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Research Guides Royal Navy: Pay and Pension Records: Commissioned OfficersMilitary Records Information 601. IntroductionThere were four principal bodies responsible for the payment of various pensions to commissioned officer:
Records of all these bodies are held at The National Archives under the department code ADM . Before pensions became a right, it may also be worth checking for petitions for pensions in the records of the Secretaries of State (in SP ) and the Privy Council (PC ). The responsibility for paying naval pensions was taken over by the Admiralty during the nineteenth century, leaving only Greenwich Hospital as an independent body paying various supplementary and special pensions. After the late 19th century, the Paymaster General (PMG) and the Ministry of Pensions (PIN) became involved in the payment of naval pensions, although the situation was confused and changed frequently. The main guide to these records is B Pappalardo, Tracing Your Naval Ancestors (PRO, 2002). 2. PayFull pay The records in ADM 24 , 1795-1905, are normally in the form of ledgers. They record payments to commissioned officers who were actively employed. They normally give only the officer's name and the exact dates of each employment, but they can also be used as they were for certificates of service, to compile a record of an officer's successive employments. From 1795 to 1835 there are separate registers for each commissioned rank with an index to each. From 1830 there are general registers to which there are indexes. No registers are available for 1873-1903. Half Pay Half pay was a retainer for the services of unemployed officers. Since there were no general schemes of retirement before the mid-1800s, half pay frequently operated as a type of superannuation and no test of actual fitness was applied. Thereafter half pay declined in importance, becoming simply a means of filling short gaps in the career of serving officers. It was abolished in 1938. Half pay records are mainly lists of names and the sums payable to them, but they sometimes include addresses and other information. In conjunction with full pay registers, they can be used as they were in compiling certificates of service, to present an officer's full career. 3. Superannuation PensionsThe concept of a retirement pension came late and slowly to the Navy. From 1666, Yard Officers and some captains received superannuation or retirement pensions. The possibility of getting such a pension was extended to most senior lieutenants in 1737, to "Yellow Admirals" from 1747, and to retired captains from 1786. No officers were entitled to superannuation until 1836, when officers became eligible for superannuation, either automatically, or upon application on reaching a specified age and seniority. Admiralty (Naval Ordinary) Pensions granted before 1836
Admiralty Pensions granted after 1836
Greenwich Hospital Pensions, 1704-1961 Officers were eligible for Greenwich in-pensions. From 1814 there were a small number of out-pensions to captains, commanders and lieutenants.
4. Wounds and Disability PensionsFrom 1675, the Admiralty paid pensions for wounds to commissioned officers. These pensions could be held together with full, half pay or superannuation.
5. Widows' PensionsAdmiralty Pensions The widows commissioned officers killed in action were eligible for Admiralty pensions from 1673. These records also contain references to dependants.
Charity for the Payment of Pensions to the Widows of Sea Officers This charity was established in 1732. It was administered by trustees but was more an official pension fund than a private charity. Its income came from Parliamentary grants and a compulsory deduction of 3d in the pound from officers' wages. It paid pensions to the poor widows of all sea officers regardless of how or when they died, but not to those who were left comfortably off. In 1836 the responsibility for officers' widows' pensions was assumed by the Admiralty and the test of poverty abandoned. In addition to these pensions a lump sum of one year's wages known as the Royal Bounty was payable to widows, dependant children or mothers aged over 50 of officers, ratings and marines, killed in action.
General Documents relating to Widows' Pensions
Royal Bounty, 1675-1822 In addition to these pensions, a lump sum of one year's wages known as the Royal Bounty was payable to widows, dependant children or mothers (aged over 50) of officers killed in action. Papers submitted to claim the bounty often include marriage and death certificates, with other documents attesting the age, relationship or poverty of the applicants.
Pay lists of the Royal Bounty, 1739-1787, giving name, address and relation of the payee, the name, quality and ship of the dead man, and the sum paid, are in ADM 106/3018 . 6. Compassionate Fund: Orphans and DependantsFrom 1809, the Compassionate Fund (later Compassionate List), which was voted by Parliament and administered by the Admiralty, paid grants and pensions to the orphans or other dependants of officers, killed in action. Compassionate Fund
Compassionate Allowances
Compassionate List 7. Special PensionsFrom 1871 some Greenwich Hospital pensions including pensions paid from special funds like the Travers, Popeley and Canada funds were paid to deserving officers. In 1837 Good Service pensions were created, to be paid to deserving flag officers and captains and later to civil officers of equivalent rank. They could be held together with full or half pay, but were forfeited on promotion. Good Service Pensions
Miscellaneous Navy Pension Records
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