Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Anthony Mathers:

‘I would like to know how to get information on the Indian Navy. On the 1881 census, my great-grandfather, Richard Moore, was a pensioner of the Late Indian Navy. His age was 45. In 1862, the year he got married, he was a seaman. In 1863, on his son’s birth certificate, Richard’s profession is listed as ‘soldier’. By 1868, he was a warehouse porter. He lost his hand in an accident at sea so he left the navy. He was born around 1839 in Birmingham, England. I would be so grateful for any help as it has always been a mystery.’

Paul says:

‘It’s possible that there is a surviving record for him in one of the ADM files at The National Archives. You can then visit TNA yourself or hire a researcher to have a look for you. See the Royal Navy pension records for ratings here

Failing this, it might also be worthwhile contacting the British Library to see if there are relevant papers held in the India Office collection. There are certainly soldiers’ records which survive and there may well be Naval records too.’

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We have just published 1 million 20th century Merchant Navy Seamen records on findmypast.co.uk

We are working in association with The National Archives to give you access to your merchant navy ancestors. This is the first time ever that these records have been made available online.

What are these records?

The records are index cards which the Registrar General of Shipping and Seaman used between the two world wars to produce a centralised index of merchant seamen serving on British merchant navy vessels. They cover the period 1918-1941.

The merchant navy consists of all seagoing UK vessels with commercial interests and their crews. Research that findmypast.co.uk conducted has shown that a shocking 54% of the UK population have no idea who or what the merchant navy is.

What will the records tell me?

The front of a card gives the basic biographical information about each seaman, for example, their name, their year and place of birth and their rank or rating. Initials were sometimes given rather than first names and sometimes a physical description is provided.

The front of a card may also give other information, such as discharge number, health insurance number, address of kin and so on.

The reverse of the card may be blank, or may contain a list of official vessel numbers and signing-on dates, and/or a photograph and/or signature of the seamen. Sometimes a photograph is not on the reverse of the card but on a separate attached card.

Why are these records so valuable?

See a photograph of your ancestor

It is possible to find a photograph of your ancestor within these records. These rarely seen photos of the mariners mean you can see what your seafaring ancestor looked like for the first time – a real achievement for any family historian.

They cover a wide range of people

A vast range of people can be found in these records. We’ve found records for 12 year old ‘ordinary seaman’ Archie Kerr, 78 year old steward George Field, and lots of women, including Doris Abbey who was a manicurist!

The records show that the seamen who made up the merchant navy not only came from the UK, but from every continent, including the maritime provinces of Canada, the West Indies, Sierra Leone, Scandinavia, Somaliland, China and Japan. It is even possible to find seamen from landlocked Switzerland.

They contain vivid and unusual details

These records are fantastic for finding out vivid details about your ancestor. Take, for example, Mohamed Abbathira who is recorded as having a pock marked face and a scar on his right thumb.

A more sombre find is chief officer William Hunt Aaron who died on 25 October 1925 – a note in his record states ‘Supposed suicide’.

Colourful detail can be found in ‘ordinary seaman’ Henry Duncan Abbot’s record, which describes his tattoo as ‘Chinese death head with inscription ‘Death is Glory’ on right forearm’.

The publication of the Merchant Navy Seamen records 1918-1941 is the first phase of a release of merchant navy records from The National Archives. In due course, we will be publishing additional records on findmypast.co.uk, covering an earlier period from 1835 to 1857.

Find out more and search these records now. Which ancestors will you find today?

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. 

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Auriel Abrahams in Johannesburg, South Africa:

‘I have an ancestor who served in the 72nd regiment of foot. He left the army, was a Chelsea Pensioner and settled in South Africa where he married and died. I have been able to establish that John McKenzie was born in Dingwall, Urguhart, Ross and Cromarty in 1787 via WO97/843/31.

His papers do not give his parents’ names so I am stuck and cannot see from baptism records who his parents were. I also cannot find the muster rolls in the British Archives. I assume the muster rolls will indicate his parents - or is this a will that the soldiers had to complete when they signed up which would indicate their next of kin? Any suggestions as to how I can go further back?’

Paul says:

‘This is probably a case of checking pay books and muster rolls in class WO12 at The National Archives. Use the information contained within the WO97 document to work out when John McKenzie enlisted and then consult the muster rolls and/or pay lists for this man. WO12 is organised by regiment and the date on which his name first appears should give more information about him.

Supplemental evidence about his physical description may appear in WO25, although this series tends to cover records from the first half of the 19th Century only. It was not obligatory for a soldier to make a will when he signed up.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

Our military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Christina Harris in Essex:

‘My grandfather Albert Frederick Spicer, regiment no. 21519 was killed in France on 18 February 1917 when he was serving in the 13th Battalion of the Essex Regiment. I have been unable to find any records of him serving in the Essex regiment.

He originally enlisted at Stratford (now Greater London) Essex on 26 August 1914 in the Middlesex Regiment, service no. 2091, but after 38 days was discharged with Neurasthenia with persistent headaches, not likely to be an efficient soldier. I found nine pages of records for his time served in the Middlesex Regiment online but none for his service and death in the Essex Regiment.

I have been to The National Archives at Kew but they had no records of him serving in the Essex Regiment. I have three medals awarded to him, one of which is the military medal for bravery in the field. All are engraved with his Essex regiment number 21519. I checked the war diaries at Kew for 18 February 1917 but only the officers were named. According to the diaries they were situated at a place named Courcelette, near the village of Albert.

I also found him on the War Graves commission website. He has no known grave but was listed on the Thiepvel Memorial in France. I sent for his death certificate but it just states his army number 21519, Lance Corporal, Albert Spicer, aged 35 years, born in England, date of death 18 February 1917, place of death British Expeditionary Force, cause of death killed in action.

Where can I find further information of his time and eventual death in the Essex Regiment?’

Paul says:

Try the Great War Forum - there are Essex Regiment experts there.

You could also try local newspapers. The 13th Battalion had West Ham connections. Was he from West Ham area? Find out where he was living at the time and then go through newspapers for that area. He may also get a mention during the time he won his military medal, or certainly when it was announced. The London Gazette should have details of the date on which his military medal was gazetted but it can be a devil’s own job to search on the gazettes on-line site.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

Our military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Doreen Caparn in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand:

‘I am looking for a military death record and hope you can help. Here are the details:

Name: Ernest Groves
Born: ? 1879 in Preston, Dorset
Married: 1900 Devizes, Wiltshire
Spouse: Ellen (nee Tucker)
Children: Reginald Ernest Groves, born 1902 and Gladys Groves, born 1901

Ernest was known to have served in the army during World War I. He was very ill when he returned from France and was diagnosed to be suffering from Type 1 Diabetes. This eventually killed him - I don’t know the date but presumably it was before the discovery of insulin.

I am unable to find any record in civilian deaths of his demise. His widow successfully claimed his death was due to the effects of trench warfare and was awarded a pension. Would his death, therefore, be recorded in military records? If so, where would I start looking?’

Paul says:

‘If you know the regiment he served with during WWI, that will help narrow down your search results. His record may survive in the WO363 burn documents series at The National Archives but almost certainly not in WO364 which is the series for soldiers discharged to pension (but it’s still worth checking).

His record could also be in PIN 82 at TNA. This is a very small series of pension records - 183 in total - which records details of widows who received a pension in respect of their late husbands’ WWI service. Your first port of call, however, should be to determine his regiment. This will tell you his army number which should make life easier for you when it comes to tracking him down. If he died before 1921, you may find that he also has a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

We’ve done some digging around in the Chelsea Pensioner British Army Service Records and have found some fascinating characters. As well as providing rich historical detail about our military ancestors, the records reveal some controversial information about some of the soldiers. Read on to find out about three Chelsea Pensioner ‘bad boys’.

John Kray - great great uncle of the Kray twins

John Kray, whose mother was Elizabeth Kray, the great great grandmother of the notorious East End Kray twins, was born in Bethnal Green, London. He was a riveter by trade and on 13 August 1870 at the age of 17 years and 11 months, he joined the 65th Regiment of Foot.

Here is John’s attestation paper:

Click to enlarge

John deserted on 9 February 1879, rejoined 20 August 1879 and was placed in confinement. The District Court Martial tried him and convicted him of desertion. John was sentenced to imprisonment, hard labour and stoppages (of pay) for a month.

We can also build up a picture of what John looked like from the Chelsea Pensioner records. His physical description on attestation was: 5′6″ (he had gained half an inch by the time of discharge), 35-36 inch chest, ‘fair’ complexion, hazel eyes, dark brown hair. John also had a scar on his left buttock:

Click to enlarge

John Kirk - Victoria Cross winner and drunken scallywag

Another colourful character we found in the Chelsea Pensioner records is John Kirk. On 27 January 1846, John joined the British Army at the age of 18 years.

In June 1857, at 29 years old, John rescued a captain and a family of civilians from rebels during the Indian Mutiny. John was awarded the Victoria Cross for this heroic deed.

John didn’t gain any good conduct badges during his Army service, however, and was imprisoned numerous times for his improper behaviour. John was a notorious drunk who was tried and punished 12 times. The reasons for his punishments included ‘being drunk and making an improper reply’, being ‘drunk on the line of march’, being ‘drunk on evening parade’ and also for ‘habitual drunkenness’. John was also punished for going AWOL and for breaking out of barrack cells.

By 8 April 1864, at 34 years old, John was discharged from the army with chronic syphilitic rheumatism having been classified as ‘being totally unfit for further service’. Here you can see his medical report:

Click to enlarge

Matthias Quinton - the insubordinate

Matthias Quinton was born in Limehouse, London and joined the Royal Artillery on 28 October 1889 aged 18 years and seven months. He saw service at home and in Gibraltar and was discharged after three years because of medical unfitness.

This particular Chelsea Pensioner has no less than 154 pages in his record. Among these are details of a trial by Court Martial which resulted in 42 days’ imprisonment because Matthias used ‘insubordinate language to a superior officer’. His record states that ‘when brought before Major W H Smart RA, his commanding officer, and when asked what he had to say in his defence, he replied “Sweet FA” in a highly disrespectful manner’.

Here are Matthias’ court martial sheets:

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

These are just three examples of the valuable detail to be found in the vast Chelsea Pensioners records collection. The total number of records currently stands at 1,041,092.

Search our Chelsea Pensioners records to find out what stories they tell about your ancestors.

Check out The National Archives’ podcast about the Chelsea Pensioners records collection featuring military records specialist William Spencer.

Our resident expert Stephen Rigden, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Angela Dalby in Gillingham, Kent:

‘My ancestor by marriage, Edward Dalby, was born on 14 June 1839 in St. Mildred’s, Canterbury, Kent and he joined the Metropolitan police in 1873. His police records state that previous to this he was in the 7th Hussars for seven years and 313 days and the Kent County Constabulary for three years and 147 days. I can find a date of 5 January 1868 for him joining the local police constabulary so the seven years army record must be between 1859-1867?

The puzzle is that I can find no army records of service for him in the recently published Chelsea Pensioners records, unlike his father, another Edward Dalby. This Edward was born in Uppingham, Rutland 1766 and was in the army for 28 years. I have the full set of records for him. The family disappear from Canterbury in the 1861 census including Edward’s mother Elizabeth (born in Ireland in 1820), his brother Joseph born in St. Mildred’s in 1846 and also Edward senior.

Were the 7th Hussars based out of this country or am I looking in the wrong index lists? Any help would be much appreciated.’

Stephen says:

‘The 7th (Queen’s Own) Hussars were indeed out of England during the period 1859 to 1867 – they were on active service in British India from 1858 and did not return to England until 1871. The fact that Edward Dalby, your ancestor by marriage, joined the Kent police in January 1868 suggests either that he had enlisted for seven years and that those seven years were completed while in India in or before 1867 (probably in fact a year or two before 1865), or that he had left the regiment in India early due to injury or ill-health.

In any event, the records contained within The National Archives’ series WO97 relate to servicemen who were pensioned out of the army, irrespective of whether they were serving in the British Isles or overseas. We have now completed the publication of these Chelsea Pensioner records, which cover over one million men. This record series contains the majority of surviving records for pensioned soldiers but by no means all.

As you may know, findmypast.co.uk is currently in the process of digitising the WO96 Militia service records but we are also planning to publish in 2011 some other smaller TNA datasets which relate to Chelsea Pensioners or their equivalents. It is, therefore, worth keeping an eye open for the new datasets as they are released and re-checking the website regularly.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

Our military expert Paul Nixon, pictured, answers your questions.

From Doreen Taylor in Binfield, Berkshire:

‘How can I find military records of my uncle, Alfred James Saunderson, born July 1891 in Thames Ditton Surrey? I have tried to find out if he died in the First World War, as I suspect he did. I have not found his name on the Local Cenotaph. I am very interested to find out what happened to him. I hope you can help.’

Paul says:

‘The good news is that there is no Alfred James Saunderson listed on either the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Roll of Honour website, or on the Soldiers Died in The Great War database, so he appears to have survived WW1. A service record for Alfred Saunderson (no middle name) born in 1891 in Thames Ditton, survives in the WO 363 (burnt documents) series. It shows that he enlisted for war-time service only on 4 September 1914 and was given the number 3299. His record may be viewed at The National Archives in Kew.’

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We’ve had some exciting news from The National Archives this morning!

They have just made the correspondence between a number of English and Welsh Poor Law Unions available online. If you’ve found any of your ancestors living in workhouses in our census collection, these documents can help you establish what their living conditions were like.

You can search and download the records for free now from The National Archives’ website.