British Army Service Records 1760-1913 - findmypast

[Phoenix]

Find My Past have sneaked on this database. Not yet complete, but enough to be playing with!

[kiterunner]

Ooh, thanks for that, Phoenix. This is their breakdown of what should be available when:

Date range Approx no. of records Approx no. of images When available
WO97 1883-1900 252,000 1.8 million Now
WO97 1901-1913 303,000 2.1 million By May 2010
WO97 1873-1882 64,000 400,000 By June 2010
WO97 1855-1872 65,000 400,000 By July 2010
WO97 1760-1854 184,000 1.2 million By April 2011

I think there's one or two of my Galways in there, so off to buy some credits...

[Phoenix]

What is there is brilliant, but the database is by no means complete. Just search for Taylors!

[kiterunner]

I had a look at the records of two of my 2xg-uncles and was glad to find that it costs 30 credits per service record, no matter how many images there are in the set. It's 5 images to view a transcription but I didn't have any credits left to try one of those - has anyone looked at a transcription? And if so, how much information does it have?

Hmm, I would have thought my 2xg-grandfather retired between 1883 and 1900 but he doesn't seem to be in there. I hope he turns up in one of the other releases!

[Phoenix]

These are the details you get (I've edited them slightly!)

First name(s): Noddy
Last name: SMITH
Calculated Year of birth: 1865
Parish of birth: Toytown
Town of birth: London
County of birth: Middlesex
Age at attestation: 5 years 2 months
Attestation date: 26 October 1883
Attestation corps: Big Ears Regiment
Attestation solider number: 1149
Discharge rank:
Discharge corps:
Discharge soldier number:

TNA reference: WO97 / xxxx / xx

[kiterunner]

Thanks, Phoenix. It's a shame they don't transcribe next of kin, but anyway, there is lots more info on the actual images than on the transcription, including next of kin and details of wife and children. Plus of course all the details of when and where they served, promotions, and medical info.

[Rosie Knees]

It's not just a copy of the army paybook is it? I'll have to wait till July to find my Richard Ashton but don't know if I'll get any extra info.

[ElizabethHerts]

Thanks, Phoenix. It's a shame they don't transcribe next of kin, but anyway, there is lots more info on the actual images than on the transcription, including next of kin and details of wife and children. Plus of course all the details of when and where they served, promotions, and medical info.

They did have next of kin on my Quintrell relative - his mother was named, and two brothers. There were 8 pages, so it was quite easy to miss!

[kiterunner]

No, I realise they have next of kin in the actual papers, the point I was trying to make is that it isn't in the transcription which you can view for 5 credits - you have to use 30 credits to view the image to see next of kin.

[ElizabethHerts]

Oh, OK. I have an FMP subscription so I click on everything without thinking!

[Oakum Picker]

Hmm, I would have thought my 2xg-grandfather retired between 1883 and 1900 but he doesn't seem to be in there. I hope he turns up in one of the other releases!

He won't necessarily be there unfortunately. I have searched (several times)through the originals plus misfiles at Kew for my grandfather but found nothing.

I know he was in the Boer War & was still in the Suffolks in 1906 when he was named as next of kin on his brother's discharge but he was out by 1909 when his first child was born.

I don't suppose any of that will stop me getting a few credits in the hope that he'll suddenly appear.

[Daisymae]

Is there any way that I can find an ancestor who served in the Boer War in the Border Regiment? Name was Henry Boardman Tyson. His Medals say Henry Boardman. I don't subscribe to FindMYPast.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[kiterunner]

You can buy pay-as-you-go credits for Findmypast, so you don't need a full subscription if you only want to view a few records. But I can't see him listed under either Tyson or Boardman on there anyway. Maybe his records will turn up on there when they upload some more, though. Do you know his army rank and / or number, and where and when he was born?

[annswabey]

DaisyMae

Perhaps his records will appear when they release those discharged 1900-1913. If he went on to serve in WW1 his records, including his earlier service, may be on Ancestry.

Certainly true that by no means all records have survived although you've probably got more of a chance of them surviving after 1883 than with the earlier ones.

[Daisymae]

Thanks for the responses - just checked back and found them.
I am still looking and appreciate the input.

[kiterunner]

More records have been added very recently, 1873 - 1882:

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/media/news/news-item.jsp?doc=CHEPmay.html

[kiterunner]

I found a possible for my John Galway in the new records - date of birth ? I bought some credits to view the images, looked at them all, still couldn't work out if it's my John because although he was born in Antrim around the right time, he was discharged in 1869 for sun stroke in India and it said he wouldn't ever be fit to rejoin the army and was going back to Ireland. My John went back to Ireland from India about that time, but he served as a sergeant at Curragh Camp, Kildare, until 1879 or later. There didn't seem to be any info on the records about whether he was married, but I was going to save the images to look through later and try to find any more info I had missed - but the browser crashed when I was trying to save the image and now findmypast won't let me look at them again without buying more credits! Bother!