Changes

The second problem concerns whether they are Military or Civilian and the answer to this is almost always the former, although they could be posted as Civil Surgeons to hospitals and even jails. This article is about those Apothecaries who worked for the Government as part of the Military establishment. However, there were some Apothecaries who worked in a private capacity, for example as a Chemist and Druggist.<ref> The [http://library.wellcome.ac.uk Wellcome Library], London has See the article "European Pharmacies in Colonial India" by Harkishan Singh , pages 58-67 in the ''Pharmaceutical Historian'', Vol. 31, no. 4 (Dec. 2001)under External links above.</ref> Details about these Apothecaries may be sought in the Commercial sections of [[Directories]] such as [http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~poyntz/India/directories.html Thackers].

*The [http://library.wellcome.ac.uk Wellcome Library], London has See the article "Apothecaries and Hospital Assistants in Colonial India" by Harkishan Singh in the ''Pharmaceutical Historian'' Vol. 32, no. 1 (Mar. 2002)under [[Apothecary#External links|External links]] below.

An example of an Assistant Surgeon with a distinguished military career is Major Hector Alfred Richardson (1875 – 1957).. Born in [[Ellichpur]], he worked at the J.J. Hospital in [[Bombay (City)|Bombay]] in the 1890s for a couple of years, presumably having trained in the adjacent Grant Medical College, and then joined the Indian Medical Department, Army Service, and was shipped out to the Boer War in South Africa, Ladysmith Relief in the 1898/99. Returning to India, his subsequent postings included: 1904 [[Meerut]]; 1906 [[Deolali]]; 1908 [[Calcutta]]; 1911 [[Agra]] Cantt.; 1912 [[Bhusaval]]; 1914-1919 [[Lahore]]; 1923 [[Jhansi]]; 1929 Meerut & [[Ajmer]]; 1931 - 1938 Jhansi; 1941 - 1942 [[Mhow]]; 1946 Jhansi.

*[httphttps://dspace.gipe.ac.in/jspuixmlui/bitstream/1handle/323410973/321456/GIPE-015938.pdf "Growth of the Civil Side of the Indian Medical Service -Since 1885"]. Report written 1 October 1912 by C. P. Lukis, Surgeon General, Director- General, Indian Medical Service. Pages 17-20 of the pdf are in respect of the ISMD. Dspace website of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), Pune

''Thacker's Bengal Directory'', published from 1864, was in 1885 renamed ''Thacker's Indian Directory'' and covered the whole of British India. Volumes for most years are available in the Asian and African Studies Reading Room at the [[British Library]] and the 1895 edition is available to purchase as a CD. It is a useful source for tracing Assistant Surgeons of both Military and Civil persuasions. For online editions see '''[[Directories online]]''', under the headings [[Directories online#Bengal Directory|Bengal Directory]], and [[Directories online#Thacker's Indian Directory|Thacker's Indian Directory]].

Another invaluable source is the Indian Army Lists, like Thacker’s, available at the British Library. This B.L. webpage [https://web.archive.org/web/20151028004710/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/india/indiaofficerecordsfamilyhistory/occupations/indianmedicalservice/indianmedical.html Indian Medical Service] , now archived, advises that members of the Subordinate Medical Department are recorded in the published army lists, L/MIL/17/2-4, Bengal from 1819, Madras from 1829, Bombay from 1832. (The catalogue entries are: [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=059-iorlmil_8-2_2&cid=1-1-1#1-1-1 Bengal Army IOR/L/MIL/17/2 ] 1791-1903 [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=059-iorlmil_8-2_2&cid=1-1-2#1-1-2 Madras Army IOR/L/MIL/17/3] 1787-1904 [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=059-iorlmil_8-2_2&cid=1-1-3#1-1-3 Bombay Army IOR/L/MIL/17/4] 1794-1913). From 1889 to 1947, all members of the Subordinate Medical Department with the rank of warrant officer or above are recorded in the published Indian Army List in the Reading Room (Ref:OIR355.33). However, according to this an India List post,<ref name=BPA>Bailey, Peter. [httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20210406055707/https://archivermlarchives.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIAlistindexes/emails?listname=india&thread=1662618 Army Lists-Question] ''Rootsweb India Mailing List'' 20 January 2010-01, archived. </1263998480 post] ref> the L/MIL/17 Army Lists in the early years may '''not ''' routinely include lists of Apothecaries. Quoting from Baxter’s Guide (Biographical Sources in the India Office Records), the post also advises that "Dates of Birth of Apothecaries are given in the lists from Oct. 1884".

Once the whereabouts of your ancestor in a given year has been established, a useful next step is the IOR/V/12 Service Histories at the British Library, ([http://hviewersearcharchives.bl.uk/IamsHViewerprimo_library/libweb/action/Defaultsearch.aspxdo?mdarkvid=arkIAMS_VU2 Search the catalogue] or [http:/81055/vdc_100000000015discovery.nationalarchives.gov.0x000137 uk/browse/r/h/56e0e03f-6565-42aa-ba09-b9bb7b324eaf TNA Discovery catalogue entry for IOR/V/12 Service Histories] ), and to chose one or more relevant volumes. There are an alarming 434 volumes of Service Histories, and as well as whole sequences of volumes for the 3 Presidencies, there are more sequences for India, Assam, Bihar & Orissa, United Provinces, Punjab, North West Frontier, Central Provinces, Burma and Hyderabad! The earliest date from 1879 and the latest 1948, though dates for particular regions vary. The later you can get in your Assistant Surgeon’s career the better, as the information appears to be cumulative. The documents themselves are held at the British Library. '''Note: It is possible, but not confirmed, that some of these volumes are the same as similarly titled volumes available as pdf downloadsonline. See [[Directories online#India List and India Office List| Directories online - India List and India Office List]]'''.

Reports on Jails, Hospitals, Public Health Departments and much more can be found in the '''IOR/V/24''' series. As with the Service Histories they are searchable via [[The National Archives|Access to National ArchivesDiscovery]] site and available to view at the British Library.

**[http://searchfibis.fibisourarchives.org/frontisonline/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_components&id=490 Madras Apothecaries Fund 1829] This indicates the man's rank, marital status and number of children**[http://searchfibis.fibisourarchives.org/frontisonline/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_dataset&id=615&s_id=794 Apothecaries Serving in Bengal 1862], which contains Apothecaries, Assistant Apothecaries, Stewards and also Veterinary Surgeons and Riding Masters.

**The Fibiwiki page [[Directories online]] has a number of Lists of Apothecaries which may be viewed online in publications on originally from the [[Online books#Digital Library of India| Digital Library of India]] websiteand now available as mirror versions on The Internet Archive (Archive.org). Those noted include:

**The page [[Directories online]] has a number of Lists of Apothecaries which may be viewed online in publications on originally from the [[Online books#Digital Library of India| Digital Library of India]] website, and now available as mirror versions on the Internet Archive (Archive. org) Those noted include:

Ian Poyntz's [http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~poyntz/India/directories.html website] has information on the holdings of Directories in many libraries around the world, including the British Library. If you have access to any of these volumes you may find additional lists of Apothecaries, or entries in the alphabetical list of residents, entries under the Mofussil Listing, or entries in the births, marriages or deaths sections. Quoting from Baxter’s Guide, this an India List [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIA/2010-01/1263998480 post] advises that "Lists of Apothecaries appear in Directories: Bengal, from 1815; Madras from 1862; Bombay, from 1832."<ref name=BPA/>

Crawford’s ''Roll of the Indian Medical Service 1614-1930'' lists a few entries relating to the [[Madras Presidency]] in the very early years, probably prior to the establishment of the Subordinate Medical Department but none from the other Presidencies. The book is Index records and page images are available as a [[LDS]] microfilmon Ancestry (pay website), with this library catalogue in the database [httphttps://wwwsearch.familysearchancestry.org/engcom/librarysearch/fhlcatalog/supermainframesetdb.aspaspx?display=titledetails&titleno=287926&dispdbid=61103 UK, Roll++of++the++Indian++Medical++Service%&columns=*,0,0 entry1615 -1930]. Index records and page images are also Also available as a digitised microfilm on Ancestry (pay website) [[FamilySearch]], [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/287926 catalogue entry], viewable at a family history centre or FamilySearch affiliate library - for details see [[FamilySearch Centres]].

Madras General Orders by the Commander-in -Chief IOR/L/MIL/17/23/412-456 1818-1895 . (Note, currently 2019/03/07 is incorrectly catalogued as IOR/L/MIL/17/2/412-456) There are annual indexes from 1845.Possibly also IOR/L/MIL/17/3/481-489 1896-1904 Madras Command Orders 1896-1904

There are annual indexes from 1868. Possibly also IOR/L/MIL/17/4/502-511 Bombay Command and Western Command Orders 1895-1904.

An India List post<ref>Murphy, Sylvia [httphttps://archiverweb.rootswebarchive.ancestry.comorg/web/20210212221512/thhttps:/read/INDIAmlarchives.rootsweb.com/2010-02listindexes/1266657514 emails?listname=india&thread=1662099 Apothecaries on Bombay Muster Rolls] ''Rootsweb India Mailing List'' 20 February 2010. Retrieved 24 November 2016, archived.</ref> advises that two Apothecaries and a Hospital Steward were found on a list of pensioners in the Bombay Muster records for 1857.