Phil Tomaselli explains how to use these records as a major release arrives on Ancestry
As an old research guide from The National Archives at Kew says, “For most of its history, the Army has not kept systematic records of its officers” – something that springs from the regimental system that dominated military thinking from the 1660s through to the late Victorian period. At first the regiment was, in practice, the property of its commanding colonel, who not only commanded in battle but was responsible for administration, including the spending of money provided by the Crown for recruitment, promotions and pay. Each regiment kept its own records, in particular details of families. The Horse Guards building in the City of Westminster in London, which became the War Office, gradually assumed many of these responsibilities, but unfortunately the historic records weren’t collated in ways that make research by later family historians easy.
Although many officer records have been digitised on Findmypast (findmypast.co.uk) and Ancestry (ancestry. co.uk) there’s little, so far, on their families and dependents. However, there are now some available in ‘UK, Officers’ Birth Certificates, Wills and Personal Papers, 1755–1908’, a new collection added to Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62614). The records, held at TNA in series WO 42, were already available to download free from the archive’s online catalogue Discovery at discovery.nationalarchives. gov.uk/details/r/C14251. However, although they’re collected by first letter of the officer’s surname (sometimes again subdivided for ease of download), they’re not indexed individually and some time may be needed to locate a particular person.
For most of the period covered, ordinary soldiers, unless discharged sick or injured, had to serve 21 years to earn a pension, which ceased on their death regardless of whether they had a widow and children. Their family often became dependent on charity, or the workhouse. Officers’ commissions within the regiment could be bought and sold, and many relied on the sale of their final commission to support their retirement (this didn’t apply to ranks higher than colonel). Rather than retire fully – there were no officer pensions before 1871 – some officers went on ‘half pay’ and acted as a reserve to be called on again in wartime.
Officers were generally assumed to have money and many did, bu
