Soldiers (other ranks) and non commissioned officers (NCOs)
Before 1914
Many records of soldiers are arranged by regiment, and it helps greatly if you know the regiment in which a man served. Before 1870 each regiment recruited its own men, either in the locality where it was posted or by recruiting party that traveled around the local area. Regiments moved about the country and the regimental depot moved with the regiment. From 1870 regiments could still recruit directly, but men could also join the army and be assigned to a regiment. From 1881 regiments were linked to counties with their depot and headquarters fixed.
Monthly returns from 1759 to 1865 in WO 17
show the distribution of each regiment at home and abroad and its strength. Later returns from 1859 to 1950 are in WO 73. If you know where a man was stationed at a particular time you can also try the publication In Search of the Forlorn Hope.
Soldiers' Documents
Attestation and discharge papers survive for those men who were discharged to pension or completed their period of service (including short service engagements from 1870) in the series WO 97 from 1760 to 1913. The papers of men who were killed in action or died of illness while serving have not survived. Series WO 97 is currently being digitised - please see the project news for details.
1760-1854 search by name using our online catalogue, Few men who enlisted before 1792 are included. These are the earliest surviving service records consisting usually of the attestation or joining paper which records name, regiment, birthplace, age on enlistment, period of service, date of discharge and amount of pension. These include men who served in regular army regiments, and some colonial and militia regiments.
1855-1872 alphabetical by named regiment or corps. To find a soldier you need to know in which regiment or corps he served. These include men who served in regular army and some colonial regiments.
1873-1882 alphabetical under type of unit, eg. cavalry, artillery, engineers, guards, infantry and miscellaneous corps. Ideally it helps to know in which unit he served.
1883-1913 alphabetical sequences for the whole army. One covering discharges between 1883 and 1900, and one covering discharges from 1900 to 1913. There are also two supplementary sequences from 1900 to 1913 and 1843 to 1899. These records cover both soldiers discharged to pension and those discharged at the termination of limited engagements, short service, or discharge by purchase. These records often include a medical sheet and details of next of kin, wife and children.
Additional service records can be found in the series WO 121. These include men discharged between 1787 and 1813 and awarded a Chelsea out pension (a few records of men who were refused a pension have also survived). They are arranged by date of pension award. Some of these records WO 121/1-136 can also be searched by name using our online catalogue. The series also contains general registers of discharges between 1871 and 1884 and registers of men discharged without pension between 1884 and 1887.
Chelsea Hospital In-Pensioners
Muster
rolls for Chelsea in-pensioners from 1702 to 1789 are in WO 23/124-131 and for 1864 and 1865 in WO 23/132. A list of pensioners from 1794 to 1816 is in WO 23/134. There is also an alphabetical register from 1837 to 1872 in WO 23/146.
Admission books for in-pensioners from 1778 to 1796 and 1824 to 1917 are in WO 23/133, WO 23/162-172 and WO 23/174-180. An index of in-pensioners admitted between 1858 and 1933 is in WO 23/173. Selected personal files of some in-pensioners from 1923 can be found in WO 324.
Kilmainham Hospital
Service records of Irish soldiers or other soldiers discharged in Ireland who were awarded pensions by the board of Kilmainham Hospital from 1783 to 1822 are in series WO 119. Arranged by discharge number, these can be traced in the Admission Books in WO 118, which include in-pensioners from 1839 to 1922.
Household Cavalry
Records of men who served in the 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards or the Royal Horse Guards and were not transferred to other regiments are in the series WO 400 from 1799 to 1920. If they bought themselves out or died in service there may be a single sheet record of service.
Artillerymen
Records of soldiers serving in the Royal Artillery from 1791 to 1855 are in series WO 69. Attestation papers show name, age, description, birthplace, trade, and dates of service, promotions, marriage, date of discharge or death. The records are arranged by last unit served in, and this can be found from the indexes and posting books also in WO 69.
Engineers, Sappers and Miners
The corps of Royal Engineers consisted of officers only until 1856, when they were merged with the corps of Sappers and Miners. Records of sappers and miners can be found in WO 97.
