This is a brief guide to researching records of men in the Royal Naval Division. Royal Naval Division records are informative and relatively easy to find as the key records are available online.
This guide will help you to find out if the information you are looking for exists and, if it does, where to find it or more information about it.
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What do I need to know before I start?
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Try to find out:
- the name and rank of the person
- the dates of service
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What records can I see online?
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Service records (1914-1922)
Search the Royal Naval Division service recordsservice record - a document recording the career of an individual in the armed forces for officersofficer - a senior member of staff in the armed forces and ratingsRating - a seaman ranking lower than an officer. These are the most junior class of seamen in the Royal Navy. (ADM 339) on our website (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.).
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Campaign medals (1914-1918)
Search the First World War medal index cards for a person who was awarded an Army campaign medala medal awarded to a person who took part in a particular military campaign in the Royal Naval Division during the First World War (WO 372) on our website (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.).
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What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
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Campaign and service medals (1793-1975)
Find out about campaigna military campaign, long service and good conduct medals in the Royal Navy medal roll in ADM 171. The records are usually arranged by battle, ship, rank and then by name and do not usually contain biographical information.
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To access these records you will either need to visit us, commission research (£there will be a charge) or, where you can identify a specific record referencea unique set of letters and numbers identifying a document in The National Archives, order a copy (£there will be a charge).
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What records can I find in other archives and organisations?
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Records held locally
Search the Access to Archives (A2A) and National Register of Archives (NRA) databases to find records held in local archivesregional archives, libraries, and museums.
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What other resources will help me find information?
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Books
Read Tracing Your Naval Ancestors by Bruno Pappalardo (The National Archives, 2003).
Consult the published Navy Lists and Army Lists to follow an officer's career in the Royal Naval Division.
Read Family History in the Wars by William Spencer (The National Archives, 2007).
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Websites
Visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website to search for details of people who died in the First and Second World Wars.
Search Ancestry.co.uk (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) for a person who died in the Royal Naval Division during the First World War.
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Births, marriages and deaths in the armed forces
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve