Source Information
War Office and predecessors: Secretary-at-War, Secretary of State for War, and Related Bodies, Registers. WO 25/266–558, 632–634, 677–683, 686–688, 3913–3914, 5411-5516. Records created or inherited by the War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies. The National Archives, Kew, Surrey, England.
About Canada, British Regimental Registers of Service, 1756-1900
This database contains registers and other records providing details on soldiers and officers in British military units that served in Canada.
These registers include description and succession books, returns of officers' services, casualty returns and regimental entry books, which include the names of enlisted men with details such as age, place of birth, trade and service. The records cover various periods between the years 1756 to 1878, with some returns of officers' services in the Royal Engineers up to the mid-1900s. Some registers include a nominal index, either at the beginning or end of the volume.
What You Can Find in the Records
These records document things such as enlistment, commissions and appointments, dates of service, service history, casualties, desertion, pay and pensions, and discharges. The list of details that one might find in these records is comprehensive, although the discharge information might be stressed even more, such as when, where and why the pension was awarded and from time to time, the amount of the pension is noted.
Forms and records vary, but they may contain the following details:
- name
- age
- service dates and places (enlistment, promotion, discharge, etc.)
- birth date
- birthplace
- physical description
- trade
- unit(s)
- desertion date
- death date
- retirement
- transfers
- rank
- religion
You can use the browse function to see what units are included in this collection and the years records are available for them. Some records are in French, and a few are in German.
