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Ask the expert – WWI ancestor?

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, offers advice on how to solve your military family history mysteries.

From Alan Theobald:

‘I have been trying to find any records of my paternal grandfather’s army service for several years, without success, and would be grateful for any advice you can offer.

He was James Theobald, born in 1870, died in 1950/1 in Romford, Essex. He lived all his life within a few miles of Romford except for military service. He was unlikely to have been a commissioned officer. This is all I know about him:

• Found on the 1891 census as a civilian
• Not found on the 1901 census, which could suggest that he was overseas at the time
• Described on the 1911 census and on the 1909 birth certificate of one of his sons as an army pensioner. I know that he was partially paralysed as a result of wounds and/or sunstroke
• Not found in Chelsea Pensioners records, which could suggest that he was not a British Army pensioner. Who else would have paid him an army pension?
• Not found in any 2nd Boer War records. Not found by a researcher in WO97
• Reputed to have described the sun as the Bengal blanket
• Granted the lease of a smallholding in Crow Lane, Romford in around 1930, until his death, under a Royal British Legion scheme for disabled ex-servicemen. RBL say that they have no archive material

Hope you can help.’

Paul says:

‘Hello Alan.

Admittedly he’s a bit of a mystery and you’re really struggling without a regiment.

The survival rate of documents in WO97 for men discharged to pension between 1883 and 1913 is very good; in fact Michael and Christopher Watts, in their book My Ancestor was in the British Army (Society of Genealogists 2009) describe finding a document as ‘a near certainty’.

The fact that nothing appears to survive for your grandfather could suggest a) that he was discharged overseas (the survival rate for these men’s papers is low) or b) that he subsequently served during WWI. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that he could have joined up again in 1914, his papers being moved out of what is now WO97 and into WO363 where they were subsequently destroyed during bombing in WWII.

I’m tempted towards WWI because you mention the Royal British Legion, an organisation formed after WWI to look after WWI veterans and their families. As far as I’m aware they did not concern themselves with veterans of previous conflicts, although it would be worth verifying this with RBL.’

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!

Ask the Expert – court-martial mystery

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

From Helen Fraser:

‘I have a copy service record for my great grandfather Joseph Brady who served with the Royal Artillery from 23 November 1854 until 20 February 1877. His rank at outset was gunner and driver and he was promoted to bombardier. He is stated to be awaiting court martial 26-28 May 1860 and was then reduced to gunner. He was subsequently promoted again and became sergeant by October 1869. He had good conduct badges and a long service medal and gratuity.

Is it possible to find out why his name was listed ??? times in the Regimental Defaulters Book and also why he was court-martialled and reduced in rank during service?

The Army Index 1861 lists him as number 27 (WO10/2591) and service record says number 4932.’

Paul says:

‘I’ve had a look at Joseph’s service record in the Chelsea Pensioner British Army Service Records (WO97) on findmypast.co.uk and in many respects it’s typical of the time; a career soldier who had minor run-ins with authority during the time he was in the army. It’s important to remember too that what survives in WO97 is, for the most part, only a fraction of what would have been in his file once upon a time. Over the years, records have been weeded and weeded again and so what you see now just gives the bare bones of his army service. Had the original papers not been destroyed you would have seen exactly what it was that caused Joseph Brady to be court-martialled.

There’s an excellent book by Alan Ramsay called ‘The Victorian Army At Home’ (Croom Helm, 1977) and I’m going to draw from this in my reply to you. To be court-martialled wasn’t a particularly rare occurrence in Victoria’s Army. Alan Ramsay notes that 18,950 soldiers, or just over nine per cent of the total force, were court-martialled in 1865. This figure reduced consistently over the years but even as late as 1898, close to nine thousand men were court-martialled. It’s probably safe to say that when Joseph had his brush with army authority, he was probably one of 20,000 soldiers or more who came up before his superiors.

A man could be court-martialled for a variety of reasons and Alan Ramsay quotes the following offences:

• Mutiny
• Absent without leave
• Fraudulent enlistment
• Disobedience, insubordination, etc
• Quitting or sleeping on post
• Drunkenness (all kinds)
• Disgraceful conduct
• Making away with equipment
• Other

Of these ‘crimes’, drunkenness was the most common offence, certainly from 1865 until 1880 at least, after which time disobedience and insubordination becomes the main category. Remember too that some crimes that a soldier could be charged with seem trivial today and probably seemed trivial 160 years ago too for that matter. As Alan Ramsay notes, “seven days confinement to barracks for leaving a brush out of a kit display was not uncommon.”

As far as Joseph was concerned, his only punishment appears to have been reduced in rank and within four years he had been promoted to that same rank again and would go on to achieve the rank of sergeant, ultimately receiving the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal with gratuity. So as frustrating as it must be to not know the reason behind his court-martial or entries in the regimental defaulters’ book, he was discharged from the army in Secunderabad in 1876 with a character described as very good.’

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!

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. 

Ask the Expert – missing Chelsea Pensioner

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!

Over 7,000 extra Chelsea Pensioner records 1801-1912 published

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.

Behind the scenes: the Chelsea Pensioners records with Paul Nixon, content licensing manager

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.

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:

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:

Originally posted at: http://www.bbcwhodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5132&hilit=&sid=6c73909b15c27394fdd81ddbd8178a78

Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records – new on findmypast.co.uk

We have just published approximately 252,000 records of men who were pensioned out of the British Army between 1883 and 1900. We’re working in association with The National Archives and in partnership with FamilySearch on this ongoing project and when it is complete, you will be able to see around 9 million full colour images. We are scanning the records in the following order, so the next pieces to be released will be:

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”.

Click to enlarge

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.

Click to enlarge

Start searching our Chelsea Pensioners Service Records now.

New military records on the way: WO96 & 97

The Chelsea pensioners’ records form one of the National Archives’ most popular sets of records in the reading rooms at Kew, and findmypast.com, in association with The National Archives, are currently scanning the WO97 documents (Royal Hospital Chelsea: Soldiers Service Documents 1760-1913) for online release.

The WO96 papers (War Office: Militia Attestation Papers 1806-1915) documents are also being scanned and it is hoped that both sets of records will be available online in their entirety by 2011. A total of around nine million images will be made available, which will be searchable by name.

Visitors to the National Archives at Kew will not be able to access those records that are being scanned. Documents are being scanned in batches and a scanning schedule  is available on The National Archives’ site.

Was your ancestor a Chelsea pensioner?

The 1841-1911 censuses are a useful cross-referencing tool that may reveal one or more of your ancestors as Chelsea pensioners. In-pensioners are the iconic gents in scarlet coats and tricorne hats who reside at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. Census returns may indicate their Chelsea pensioner status under the ‘occupation’ column.

In other instances finding someone described as an ‘army pensioner’, or references to them being ex-army or ex-military, are all good clues that they might have been a Chelsea pensioner.

We will update the blog with further news and likely launch dates on both sets of records as we get them.