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army records

Six soldiers of the Light Company, 65th (Yorkshire North Riding) Regiment in New Zealand c1860s. Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image. Reference No. 1/2-025608; F

The purpose of this page is to give an overview of Army records applicable to Irish soldiers in the British Army between 1815 and 1901.

|Cronin officers & other ranks|

For most of the nineteenth century the Irish were over represented in the British army, in 1830 they made up 42% of the army, by 1871 that had reduced to 24.5%, even so the numbers were still significant. Given the poverty of rural Ireland the army must have seemed an attractive alternative for young single men. The basic pay of 1s per day, with one days pay advanced on recruitment (the Queen's shilling), must have also been a powerful incentive. What recruiters usually failed to mention was that out of that pay came 6d per day for rations, and other stoppages for laundry, hair cutting, cleaning materials, replacement of clothing and equipment lost, damaged etc., medical treatment in hospital, and barrack damages. What was left was a legal minimum of 1d per day.

organisation

The basic administrative unit in the British Army was the regiment (Cavalry, Artillery, Engineers, Infantry, or Militia). Not included in the regimental system were the service corps and staff. Most administrative functions, including record keeping, took place at regimental level, it is essential to know the regiment of an army ancestor in order to do any meaningful research.

In the first half on the nineteenth century most (but not all) regiments had both numbers and county titles. The county titles were largely fiction, usually based on some historical association, the regiments were free to recruit anywhere in the United Kingdom and on some occasions, North America.

In 1872 infantry 'Brigade Depots', with a permanent county base, were established, linking pairs of regiments (or battalions of the same regiment) to the depot. From this time on the county titles of infantry regiments started to take on some meaning. This association was reinforced, when in 1881, further reforms saw pairs of infantry battalions linked to each other, the regimental depot, and its county militia. These previously separate units were combined into a new, enlarged, regiment.

A fuller explanation of the above and a comprehensive list of regiments can be found at regiments.org.

Public Records Office

The British Public Records Office at Kew is the main repository of British Army records. They have published a series of leaflets giving advice on how to go about researching an army ancestor. I recommend to all researchers that they access and print the leaflets applicable to them, whether or not they intend to visit the PRO.

Officers: All officer commissions, whether purchased or not, were announced in the 'London Gazette' but a much easier way to get an outline of any officer's career is by means of the 'Army Lists'. See the following leaflets.

• British Army Lists
• British Army: Officers' Records 1616-1913
• British Army: Officers' Commissions 1616-1913

Other Ranks: Before starting a search for a soldier you need to know which regiment he served in, if you do not know the regiment, see the PRO leaflet, British Army: Useful Sources for Tracing Soldiers, otherwise see the following.

• British Army: Muster Rolls and Pay Lists c1730-1898. Used for tracing soldiers not discharged to pension.
• British Army: Soldiers Discharge Papers, 1760-1913. Documents relating to soldiers discharged before 1854 are indexed by name on PROCAT.
• British Army: Soldiers Pensions, 1702-1913.

Other available sources include: medal rolls, courts marshal records, deserter's lists, regimental birth registers, registers of next of kin, etc.

The above leaflets are available on the PRO web site.

Family History Centre

• A list of the officers of the army, 1779-1878. The annual army lists from WO 65 (see the PRO leaflet above). A series of 79 microfilm reels beginning with 0852034
• Record of officers services, 1770-1919. PRO records from WO 76 (see the PRO leaflet above). A series of 96 microfilm reels beginning with 0917281.
• Soldiers documents : service documents of soldiers, containing particulars of age, birthplace and trade or occupation on enlistment, a record of service, including any decorations and the reason for discharge to pension, l760-1900. This series comprises the PRO discharge papers from WO 97 (see the PRO leaflet above). Despite the title they have been filmed only to 1854. The series comprises 1256 microfilm reels beginning with 0868535.
• Artillery records of services of non-commnissioned officers and men consisting of description books, records of service, registers of marriages and baptisms, registers of deceased soldiers, and miscellaneous records of transfers, pension registers of the Royal Artillery and the Royal Horse Artillery, l765-1906 107 microfilm reels of original records held at PRO, Kew, begining FHL BRITISH Film 866530.
• Index to entries in the army regimental registers of births and baptisms, 1761-1924. Microfiche of original records held at ONS, Fareham, Hampshire. 103 Fiche begining FHL BRITISH Fiche 6137402.
• Index to certified copies of registers of marriages (officers, soldiers & their families ... at stations abroad, 1796-1955). Microfiche of original records held at ONS, Fareham, Hampshire. 41 Fiche begining FHL BRITISH Fiche 6137413. The first fiche covers 1796-1880 then five years per fiche begining 1881.
• Irish Personnel of the British Army. Microfilm of original records at the Dublin Custom House containing births, marriages and deaths 1883-5, marriages and deaths only 1885-1931. The series comprises 7 microfilm reels beginning with 0101746.
• List of records of disbanded militia regiments for transmission to the custody of the Master of the rolls. A series of 141 microfilm reels starting with 0917051
• John S Farmer, The regimental records of the British Army, microfilm no. 908154 Item 5.

further reading