British Military Records: Difference between revisions

 

[[Image:British Military2.jpg|thumb|right|250px|British Military2.jpg]] Military records are potentially of great genealogical value and may provide information not found in any other source. These records identify individuals who served or were eligible to serve in the military. Military service (other than the militia) was usually a lifetime career. Officers came from the upper classes; soldiers usually came from the poor. On occasion, compulsory conscription was enforced and even "press-gangs" were used.  

[[Image:Wo12book.png|thumb|left|Wo12book.png]]"Muster Rolls and Pay Rates" were monthly accounts that were kept of military enlistment and pay schedules. They were kept for privates up through officers and may contain valuable information such as "good conduct" awards, punishments, special assignments, and the like. A commanding officer made every effort to list everyone on his muster rolls since the number of men determined his funding. The records usually list each person assigned to a ship or regiment at the muster date, his age on joining, the date he joined, the place where he joined, and sometimes information such as a dependent list (in later army musters) and birthplace (on sea musters from 1770). Muster records for the Royal Artillery are the earliest, beginning in 1708. Other army musters exist for 1760 to 1878. After 1790, they were kept in bound volumes.<u><ref>Hamilton-Edwards, Gerald (1977). In Search of Army Ancestry. Phillimore, p. 73.</ref></u> Navy musters cover 1667 to 1878. Naval musters contain "alphabets" (indexes organized by the first letter of the surname) from 1765.These records can also be used to track the movements of a specific individual.