NovocastrianUK
11-15-2010, 07:10 AM
Ancestors of the Kray Twins and Spike Milligan are among one of the most comprehensive military records of rank and file soldiers providing new insights in to life and times of those who served in the British Army between 1760 and 1913. They cover soldiers who were just given a pension through the Royal Hospital at Chelsea as well as those who lived there. The vast archive includes details of a 12-year-old Drummer who served in the East Indies and an Exeter soldier who lasted just three days before quitting. It also covers John Kirk, a Liverpudlian who received the Victoria Cross for bravery during the Indian Mutiny of 1857 but was also a "drunken scallywag" who was imprisoned 12 times during his 18 years of service.
The records have been put on line as part of a three-year project and give a rare insight in to the lives of rank and file soldiers who fought in some of the country's most significant conflicts such as the Battle of Waterloo, the Crimean War and the Boer wars. Most other military records tend to centre on officers. More than six million images of records covering more than 1.5 million soldiers are contained including the tiniest details such as hair and eye colour and chest size. They are now available on the family history website findmypast.co.uk in a joint initiative with The National Archives and FamilySearch.
Full article: Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8132648/Military-records-of-1.5-million-Chelsea-Pensioners-go-online.html)
The records have been put on line as part of a three-year project and give a rare insight in to the lives of rank and file soldiers who fought in some of the country's most significant conflicts such as the Battle of Waterloo, the Crimean War and the Boer wars. Most other military records tend to centre on officers. More than six million images of records covering more than 1.5 million soldiers are contained including the tiniest details such as hair and eye colour and chest size. They are now available on the family history website findmypast.co.uk in a joint initiative with The National Archives and FamilySearch.
Full article: Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8132648/Military-records-of-1.5-million-Chelsea-Pensioners-go-online.html)