to 7352 were issued to men serving in the 1st VSC. Numbers 7353 to 7448 were issued to men serving with the 2nd VSC. Numbers 7449 to 7468 were issued to men serving with the 3rd VSC and - as stated on the QSA medal roll - the Volunteer Service Section.

6665 joined on 4 January 1901
7003 joined on 17 February 1902
7652 joined on 5 January 1903
8079 joined on 11 January 1904
8489 joined on 9 January 1905
8847 joined on 9 March 1906
9134 joined on 1 January 1907
9800 joined on 20 August 1908
10076 joined on 21 April 1909
10178 joined on 14 February 1910
10439 joined on 20 April 1911
10649 joined on 3 May 1912
10836 joined on 3 January 1913

I hope you enjoy searching findmypast.co.uk’s Chelsea Pensioners collection for your military ancestors.

Our expert Stephen Rigden, pictured, answers your questions.

From Chris Hobson in Sheffield:

‘I am trying to find a great great grandfather who was born in 1823. His name was Thomas Woodhouse, born in Sheffield, and he joined the army serving in Ireland, Glerkad barracks Glasgow, Canada and Portsmouth. He must have served 12 years between 1842 and 1854 but I cannot find any trace of him in findmypast.co.uk’s military records.

I think he was overseas in 1841 because his family is not on the census. I also cannot find any record of his marriage to Maria from Lavenham, Suffolk. Can you help please?’

Steve says:

‘Thanks for your question.

If you cannot find your ancestor in the Chelsea Pensioner British Army Service Records, it is worth trying again in future. The reason for this is that we will be adding related series of records over the next months. The first will be Militia records 1806 to 1915 from The National Archives’ WO96 series; while it may not have been true in the case of your ancestor, there was movement out of the army into the militia, sometimes after a break of years, following completion of regular service.

In such cases, it is just possible that records might be with the Militia series WO96 rather than in the Chelsea Pensioner WO97.

We also have plans to add further complementary records relating to the 19th century soldier towards the end of this year and over the course of 2011.

In the meantime, I note from the 1861 census that the recorded details of Thomas Woodhouse’s eldest children then living at home – Thomas, born circa 1843/44 in ‘America British Colonies’, Ann, born 1845/46 in ‘Taranca’ (maybe Tauranga?) and David, born 1852/53 in ‘Glasc, Scotland’ (Glasgow?) – certainly indicate a strong possibility that the family could have been travelling with the British Army for at least a decade.

It is also possible, therefore, that his marriage may have taken place outside the jurisdiction of England & Wales (perhaps in Ireland or Canada). Therefore, if you have not done so already, it is worth searching at least the army chaplains’ and regimental records among the overseas BMD indexes on findmypast.co.uk. Please bear in mind that these official records from the General Register Office are known to be incomplete.

Genealogy is sometimes, even often, frustrating and unfortunately there does not seem to be an immediate answer to the difficulties you are encountering at present. The amount of information which is being digitised and made available online, however, is ever-increasing and it is quite possible that what now strikes you as a brick wall could become straightforward to solve in 18 months’ or two years’ time.

Of course, if in the meantime any readers have any ideas, please send them in as usual!’

If you’d like to send your question to Steve, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account.

Our expert Stephen Rigden, pictured, answers your questions.

From Barbara Jarvis in Bromley, Greater London:

‘I am trying to find some information about a probable great or great great uncle whose medals I have inherited. They are from South Africa and the first one has a date bar 1878-9. The inscription is ‘1724 Pte J Lipscombe 1/13 Foot’. The second medal is inscribed ‘2100 Pte J Lipscombe. Som L I’.

As far as I know they belonged to the same person, who may have been my paternal grandmother’s brother or uncle. Are you able to tell me where I might get his military history or any other information? I cannot find a J Lipscombe on any census.’

Steve says:

‘Thanks for your question, Barbara.

You are in luck here, as your man is to be found in the Chelsea Pensioner British Army Service records which we have recently been publishing on findmypast.co.uk. The originals of these records are held at The National Archives; we have scanned and indexed them.

They are the surviving army service records of men who were pensioned out from the British Army within the period 1760 to 1913 (although at present only the records up to 1900 have been published online - the period from there to 1913 will follow later this summer). Some of the soldiers were indeed Chelsea Pensioners resident at the Royal Hospital Chelsea; however, the great majority were out-pensioners receiving a home pension at home.

There is an entry in the database for a Private 1724 later 2100 John Lipscombe (sometimes Lipscomb without the e) of the 13th Foot, complete with no fewer than 10 images. These give all sorts of fascinating information - a physical description, his medical history, a complete potted history of his army career including the Sekukuni Campaign in South Africa in 1878 and his related medal entitlement (South African Medal and Clasp 1878/79). You can also see details of his immediate family: mother, brother, sister and wife, with date and place of their marriage.

You can search for Private John Lipscombe in the British Army service records and download the images here.’

If you’d like to send your question to Steve, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account.

Read the following story we received from Jan Pearce from Grantham, Lincolnshire. Jan found vital information for her family tree in our fully indexed birth records and Chelsea Pensioner British Army Service records:

‘My husband’s grandmother seemed to exist only in people’s memories, on censuses, and on marriage and death certificates. I couldn’t track her birth record although it was consistently shown as Southampton. Was Alice Maud found under a cabbage? Did the stork bring her?

My husband doesn’t know how he came by them, but he has copies of her parents’ marriage certificate, and her father’s death certificate. I had never come across the name Dedman/Deadman before, but there are multitudes of them in Hampshire records.

The only Alice Maud Dedman born about the right year came from Surrey, so I ordered her birth certificate. Wrong father and mother. I later traced this girl to her death from diphtheria, aged six.

I looked again at findmypast.co.uk’s recently re-indexed birth records, and there she was! Alice Maud Dedman, born in Southampton 23 November 1873.

It is interesting that the name was first spelt Deadman but the registrar corrected it to Dedman and signed the alteration. Her mother’s maiden name is written as Hansell when it was actually Ansell.

Second story - I was able to download my 2xgreat-grandfather’s Chelsea Pensioner records. It looks like he upped his age by a year or two to join the army in 1814. In 1815 he was sent to the East Indies with the 24th Foot Regiment and the seven years there left him with some health problems. This was the reason given for his discharge in 1834. He lived to the age of 91, however, having married twice and fathering a number of children.’