British Army

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The British Army is the land-based forces of the United Kingdom. The British Army was heavily involved in Imperial affairs in India and most regiments (both infantry and cavalry) served in India at some point. Throughout the nineteenth century, a significant number of British troops were stationed at India at any one time. In 1847, for instance, around 20% of British Army regiments were on the sub-continent. The General staff were supported by the Staff Corps and the Office of the Quarter Master General.

A British man, or man of British descent could also be a soldier/officer in one of the Presidency Armies. These were seperate from the British Army, instead consisting of regiments formed by the East India Company and under their control.

Regiments

Any regiment name prefaced by the initials H.M. (Her or His Majesty's) is a British Army regiment, although the term is not strictly applied, especially amongst the ecclesiastical records. These regiments may be referred to as "Royal Regiments".

Regiments are divided across several arms of the army, these being the Cavalry (who fought mounted on horseback), the Infantry (soldiers who fought on foot) and the support arms such as the Artillery (who used weaponry such as canons and large guns) and the Engineers construction, demolition, surveying etc.)

The article History of British Army Infantry Regiments is a general history of the origin and development of the infantry regiments and explains some of the reforms that took place.

The cap badges of a few regiments can be found in Cap badge images.

Locating a regiment

There are many ways to find out locations at which a regiment was stationed. More labourious methods include tracking through the muster rolls, army lists or station lists published in newspapers. Many of our regiment articles include a timeline of major stations. Two online sources, providing incomplete but highly useful information, are:

Regiment names terminology

Regiments, especially prior to the twentieth century, were not named in a uniform manner and the historical terminology used can be unfamiliar to a beginning researcher. Some common terms and the regiment types they apply to can be found below.

Term Regiment type
Dragoons Cavalry
Foot Infantry
Fusiliers Infantry
Grenadier Infantry
Hussars Cavalry
Lancers Cavalry
Life Guards Cavalry
Rifles Infantry

Wars and campaigns

The British Army were involved in numerous wars, campaigns and battles in India and the surrounding region. The Fibiwiki has a Chronological list of wars and campaigns.

Enlistment in India

It was possible for a man born in India to enlist in the British Army in India, a fact to be considered when researching. Enlistment was possible for men with European parents, or Eurasian men of fair complexion―those whose looks allowed them to ‘pass’ as white.[1]

Records

See also - Military reading list and Occupation:Soldier

There are various sources of information for finding out about a man in the British Army. For a comprehensive description of sources available in the India Office Records, see Peter Bailey's article in FIBIS Journal 13.

Military records at the National Archives

Muster rolls

Unlike those of the presidency armies, muster rolls for British Army regiments stationed in India are not at the British Library but are instead at The National Archives at Kew in London. The majority of the Muster records up to 1878 are in WO 12. The catalogue describes the records as:

"...a comprehensive means of establishing dates of enlistment, movements throughout the world, and of discharge or death. The first entry may show age on enlistment. An entry on the form "Men becoming non-effective", sometimes to be found at the end of each quarter's musters, shows the birthplace, trade, and date of enlistment of any soldier discharged or dead during the quarter. From about 1868, at the end of each muster, may be found a Marriage Roll, which enumerates wives and children for whom married quarters were provided."

An 1889 example of data from a Marriage Roll can be seen here on Cathy Day’s archived site.

Service and pension records

Discharge papers (WO 97), usually containing service/attestation information, and pension records (WO 22) may also be found at TNA. Discharge papers up to 1854 are listed alphabetically by name and can be searched online. Records in WO 97 are usually only for men discharged with a pension (ie having served 12 years or having been invalided) as these were the papers sent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea and preserved. The records often contain a wealth of genealogical information, including birth date and location, next of kin, physical description, service locations, medical history and medals. Copies (paper or digital) of TNA records can be ordered by distance for a fee.

The National Archives is working with findmypast.co.uk to scan and place online WO 97 (Royal Hospital Chelsea: Soldiers' Service Documents 1760-1913) and WO 96 (War Office: Militia Attestation Papers 1806-1915) by the end of 2011. WO97 for the years 1855 to 1900 is currently available at findmypast.co.uk. Charges apply to view the records, but the search is free.

Catalogue references for WO 97:

Another useful TNA source is the WO22 subseries "Army and other pensions paid out locally in India, Ceylon and China" detailing names and payments made.

If you cannot find any service or pension records, and your research interest left the army between 1884 and 1887, it is worth checking the WO 121 microfilms "Register of men discharged without pension". Although the catalogue does not mention this, the films contain many records of men leaving the army in India under the heading "Nominal list of men discharged by the Commander-in-Chief in India..." As the register provides name, regimental number, rank, corps, date and cause of discharge, attestation date (and a few other administration details) it is an invaluable resource for those not able to find these details elsewhere.

Research guides

India Office military records at the British Library

There is a small collection of India Office records at the British Library called British Army Records IOR/L/MIL/15 1806-1930 (catalogue entry which includes links to subgroups).

Ecclesiastical returns

If the man married, had children or died out on the Sub-continent then records of these occurences can often be found in the India Office Church records. However, some regimental chaplains only filed their BMDs with the General Register Office in London and certificates of these army returns can be obtained via them by ordering them online. The British Army Overseas Indexes can be found in genealogical libraries, the National Archives and searched on various websites including findmypast.com and familyrelatives.com. For more details refer Chaplains Returns.

Note that if a record is available both in the Church records and in the General Register Office records, the latter may contain more information, at least for some time periods. By way of example, in 1903 the additional information was the nationalities of the groom and bride, and the occupations of the fathers of the groom and bride.

Other sources

Additional sources include:

Some regiments published a regular regimental journal which can be a valuable source of information. Examples are St George’s Gazette, journal of the Northumberland Fusiliers,(previously 5th Regiment of Foot) published from 1883 to 1968, and The Highland Light Infantry Chronicle, journal of the Highland Light Infantry (previously 71st Regiment of Foot), published quarterly from 1893 to 1958. Whether a journal existed may be included in the regimental information available on the website Regiments.org (refer below). The British Library and National Army Museum are possible sources of these journals, together with Regimental Museums and regional libraries, if the regiment had a strong regional connection. A few editions of the Highland Light Infantry Chronicle are available online.
Two Research guides by British Library Newspapers:
Note that Colindale and St Pancras hold differing Indian newspaper collections (with some overlap), however Colindale microfilms will be transferred to St Pancras by 2012.

Army personnel serving after 1921

The service records of Army personnel serving after 1921 remain closed to the public. To obtain details from such records you will often have to prove kinship. Charges may apply. Further information can be obtained from

Historical Disclosures, MP555
Army Personnel Centre, Kentigern House,
65 Brown Street, GLASGOW G2 8EX
Telephone 0845 600 9663
Email disc4@apc.army.mod.uk

Also see website Veterans:UK

See also

References

  1. ↑ Loyalty, Parity, and Social Control-The Competing Visions on the Creation of an ‘Eurasian’ Military Regiment in late British India by Satoshi Mizutani The International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies Volume 10, No. 1, 2010

External links

Encyclopedia articles

Other

Historical books online

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