Genealogy Chat

How do I obtain the army records of a relative? I have checked the National Archive site but found nothing that matches his name. Details to follow.....

William Pardo Ferguson born Dec quarter 1873 in Dover, Kent Whole family moved to Freshwater, Isle of Wight sometime around 1882 In 1891 he was a bugler for the Army Service Corps in Cheriton near Folkestone in Kent Missing in 1901 census. Assume he was in the Boer War. Rest of family still in Freshwater. Married in Freshwater in October 1902. Occupation then was Company quarter master sergeant Died sometime between 1910 and first quarter of 1914 when his wife remarried. Thanks, Crista

Hi Crista, I did a seach for Boer War and there is a Boer War Research Rootsweb site ( freespace(.)virgin(.)net )which says that there is no list of British soldiers who fought during this war but there are other links on this site that you might find useful. Magsx

Crista, Army records upto WW1 are held by the National Archive at Kew. They require a visit there to search, so in your case you would need to pay a professional researcher. Ian

You can use TNA website to see if your ancestor is in the catalogue: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. However, if you cannot find him in the catalogue this does not necessarily mean to say he is not there. I have found soldier ancestors at Kew that are not on the catalogue. In this case, as Ian rightly has said it will mean either a personal visit to TNA Kew or pay a professional researcher and TNA themselves will research the work for you. Janet

Thanks everyone. I guess this isn't going to be that easy. Crista

Crista Hi I have just been in touch with TNA in Kew. They cannot give you information over the phone. They will send you a list of researchers. In your case in U.S.A its going to be difficult. Maybe if someone is going there they may do the search for you. You could then maybe do one for them in the States. I have a similar problem as I live in the North of England. Good hunting.

Hi June, When I rang TNA today. They said I would have to go there. As I live near Manchester this is impossible. The person I spoke to asked what i was looking for. I gave her some of the details, and she said the only way then, was for someone to do it for me. She is sending me a list in the post. Maybe it depends on who you speak to. I did have someone who said they would do it. It could take up to 6hrs and was £25 per hour. Needless to say I didn't bother.

Thanks again everyone. Is there anyway I can work out what regiment he was in based on where he was stationed in 1891? I seem to remember a thread where someone was able to do this but can't find it. Thanks, Crista

I presume you have his marriage certificate from 1902 and he is in the army at that point, isn't his regiment on that? Failing that, his first born child, certificate of birth or better still baptismal certificate and still in the army should have his regiment. However, soldiers records after approx 1875 are indexed, so regiment is not as important. I found my soldier's regiment pre 1870 through the baptismal certificate of his first born child. Janet

Thanks also, for the postal address June, I am also looking for a Quarter Master Sgt, (Charles Edgar Wright), have tried TNA, site but got muddled!.. I know his regiment (No5 Mountain Battery,R.G.A.), but do not know his Army No,am also trying to find the name of his wife!.. Will give this a try!.

Janet, I have the marriage cert. but there's nothing on there about his regiment. The reason I'm trying to trace his record is that I'm hoping to find out more about his wife. She is my g grandmother and William was her first husband. I'm led to believe that the army had to approve all spouses and am hoping there will be more info. than is on the marriage cert. I assume she must be Irish or Scottish. I have no idea if they had any children or where they lived after 1902. All I know is that she married my g grandfather in the first quarter of 1914 in Portsmouth. Is there anything else I need that would make it easier to search for him at Kew? I have his parent's names but don't have his exact birthdate. Crista

Crista It was not so much "approval" of wife, although that would have been an "unwritten" rule of Officers Wives, but more the fact that no soldier was allowed to marry whilst in the army under the age of 30. He would have been a little under that, marrying in 1901 but he may have falsified his age when he joined. This "approval" you are looking for will not be on his attestation papers. There is not a mention of children or wives or any addresses on Attestation Papers. They are just bald statements of fact about your soldier only. They will give age on joinng, false or otherwise, place of birth, physical characteristics and then will give all his service details abroad but not in any great detail, no British placements on there. It will also state his terms and years of engagement, so many years in whatever area, and his general conduct thoughout his army career. You will then need to go through the Muster Rolls for each month for each year, detailing his activities and this may well include things like being drunk and disorderly and fined or imprisoned etc. as well as where the regiment is at the time the muster is written. His pay and various dockings of pay for whatever reason and other minutiae will also be recorded in the musters. There may also be Pension Records and Medal Records but to research all this info is very time consuming and one of the reasons why you have to either research yourself or employ someone to do the work. Pension records may be a possibility as on his death his wife may have received a pension but she would have had to forfeit that pension on remarriage. After about 1875 the army records are indexed so just the name and approx age should find him but they often joined at 14, so his age could be out by 4 years. You have some information on him so you are not going to TNA without any information. Just tell them all you know and see what happens. I am aware it could cost a reasonable sum for TNA to do it for you but I also know that it took two of us 2 whole days to get all the info on my ancestor. One other area you could try for possible children's birth are the Regimental Indexes of Births and Baptisms. Now until recently these were only in the FRC in London but I understand they have recently come on line. Not sure how you get into this but Southport GRO would be able to help you or 1837 Online is another possibility. Or someone else on here may be able to give you that info. He is only approx 41 when he died or even younger if he died earlier. Have you got his death cert to establish how/where and who signed the death cert? If he died early 1914 he is not dying in the 1WW as that did not start until August 1914. But he may have died doing army duty of some sort so a trawl for his death of those years of interest may be helpful. The Boer War is a possibility but only his army career will show that. Janet

Crista If you reckon there are Boer War (or Indian Mutiny or China War) links, have a look at this site: http://hometown.aol.*co.uk/KevinAsplin/home.html (remove asterisk) It was recommended on a Boer War or Army thread here a few days or so ago. Christine

Nudge for Mike

Thanks again June, Christine and Janet. I've managed to talk my sister into going so I now have to give her fool proof instructions. Janet, I found the Regimental Birth Indices on 1837inline and they are free to view. I have looked from 1902 to 1910 for his death so far and still need to check 1911 to 1913. Which records should she concentrate on? I'm looking for anything that might show whether his wife was Irish or Scottish. Christine, I checked that site but couldn't find him. I went through the Times Shipping Lists they have. Thanks, Crista

Thanks for looking Crista!.

Crista NONE of these documents are going to give you any info on the wife. I have still not got pension docs for mine so do not know what they comprise, addresses and amount of pension only I suspect. I would say start with Attestation Papers and Medal Records to build up a more accurate picture of your ancestor. Your sister may not have too much trouble finding these if they are indexed. Mine were not indexed so I had to spend a lot of time looking through hundreds of records first before I found him, the last one in the box! The Muster Records are the most time consuming but also contain the more surprising detail but could be done at another time. Re the wife's nationality. Census only is going to give you this detail. I see you have not found soldier on 1901 but have you tried for her on 1901? Really look hard at the marriage cert for all the clues. It is surprising how clues can be missed first time of looking at the certificate. You will have her maiden name on the cert. Was the marriage Banns or Licence? Licence could suggest under age ie under 21. It could also suggest a hurried marriage because he has to return to the army or maybe pregnancy or even marrying a relative. If by Banns where were the Banns called? See if you can find the Banns. Which church did they marry in? Most people married in the church nearest to their homes. The name of the father should be on the Cert. Is he deceased or just named? If just named he will probably be still alive, so you could try looking for him on the census. What address is given? Try that address for census. Many married people started married life with parents. Most women married within their own home parish, so start with that. He is returning to Freshfield to marry. He is not getting married in Kent. That is another clue in itself. This could suggest wife is at least living in Freshfield and so possibly on a Freshfield Census. May suggest a childhood sweetheart or even the girl next door. Who are the witnesses? Could they be family? Try them on the census. Is there an age for bride and groom on the marriage certificate, or does it just say Full Age? If Full age you know he is approx 28/29. She is probably going to be the average age that most women were at this time, between 21/24.You cannot find him on the census but have you found his family? If all this fails, and I know you do not want to hear this, but the 1911 Census will be available about 2012. Janet