where to look for census

[millymcb]

I had the same question - and my great grandfather turned up in the army. I went to Kew and found his service records very easily...I ordered up a whole box of them and went through them until I found his.   I didn't know which regiment he was with before I went - or whether he was in the army at all. It was just that I could not find him anywhere else.

He had signed in 1893 for 12 years and spent the whole time in India.   

I think we were really lucky that day as he was very near the top of the first box we looked in

Milly 

[mallow]

Thanks Milly when you went to Kew what did you look under ?did you just look under his name?  sorry to sound so stupid but a whole box of what?

[km1971]

Hi

If you follow the link in my Reply #5 it tells you about the papers for men discharged between 1900 and 1913. These are in series WO97 in Kew. WO= War Office. These are what Milly is referring to. They are loose papers in a cardboard box covering men in a given alphabetical range of surname. So you do not need to know the man's regiment as all army units are included.

Ken

[mc8]

Thanks Ken, his name was Frederick Charles Allsopp born 1883 Staffordshire also fought in WW1 and survived

the only frederick c I could find in the archives is as follows WO 372/1 Medal card of  Allsopp, Frederick C
Corps: Royal Garrison Artillery
Regiment No: 35635
Rank: Gunner...
 69819 / 40226
I tried to download the medal card for you as I have free access, but htere is a technical problem with the link this morning. If I remember, I'll try again later
monique

[mc8]

got it now-I've pmd you
doesn't add much I'm afraid

[millymcb]

Thanks Milly when you went to Kew what did you look under ?did you just look under his name?  sorry to sound so stupid but a whole box of what?

Hi Mallow - Ken has answered the question - yes it was W097.   The fabulous thing is that it is the original paperwork and not copies.  So you actually look through piles of original service/attestation papers as signed by the person at the time.  Amazing - and well worth doing!

Milly

 

[janerich]

Millie,

I've just checked WO97, on line TNA, as wellas WO126-129 for a relative who is missing from 1881 census.  He's on all the others from 1871 - 1901 and my hubby's aunty (his granddaughter) was sure he was in the Army.  Couldn't find a thing.  Just wondering if you found your man on the on-line index or whther you just took a gamble going to Kew?

Does anyone else know whether the on-line catalogue is complete for these files?

[mallow]

Thank you Ken Milly and mc8 for all your help, as I live in Ireland I have no access to Kew, so I will have to make the trip over to find out any more I would need to see something with his address or next of kin on to know if he was mine

[km1971]

Does anyone else know whether the on-line catalogue is complete for these files?

Apart from what Ancestry are doing with the WW1 papers, the only index on line is for men discharged up to 1854. The dates you see next to the WO97 reference are the dates the man served. These indexes were compiled by the Friends of the PRO/TNA, and cover the files which have been microfilmed. This was a particularly useful exercise as the original papers were filed by regiment, so you had to know the man’s regiment to have a chance of discovering if his papers survive.

Surviving papers for men discharged between 1855 and 1913 (inclusive) are only available as original documents in the boxes we have been discussing. The way these are filed changes a few times, and you really need to follow the information given on the TNA site starting with the 'step4' link. The advantage is that you, or your researcher, can take your own digital pictures.

Ken