Army List for British Army online

This page is an attachment to Military periodicals online

New Annual Army List

Volumes are from the Hathi Trust Digital Library, the Archive.org website,with others from Google Books, and the website of the National Library of Scotland.

The title of this commercial publication varied over time: 1840-1853, The New Annual Army List. 1854-1869, The New Annual Army List, and Militia List. 1870-1880, The New Annual Army List, Militia List, and Indian Civil Service List. 1881-1893, The New Annual Army List, Militia List, Yeomanry Cavalry List, and Indian Civil Service List. 1894-1901, The New Annual Army List, Militia List, and Yeomanry Cavalry List. 1902-1903, Hart's Annual Army List, Militia List, and Yeomanry Cavalry List. 1904-1908, Hart's Annual Army List, Militia List, and Imperial Yeomanry List. 1909-1915 Hart's Annual Army List, Special Reserve List and Territorial Force List.

By 1881, the Table of Contents had become more detailed, and it is easier to see the sections which may be relevant for India. In additional to details about the Bengal, Madras and Bombay Armies, which also include Medical Department, Veterinary Department and Ecclesiastical Department details, sections such as Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and Staff Abroad also contain information about officers in India. From 1904 the title page stated "Containing dates of commissions, and a summary of the war services of nearly every officer in the Army, Supply &c. Departments, Marine and Indian Army, and Indian local forces." Some editions also contain Indian Civil Service Lists, refer Directories online-India List and India Office List for a separate list. The earlier editions, approximately prior to the early 1860s contain less information relevant to India. Editions from the early 1860s to 1880 contain information which may not be indexed.

There were also official publications by the War Office, published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office.(HMSO).

Sources.

• Online Army Lists, from a broken range of dates from 1840 are available at National Library of Scotland on Archive.org. This links displays volumes in the order they were uploaded to Archive.org, and the editions for the earlier years, from 1840, were uploaded first, so appear last on the list.

Note: All these editions are now also available on the website of the National Library of Scotland, including some editions which do not seem to be available on Archive.org, with a Search facility, either for the entire Hart's collection, individual years, or groups of years. A text version of pages is also available if required.

The NLS collection is easier to Search, but it is based on OCR, Optical Character Recognition, which is dependent on the quality of the underlying printing, and scanning. If you do not find what you are looking for, the Archive.org collection is easier to Browse.

• Editions from 1840 are available on the HathiTrust Digital Library. From 1880 limited access editions are available, probably accessible by those in North America. All these editions have the advantage that the pages can be rotated.
• A List of the General and Field-Officers, as they rank in the Army… 1758-1781. 1781 title is A list of all the officers of the Army. Archive.org. 1766 HathiTrust Digital Library.
• HathiTrust Digital Library has the following editions of A List of the Officers of the Army and of the Corps of Royal Marines 1791, 1794-1804, 1821 and 1782 and 1811- 1856 (broken range). All these editions have the advantage that the pages can be rotated. Archive.org editions. Also search in Google Books for other editions of A List of the Officers of the Army and of the Corps of Royal Marines 1778-1855 (incomplete series) and New Army List 1840-1869 (incomplete series). For the latter series, some additional volumes may be found if they are searched for individually.
• Annual Army Lists (various titles) from 1754 to 1879 are available to download (free of cost) as pdf files from the The National Archives Documents Online: Digital Microfilm, under WO 65 records. They can also be viewed online, although personal experience was that this was a slow process, as each page was slow to load. For more details see TNA Discovery catalogue record for WO 65. These are official annual publications, published by the War Office. The title for 1877-78, record WO 65/162, is A List of the Officers of the Army and of the Royal Marine Forces, Corrected throughout to the 31st March 1877. 1877-1878. By Authority. HMSO 1877.
• Findmypast, pay website, contains a database "British Army, Army Lists 1839-1946" and a related Browse database (located in Armed Forces & Conflict/Directories & Almanacs). The Lists available seems to be less than the National Library of Scotland coverage.
• Also see Quarterly Army List below, for databases on other pay websites such as Ancestry and TheGenealogist.

			1854-Contents
		1858-Contents	1859-Contents	1860-Contents
1861-Contents	1862-Contents	1863-Contents	1864-Contents	1865-Contents
1866-Contents	1867-Contents	1868-Contents	1869-Contents	1870-Contents
1871-Contents	1872-Contents	1873-Contents	1874-Contents	1875-Contents
1876-Contents	1877-Contents	1878-Contents	1879-Contents	1880-Contents
1881-Contents	1882-Contents	1883-Contents	1884-Contents	1885-Contents
1886-Contents	1887-Contents	1888-Ccntents	1889-Contents	1890-Contents
1891-Contents	1892-Contents	1893-Contents	1894-Contents	1895-Contents
1896-Contents	1897-Contents	1898-Contents	1899-Contents	1900-Contents
1901-Contents	1902-Contents	1903-Contents	1904-Contents	1905-Contents
1906-Contents	1907-Contents	1908-Contents	1909-Contents	1910-Contents
1911-Contents	1912-Contents	1913-Contents	1914-Contents	1915-Contents

As an example of the information relating to, or including, the Indian Army, the following links are to the 1913 edition:
Officers of the Indian Army on the Supernumerary List transferred to permanent Civil Employment page 675, Indian Army Cavalry page 678, Indian Army Artillery page 692, Indian Army Sappers and Miners page 694, Indian Army Infantry page 696, Goorkha Regiments page 735, Indian Medical Service page 742 Bengal, Madras, Bombay and Rangoon Ecclesiastical Establishments page 754, War Services of the Officers of the Active List page 757. Indian Army Reserve of Officers and Officers on the Unemployed Supernumerary List pages 1218- 1219, War Service of Officers of the Retired List page 1326, Deaths page 1556, Index page 1561

New Army List

Volumes are from Google Books, and from the Archive.org website. Earlier editions are available online from August 1839, and readers in some countries will be able to access Google Books editions after 1875.

The title of this quarterly commercial publication varied over time: The New Army List 1840-1853. The New Army List and Militia List 1854-1869. The New Army List, Militia List and Indian Civil Service List 1870-1880. The New Army List, Militia List, Yeomanry Cavalry List and Indian Civil Service List 1881-1893. The New Army List, Militia List and Yeomanry Cavalry List 1894-April 1901. The New Army List, Militia List and Imperial Yeomanry List July 1901-Jan. 1909. The New Army List, Special Reserve List and Territorial Force List April 1909-Jan. 1915. by H. G. Hart.

Note: The digital book files below may contain two quarterly editions, each with separate page numbering.

January 1858	April 1858	July 1858	October 1858
January 1859	April 1859	July 1859	October 1859
January 1860	April 1860	July 1860	October 1860
January 1861	April 1861	July 1861	October 1861
		July 1862	October 1862
January 1863-Contents	April 1863	July 1863	October 1863-Contents
January 1864-Contents	April 1864	July 1864-Contents	October 1864
January 1865-Contents	April 1865	July 1865-Contents	October 1865
January 1866-Contents	April 1866	July 1866-Contents	October 1866
January 1867-Contents	April 1867	July 1867-Contents	October 1867
January 1868-Contents	April 1868	July 1868-Contents	October 1868
January 1869-Contents	April 1869	July 1869-Contents	October 1869-Contents
January 1870-Contents	April 1870
January 1871-Contents	April 1871	July 1871-Contents	October 1871
January 1872	April 1872	July 1872	October 1872
January 1873	April 1873	July 1873	October 1873
January 1874	April 1874	July 1874	October 1874
January 1875	April 1875	July 1875	October 1875
January 1880-Contents	April 1880

Quarterly Army List

A War Office publication printed by Authority, by Her/ His Majesty’s Stationery Office, (HMSO). The War Office also published a Monthly Army List. Both these publications were official publications.

The British Library has editions from 1880 under the title The Official Army List for the quarter ending ... (UIN: BLL01001094690). From 1913-1922 the title was The Quarterly Army List for the quarter ending.. (UIN: BLL01001094691). The Quarterly Army List was also published July 1940-Dec. 1950 (UIN: BLL01001094682). From 1923-1950 the title was The Half-Yearly Army List for the half-year ending ... (UIN: BLL01001094692)

At the National Archives, Kew WO 66 1879-1900 War Office: Printed Quarterly Army Lists. In addition the Library of TNA lists editions for 1901 July and 1902 January.
FamilySearch catalogue entry The official army list 1879 to 1902. These are digitised microfilm of Quarterly Lists from TNA, and are viewable on your home computer, but you must be signed in to FamilySearch.

The Quarterly Army Lists in the table following are on Archive.org, from the collection of the National Library of Scotland. They are also available on the website of the NLS, as 1913-1919 - Quarterly Army List with transcriptions available, together with a Search facility.

Findmypast, pay website, contains a database "British Army, Army Lists 1839-1946" and a related Browse database (located in Armed Forces & Conflict/Directories & Almanacs), with editions from December 1913 to December 1919. See below the following table, for Ancestry and The Genealogist databases (pay websites).

Note: Quarterly Army Lists only list regular, career officers and not others such as temporary officers and territorial officers who are to be found in the Monthly Army Lists. The National Library of Scotland has digitised some of its collection of Monthly Army Lists which were available on its website mid September 2016. See the section Monthly Army List.

Date	Contents	Volume 1	Volume 2	Volume 3	Volume 4	Index	Supplementary Volume	Contents
October-December 1913	Contents	pages 1 -1035	pages 1036-2165	pages 2166-3037	.	Index	.	.
January-March 1914	Contents	pages 1-2204	.	.	.	Index	.	.
April-June 1914	Contents	pages 1-2204	.	.	.	Index	.	.
October-December 1914	Contents	pages 1-1158	pages 1159-2203i	pages 2203j-3019	.	Index	.	.
January-March 1915	Contents	pages 1-2203e	.	.	.	Index	.	.
April-June 1915	Contents	pages 1-2201	.	.	.	Index	.	.
July-September 1915	Contents	pages 1-683	pages 684-1800	pages 1801-2201	.	Index	.	.
October-December 1915	Contents	pages 1- 1215	pages 1216-2202	.	.	Index	War Services of Officers of the Army etc	.
January-March 1916	Contents	pages 1-999	pages 1000-1755b	pages 1756-2201	.	Index	.	.
April-June 1916	Contents	pages 1-677	pages 678-1786a	pages 1787-2202	.	Index	.	.
July-September 1916	Contents	pages 1-683	pages 684-1668	pages 1669-2202	.	Index	.	.
October-December 1916	Contents	pages 1-834	pages 835-1774	pages 1775-2446	pages 2447-3394	Index	War Services of Officers of the Army etc	.
January-March 1917	Contents	pages 1-949	pages 950-1746	pages 1747-2202	.	Index	.	.
April-June 1917	Content	pages 1-731	pages 732-1760a	pages 1761-2202	.	Index	.	.
July-September 1917	Contents	pages 1-733b	pages 734-1721	pages 1722-3394	.	Index	.	.
October-December 1917	Contents	pages 1-1200	pages 1201-2202b	.	.	Index	War Services of Officers of the Army etc	.
January-March 1918	Contents	pages 1-631	pages 632-1698	pages 1699-2202b	.	Index	.	.
April-June 1918	Contents	pages 1-860	pages 860a-1698	pages 1699-2202b	.	Index	.	.
July-September 1918	Contents	pages 1-1180	pages 1181-2502	.	.	Index	.	.
October-December 1918	Contents	pages 1-560	pages 560a-1262a	pages 1262b-1760a	pages 1761-2503	Index	War Services of Officers of the Army etc	Contents
April-June 1919	Contents	pages 1-749	pages 750 -1760a	pages 1761-2508	.	Index	.	.
July-September 1919	Contents	pages 1-767	pages 768-1760b	pages 1761-2508	.	Index	.	.
October-December 1919	Contents	pages 1-764	pages 765-1530	pages 1531-2511	.	Index	War Services of Officers of the Army etc	Contents

Many Monthly Army Lists are available from 1920, see next section.

The National Library of Scotland at Archive.org has editions from December 1938 to December 1946 - enter "Army List" in search box. They are also available on the website of the NLS, with transcriptions available, together with a Search facility, as 1938-1941 - Half-yearly Army List and 1940-1946 - Quarterly Army List. Note Monthly Army Lists are available from 1937 on the NLS website.

Findmypast, pay website, contains a database "British Army, Army Lists 1839-1946" and a related Browse database (located in Armed Forces & Conflict/Directories & Almanacs), with Lists from December 1938 to December 1946, (and WW1, and earlier years as detailed above).

Ancestry, pay website, contains a database "UK, British Army Lists, 1882-1962" of transcriptions only, with the images on the associated pay website fold3, "British Army Lists" , which contains details of the years covered, including 1922, July, Parts 1 and 2, 1932 November and 1939 November, the latter two possibly Monthly Lists. Note however, for "1932 November" (seen during a free period) the title page, contents and final pages, including Index at the back of the book are missing, and probably similarly for all other volumes. (See next section for Monthly Lists from other sources).

TheGenealogist, pay website Gold and (higher) Diamond subscriptions have access to Army Lists, including Lists for 1920, 1923, 1929, 1932 but it is unclear whether these are transcriptions only or include images.

Army Lists may be purchased by download, including for 1922-August; 1923- January; 1926-December; 1930-January; 1933-December. Army Lists may be purchased on CD or by download, including for 1920-February (possibly a Monthly List), 1923-June, 1929, 1932.

Monthly Army List

An official War Office publication, which commenced August 1881 and ceased after May 1940. (No issues published for Dec. 1897 and Jan. 1898). Based on library catalogues, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, and the National Library of Scotland may have the best collections. The British Library holds a broken range of editions from October 1881 (UIN: BLL01013821218). The National Archives also holds Monthly Lists which are part of the Library collection, however the date range is unclear. The National Army Museum appears to hold a limited number of editions before and after the WW1 period.

For at least some war periods a Confidential or "Security Edition" was also published with known editions August 1939 (available online) and September 1939, and it seems possible that Monthly Lists may have been continued after May 1940, to 1943, solely on a Confidential basis.

Digitised editions:

• Monthly Army List, editions from September 1881 to December 1885 Digital Collection, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford. Most digital files appear to contain two monthly Lists. Personal experience was that a file was slow to download. Note these are copies of Google Book files, see further below for some of these files, which may be read online and searched.
• Family Search Monthly Lists from 1881 to 1915 (Broken range). Digitised microfilm available to view on your home computer, but you must be signed in to FamilySearch. In addition, the FamilySearch Digital Library contains The monthly army list - 1910 October and The monthly army list - 1914 August. Similarly, you must be signed in to FamilySearch to view.
• In mid September 2016, the National Library of Scotland released its digitised collection of Monthly Army Lists which cover the periods 1914-1919 and 1937-1940. As mentioned above, temporary officers and territorial officers are only to be found in the Monthly Army Lists. At least during the First World War, only the Monthly Lists cover the officers in “battalion order”.

Update: Also includes 1913.

Access the NLS database through 1914-1940 - Monthly army lists. Lists may be read online or downloaded, and there is a Search facility. Transcription of pages is also available if required.

• Monthly Lists, January 1910 to December 1920 (broken range) HathiTrust Digital Library. (Within the individual year catalogue entry, click on "Find at Google Books" for the Google Books file if download is required). The 1920 editions are

August 1920, Contents; September 1920, Contents; October 1920, Contents; December 1920, Contents.

• Google Books editions. Elsewhere it has been stated there is an almost complete range of online editions for the period August 1920 to December 1936, (missing December 1928, Jan.-Feb. 1936) but the following are those which have been located. Note, many of the digital files contain two, or sometimes three volumes, the second/third volume is followed by the letters sdf meaning same digital file. Most of the volumes are from Stanford University, with 1881-1885 Oxford Univ. and some from New York Public Library NYPL. For some periods it may be possible to locate two different digital copies. Some files are badly scanned, so Searching may to be unsuccessful. Generally there is a Table of Contents near the front of each print volume, and an Index of Names at the back of each print volume.

1881-1885 Oxford Univ.

1881 Sep., 1881 Oct. sdf, 1881 Nov., 1881 Dec. sdf;

1882 Jan., 1882 Feb. sdf, 1882 Mar., 1882 Apr. sdf, 1882 Sep., 1882 Oct. sdf, 1882 Nov., 1882 Dec. sdf;

1882 Jan., 1882 Feb. sdf, 1882 Nov. 1882 Dec. sdf; Stanford.

1883 Sep., 1883 Oct. sdf, 1883 Nov., 1883 Dec. sdf;

1884 Nov., 1884 Dec. sdf;

1885 Jan., 1985 Feb. sdf, 1885 Mar., 1885 Apr. sdf, 1885 Sep., 1885 Oct., 1885 Nov., 1885 Dec. sdf;

1887 Jan., 1887 Feb. sdf, 1887 Mar., 1887 Apr. sdf, 1897 July, 1887 Aug. sdf

1888 Mar., 1888 Apr. sdf, 1888 Sep., 1888 Oct. sdf, 1888 Nov., 1888 Dec. sdf;

1889 Mar., 1889 Apr. sdf;

1891 Mar., 1891 Apr. sdf;

1892 May, 1892 June sdf;

1896 Jan., 1896 Feb. sdf, 1896 Mar., 1896 Apr. sdf, 1896 May, 1896 June sdf, 1896 July, 1896 August sdf, 1896 Sep., 1896 Oct. sdf;

1897 May, 1897 June sdf, 1897 July, 1897 Aug. sdf, 1897 Sep., 1897 Oct. sdf, 1897 Nov.;

1898 Sep., 1898 Oct. sdf, 1898 Nov., 1898 Dec. sdf;

1899 Jan., 1899 Feb. sdf;

1900 May, 1900 June sdf, 1900 July, 1900 Aug. sdf, 1900 Sep., 1900 Oct. sdf;

1901 Nov., 1901 Dec. sdf;

1903 Mar., 1903 Apr. sdf;

1910 to 1915, (broken range) see HathiTrust catalogue entry above. 1913-1919 see NLS details above.

Exact List unknown, possibly 1919, Apr. or later (Includes some March 1919 deaths).

1920 Aug., 1920 Sep., 1920 Oct., 1920 Dec. all NYPL;

1920 Feb., 1920 Apr., 1920 July, 1920 Aug. sdf, 1920 Sep., 1920 Oct. sdf, 1920 Nov., 1920 Dec. sdf; Stanford.

Exact List unknown, possibly 1920 May or June (Contains some deaths in April 1920); Stanford.

1921 Mar., 1921 Apr. sdf, 1921 May, 1921 June sdf, 1921 July, Aug. sdf, 1921 Sep. sdf;

1921 Oct. NYPL;

1922 Jan., 1922 Feb. sdf, 1922 Mar. sdf, 1922 Apr., 1922 May sdf, 1922 June sdf, 1922 July, 1922 Aug. sdf, 1922 Sep. sdf, 1922 Oct., 1922 Nov. sdf, 1922 Dec. sdf;

1922 Mar. NYPL;

1923 Jan., 1923 Feb. sdf, 1923 Mar. sdf, 1923 Apr., 1923 May sdf, 1923 June sdf, 1923 July, 1923 Aug. sdf, 1923 Sep. sdf, 1923 Oct., 1923 Nov. sdf, 1923 Dec. sdf;

1924 Jan., 1924 Feb. sdf, 1924 Mar. sdf, 1924 Apr., 1924 May sdf, June sdf, 1924 July, 1924 Aug. sdf, 1924 Sep. sdf;

1925 Jan., 1925 Feb. sdf, 1925 Mar. sdf, 1925 Apr., 1925 May sdf, 1925 June sdf, 1925 July, 1925 Aug. sdf, 1925 Sep. sdf, 1925 Oct., 1925 Nov. sdf, 1925 Dec. sdf;

1926 Jan., 1926 Feb. sdf, 1926 Mar. sdf, 1926 June, 1926 July sdf, 1926 Aug., 1926 Sep. sdf, 1926 Oct., 1926 Nov. sdf;

1927 Jan., 1927 Feb. sdf, 1927 Mar., 1927 Apr. sdf, 1927 May, 1927 June, Half-Yearly Supplement to the Monthly Army List 1927 June sdf, 1927 July, 1927 Aug. sdf, 1927 Sep., 1927 Oct. sdf, 1927 Nov., 1927 Dec. sdf;

1928 Jan., 1928 Feb. sdf, 1928 Mar., 1928 Apr. sdf, 1928 May, 1928 June, Half-Yearly Supplement to the Monthly Army List 1928 June sdf, 1928 July, 1928 Aug. sdf, 1928 Sept., 1928 Oct. sdf, 1928 Nov.;

1929 Jan., 1929 Feb. sdf, 1929 Mar., 1929 Apr. sdf, 1929 May, 1929 June, Half-Yearly Supplement to the Monthly Army List 1929 June sdf, 1929 Sept., 1929 Oct. sdf; 1929 Nov., 1929 Dec. sdf;

1930 Jan., 1930 Feb. sdf, 1930 Mar., 1930 Apr. sdf, 1930 May, 1930 June, Half-Yearly Supplement to the Monthly Army List 1930 June sdf, 1930 July, 1930 Aug. sdf, 1930 Sep., 1930 Oct. sdf, 1930 Nov., 1930 Dec., Half-Yearly Supplement to the Monthly Army List 1930 Dec. sdf;

1931 Jan., 1931 Feb. sdf, 1931 Mar., 1931 Apr. sdf, 1931 July, 1931 Aug. sdf, 1931 Sep., 1931 Oct. sdf, 1931 Nov., 1931 Dec., Half-Yearly Supplement to the Monthly Army List 1931 Dec. sdf;

1932 Mar., 1932 Apr. sdf, 1932 May, 1932 June sdf, 1932 July, 1932 August sdf, 1932 Sep., 1932 Oct. sdf, 1932 Nov., 1932 Dec. sdf;

1933 Jan., 1933 Feb. sdf, 1933 Mar., 1933 Apr. sdf, 1933 May, 1933 June sdf, 1933 July, 1933 Aug. sdf, 1933 Sep., 1933 Oct. sdf, 1933 Nov.,1933 Dec., Half-Yearly Supplement to the Monthly Army List 1933 Dec. sdf;

1934 Jan., 1934 Feb. sdf, 1934 Mar., 1934 Apr. sdf, 1934 May, 1934 June sdf, 1934 July, 1934 Aug. sdf, 1934 Sep., 1934 Oct. sdf, 1934 Nov.;

1935 Jan., 1935 Feb. sdf, 1935 Mar., 1935 Apr. sdf, 1935 May, 1935 June, Half-Yearly Supplement to the Monthly Army List 1935 June sdf, 1935 July; 1935 Aug. sdf, 1935 Nov.;

1936 Mar., 1936 Apr. sdf, 1936 May, 1936 June, Half-Yearly Supplement to the Monthly Army List 1936 June sdf, 1936 July, 1936 Aug. sdf, 1936 Sep., 1936 Oct. sdf, 1936 Nov., 1936 Dec., Half-Yearly Supplement to the Monthly Army List 1936 Dec. sdf.