Militia 1757-1914

Military Records Information 18

1. Introduction

The Militia was a voluntary county based part-time force for home defence. It ceased to be summoned after the Civil War (see, Military Records Information 2), but was revived in 1757, when the Militia Act established Militia Regiments in all counties of England and Wales. The Yeomanry (cavalry) and the Volunteers were introduced later. In 1808 a further force, the Local Militia, was formed. By 1816 the Local Militia and the Volunteers had been dissolved. The Volunteer Force was revived in 1859. In 1907, the Yeomanry and the Volunteers combined as the Territorial Force, and in 1908 the Militia was revived as the Special Reserve. For more details on these auxiliary forces, see Military Records Information 72.

2. Militia Conscription, 1758-1831: a kind of census

A form of conscription was used: each year, the parish was supposed to draw up lists of adult males, and to hold a ballot to choose those who had to serve in the militia. The militia lists (of all men) and the militia enrolment lists (of men chosen to serve) should in theory provide complete and annual censuses of all men aged between 18 and 45 from 1758 to 1831. The surviving lists, held locally, can be very informative, giving details about individual men and their family circumstances. However, the coverage of the country, for various reasons, is not complete. For more information see J S Gibson and Medlycott, Militia Lists and Musters, 1757-1876. Records of the militia once formed are also usually in county record offices. Other locally-held sources are the poor law records, which can include orders for the maintenance of children of militia men.

3. Officers: records of service

The Militia Records in WO 68 (1759-1925) include returns of Officer's services, but references to militia officers are often to be found among records of the regular army. For example, service records may be found in WO 76 and registers of militia officers are included in WO 25 for 1816-1824. They also feature among the records of the various military establishments in WO 24 , and will of course appear in the militia muster rolls in WO 13 (1780-1878), with those of other volunteer forces such as the fencibles, the yeomanry and the volunteers. For lists of commissions, returns of service, appointments and warrants for officers, try HO 50 (1782-1840), and HO 51 (1758-1855). HO 51/136 is a register of commissions. A sample set of militia officer's original commissions, 1780-1874 is in WO 43/1059 . Irish Militia Commission books, 1794, are in WO 25/118 .

3.1. Officers: printed sources

From 1794 the outline of an officer's career can be traced using the list of Officers of the Several Regiments and Corps of the Militia, and the Militia Lists. These are available on the open shelves at the National Archives. The London Calendar or Court and City Register also published lists of militia officers from 1782-1812, and commissions were gazetted in the London Gazette (ZJ 1 ). In 1839, 1840 and 1862 lists of officers were presented to the House of Commons, and can now be found among the Parliamentary Papers: HC 1839, xxxi, 267; HC 1840, xxx, 253; and HC 1862, xxxii, 583. The National Archives has these on microfiche.

4. Other Ranks: records of service

The Militia Attestation Papers in WO 96 (1806-1915) were filled in at recruitment and, in most cases, were annotated to the date of discharge form a record of service for each militiaman. They include the date and place of birth. Most date from the mid-nineteenth century. Attestation papers are arranged in the order of precedence of the regular army unit to which the militia regiments were attached after the reorganization of the Army in 1881. The list of WO 96 gives the name of the regular unit as at 1881, not the earlier militia unit. The way round this problem is to consult the Army List of 1882 or after, and to find out from there which militia regiments were attached to which regiment. Attestation papers of local militia regiments (1769-1854) are in WO 97/1091-1112 .

The Militia Records in WO 68 (1759-1925) include records of some militia regiments in Great Britain and Ireland, and consist of enrolment books, description books, pay lists, returns of officers' services, casualty books, regimental histories etc., and also a few registers of marriages, births and baptisms. The enrolment books provide for each man a description, place of birth, place and date of joining, period of service, promotions, etc. while the Casualty Books contain information on desertions, deaths, discharges, transfers, as well as marriages and births of children.

The militia muster rolls in WO 13 (1780-1878) may provide some personal information, as well as the location and expenses of a particular regiment. The muster rolls of some London and Middlesex Volunteer and Territorial regiments (1860-1912) are in WO 70 .

The militia pension registers of the Royal Hospital Chelsea are in WO 23 (1821-1829). They give name, age, length of service, cause of discharge and date of death. The Chelsea Hospital admission books in WO 116 and WO 117 give age, place of birth, description, and details of service and discharge. A few militiamen qualified for pensions due to service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, and their discharge certificates (in WO 97 ) give their place of birth and age on enlistment. There are also lists of militiamen, wives and children who were eligible for pensions in E 182 , but there are no indexes, and each box contains much other material as well.

4.1. Other Ranks: printed sources

Lists of militia were sometimes published in local newspapers and as booklets. Some have been transcribed or reprinted in county historical society journals, internet sites and as pamphlets. For example, VA Hatley, The Northamptonshire Militia List, 1777 (Northamptonshire Record Society, 1973) is held by the National Archives' Library and Resource Centre.

5. Casualties and Deserters

Casualty lists for 1759-1925 are among the Militia records in WO 68 . For the South African War, casualties of the Special Reserve are in WO 129/8 , WO 129/9 , WO 129/10 , WO 129/11 and WO 108/338 . References to deserters may be found in the musters in WO 13 . Names of those for whom a reward was offered may be found in E182: there is an incomplete card index at the National Archives. Lists of deserters, including militiamen, are in WO 25/2934 , WO 25/2906 and WO 4/591-654 .

6. Medals

In general militiamen did not receive campaign medals. Militia Long Service and Good Conduct Medal records are in WO 102/22 . Militiamen who received the Queen's (or King's) South Africa Medal or the Queen's Mediterranean Medal, while serving with the regular army, are named in the medal rolls in WO 100 .

7. Further reading

J S W Gibson and M Medlycott, Militia Lists and Musters, 1757-1876 (FFHS, 1989)
M Roper, The Records of the War Office and Related Departments 1660-1964 (PRO, 1998)
W Spencer, Records of the Militia & Volunteer Forces 1757-1945 (PRO,1997).

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