How to look for records of... Royal Navy nurses

1.Why use this guide?

This guide helps you find records of nurses and other medical staff who served with the Royal Navy. It includes information about their service, medals, and how the nursing service was organised.

Most service records for military nurses who served after the First World War are held by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). See section 6 for further details.

If the person you’re researching served in a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) during the First or Second World War, contact the British Red Cross Museum and Archives. See section 3.1 for registers of Royal Red Cross recipients.

2. Before you start

Before 1883, nursing in naval hospitals was usually carried out by ex-seamen or marines recruited from shore establishments. These individuals held no formal nursing qualifications.

The Naval Nursing Service was established in 1884 at Haslar (Portsmouth) and Plymouth. It was the first Royal Navy unit staffed by trained nurses. The service expanded to Chatham and Malta in 1897, and to all Royal Naval Hospitals by 1901.

In 1902, it was renamed the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS). A QARNNS Reserve of civilian nurses was created for wartime service only.

Most naval nurses in the First and Second World Wars served in the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS) which was established in 1902.

The names of matrons and head sisters can be found in the Navy List from 1884. Copies are available at The National Archives in Kew and specialist libraries. For further details, see our guide to Royal Navy commissioned and warrant officers.

3. Online records

3.1 Campaign Medals and Awards

• Royal Navy Medal Rolls, 1793-1955

Royal Navy medal rolls are available to search and download through Forces War Records (charges apply).

• First World War Medal Index Cards, 1914-1920

Search by name or regimental (service) number for First World War army medal index cards (WO 372) on our website (charges apply). Use keywords like Nurse, Voluntary Aid Detachment, or Queen Alexandra’s with a surname.

• Royal Red Cross Recipients,1883–1994

Search and download entries from the registers of recipients of the Royal Red Cross (WO 145/1-3) at Findmypast.co.uk (charges apply). Covers around 9,000 awards for exceptional nursing service. Includes service number, role, and date published in the London Gazette.

• Campaign Medal Rolls, 1793–1949

For records of medals awarded for service before 1914, search by name on the Ancestry (charges apply) website. Lists names but includes limited personal details. Knowing the campaign and nursing service helps.

3.2 Records of Royal Navy Nursing Staff, 1884–1929

The service registers are part of catalogue series ADM 104. You can download and view them by clicking the links in the table below. Each link will take you directly to the relevant entry in our catalogue.

Date range	Type of record, who it covers and how it is arranged	Details provided	Catalogue reference
1884-1909	Nursing sisters; the original document has an index	Name, rank, date of birth, date of entry and discharge	ADM 104/43
1890-1908	Annual reports of nursing sisters; for each year staff are listed in seniority order	Name, age, hospital where they are stationed, dates of service and very brief comments on character and work	ADM 104/95
1894-1929	Nursing sisters; arranged by dates of appointment; the original document has an index	Name, rank, date of birth, date of entry and discharge, next of kin, annual report marks, sick leave, comments on character and ability, training qualifications, and medal awards	ADM 104/161
1914-1919	QARNNS Reserves, signed up for wartime service only	Name, date of joining service, civilian hospital in which worked, naval hospital in which stationed, date of discharge	ADM 104/162-165
c.1912-1927	Nursing sisters’ and ward masters’ establishment book; contains an index to establishment (hospital or barracks); staff are listed in rough date order	Name, rank, date and cause of appointment, date and reason for discharge	ADM 104/96

4. Accessing original documents

Our online catalogue  displays records using a title, reference number, and brief description. When you search using keywords, you’re searching these descriptions—not the full content of the records. For help using our catalogue, watch our short video guide.

Many records cannot be found using a general keyword search in our online catalogue. To locate the information you need, you may need to consult indexes, registers, or the original physical documents. This often means visiting us in person to carry out the research.

You can visit us in person to continue your research—access to our records is free of charge. Before visiting, please check our website for opening hours and ID requirements. If you can’t visit or would like someone to carry out research on your behalf, you can pay for research.

When you click on a search result, you’ll see whether the record is available online or if you need to view it onsite. You can also request copies directly from the catalogue description page. If a record is held by another archive, you’ll need to contact them directly to find out how to access it.

5. Nurses’ service at the Royal Greenwich Hospital, 1704-1865

Click on any of the reference codes below to open that series in our online catalogue. These records are not available online, so once you’ve found something relevant, you’ll need to visit us in person to view it. See section 4 for more information.

Date range	Information contained in the documents	Catalogue reference
1704-1864	Alphabetical lists of nurses	ADM 73/87-88
1704-1865	Registers of service; all give name, date of entry and date and reason for leaving	ADM 73/83-86
1783-1863	Name, age at time of entry, date of entry, where born, husband’s Christian name, husband’s date of death and in which service employed, amount of pension, whether husband hurt or wounded and on what service, number of children and ages at time of entry; details of husband and family are not completed for early entries	ADM 73/85
1817-1842	Ratings’ widows applying for admission to Greenwich Hospital as nurses	ADM 6/329 and ADM 6/331

6. Service records,1939-present

To request a summary of a service record from the Ministry of Defence, visit the GOV.UK website. These records are not available to the public, but next of kin can apply for access.

7. Policy and administrative history

To explore the policy and administrative history of the Royal Navy nursing service, click on the reference code below to open that series in our online catalogue. These records are not available online, so once you’ve found something relevant, you’ll need to visit us in person to view it.

To narrow your search, try using keywords such as “nursing services,” “medical,” or “hospitals” — for example.

• ADM 116 – Admiralty: Record Office: Cases, 1852-1965

8. Websites

• Scarlet Finders Blog

Browse a curated information about records and related insights about the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS).

9. Further reading

Bruno Pappalardo, Tracing your naval ancestors (Public Record Office, 2003) – this title is also available from our shop.