Chelsea Pensioner

[Joan of Archives]

I've found my first Chelsea Pensioner! :D

OK can anyone give me any info as to what they actually were?? :d

All I know is they wear nice red jackets on Remembrance Sundays :o

[Merry]

An army pensioner who was either an NCO or other non-commissioned rank or if they were commissioned, they had to have been uncommissioned for a number of years (12??) before that. I know that these days they have to have no dependents, but not sure about in the past.

The In-Pensioners live at the Royal Hospital Chelsea and wear the famous red uniform, but in Victorian days the majority of Chelsea Pensioners were out pensioners who lived in the community.

Erm....don't know anything else!

[Joan of Archives]

In 1861 he was in the Royal Hospital Chelsea, a single man Class: RG9; Piece: 32; Folio: 150; Page: 23; GSU roll: 542560. That's the whole place lol!

[FamilyHistoryAddict]

Merry has given an excellent explanation but here's a bit more info on Chelsea Pensioners.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_pensioner

There are also Greenwich Pensioners who are the naval equivalent of Chelsea Pensioners.

Cheers, FHA

[Nell]

You can get his records from the National Archives. I got my gt x 2 grandfather John Purvey's. He was only in the army a year before he went blind in one eye. The records told me how much he got on enlisting, how much his pension was and it had his signature.

[Joan of Archives]

Thanks FHA & Nell, that's very interesting. He was the brother of my 4 x great grandfather so probably not enough to bother with the records but interesting to have one in my tree, nonetheless!

It appears he may have been a naughty boy at one point & had a sentence for insubordination according to someone's tree on Ancestry! :o Didn't stop him becoming a Chelsea Pensioner though :d