Royal Marines: Further Areas of Research

Military Records Information 48

1. Births, Deaths, Marriages and Next-of-Kin

The registers of Killed and Wounded in ADM 104 , Naval Medical Department, include details of next-of-kin. Records of the births marriages and deaths of marines' wives and children were kept separately by each Division. These registers list the marine's name and rank, and under the heading Disposal some information on posting from the Division to a ship or station.

2. Casualties 1893-1956

Marine casualties are listed alphabetically in ADM 242/7 to ADM 242/10 , giving name, rank, number, ship's name, date and place of birth, cause of death, where buried (including plot number) and next-of-kin. Hospital admission and discharge registers, 2nd General Hospital, during 1918, are held in MH 106/986 to MH 106/997 . See also the research guide on the War Dead: First and Second World Wars. Second World War casualties are listed in the Royal Marines Museum publication A Register of Royal Marines War Deaths, 1939-1945, (1987) which gives rolls of all ranks, lists by ship and unit, and burial details. A copy is held in the Microfilm Reading Room. Original records are as yet unavailable. Details of casualties from earlier periods may be found in the records listed below:

* Closed for 75 years from last entry in each register.

3. Coastguard Service, 1900-1923

Service record cards of Royal Marines (and Naval Ratings), 1900-1923, are arranged alphabetically in ADM 175/82A to ADM 175/84B , and for Royal Marines alone, 1919-1923, in ADM 175/90 .

4. Pension Records

The Royal Hospital at Greenwich was founded to aid both the Royal Navy and the Marines, and therefore the records for Marines' pensions are generally the same as for the Navy.

5. Medals

Records of medals are included with those of the Royal Navy in ADM 171 , and piece 89 includes details of awards to other ranks during the First World War, as well as to Officers, though many Marines received Army Gallantry medals. Good Conduct Medals and Gratuities, 1849 to 1894 are recorded in ADM 201/21 .

6. Marines Courts Martial

Records for the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are included with those for the Navy in ADM 1 , indexed through ADM 12 from 1793. For the years 1755 to 1806, alphabetical analyses and indexes to Courts Martial are in ADM 12/21 to ADM 12/28B . Surviving registers of Courts Martial are held in ADM 194 , ADM 13/103 ,ADM 13/104 , and from 1911 onwards, ADM 156 . Court martial registers are closed for 75 years from the last date on the file.

7. Effective and Subsistence Lists, 1688-1837 (ADM 96 )

Compiled by the Marine Pay Office, these records contain no personal information, but list men by Company and may give clues to other sources. For example, if a ship's name is given, the Ship's Musters (ADM 36 , ADM 37 , ADM 38 , ADM 39 ) may be of use (see Royal Navy: Ratings' Service Records, 1667-1923).

8. Second World War, 1939-45

War Diaries

For the Second World War these will be found in ADM 202 , arranged by unit, ship or operation. Those for commando units are to some extent duplicated by those in DEFE 2 .

Prisoners of War

Royal Marines, known to have been held in German camps, are listed in ADM 201/111 .

9. Wills

There is a collection of Royal Marine wills and administrations in ADM 96/524 (1740-1764). Wills were later deposited in the Navy pay office by Royal Marines other ranks, 1786-1909 (ADM 48 contains seaman's wills between 1786-1882, these are available online at DocumentsOnline. Access is free onsite at The National Archives). They are also indexed in ADM 142 . There is also a register of probates affecting the payment of pensions in PMG 50 (1836-1915).

10. Further Reading

C Field, Britain's Sea Soldiers, vols. 1 and 2 (Liverpool, 1924)
H E Blumberg, Britain's Sea Soldiers 1914-1919 (Devonport, 1927)
E Fraser and L G Carr-Laughton, Royal Marine Artillery (2 vols, 1930)
R Bruce Lockhart, The Marines Were There (1950)
A C Hampshire, The Royal Marines Tercentenary, 1664-1964 (1964)
The Royal Marines (Pitkin Pictorials, 1971)
J L Moulton, The Royal Marines (1972)
P C Smith, Per Mare Per Terram (1974)
A J Lowe (editor), Records of the Portsmouth Division of Marines, 1764-1800 (Portsmouth Record Series, 7, 1990)

(ri2048) Last updated: 10 March 2008| © Crown Copyright 2002