where to start researching old service records?

[pimpernel]

I'm sorry if this sounds like an obvious question.

I'm fairly well aware of who served where in the two world wars for my forbears, but what about older wars like those of the 18th Century, French Revolution/Napoleonic, and early 19th Century etc? Without any definite information that anyone in my tree from that era served in any of the services, where do you start?

Any pointers greatly appreciated.

John

[neil1821]

Without any definite information that ancestors even served in this era, to be honest I'd say the place to start is the same kind of records you'd use for any other ancestor, ie civil registrations and census records.

Marriage certificates will give the grooms occupation.
Childrens birth certificates will give the father's occupation.
Census returns give occupations.
If you find a soldier or naval seaman in any of these then you can take it further (if the records give the regiment for any soldier you come across, so much the better)

Officers in both services are much easier to research than enlisted men, so if you suspect an officer in the family then that's good news.

After that, the situation is very good for Royal Navy personnel as service records from 1853-1923 are online and searchable by name, place of birth and date range.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/royal-navy-service.asp

It's a rather more complicated scenario with army records. Without going into the detail, it depends to an extent on the date, the regiment/unit, how common/rare the name is that you're looking for, and any other details you have to hand.

[pimpernel]

Thanks Neil

As far as I know there are no officers in my line, however one branch of my family had nearly all of it's sons in the army at the time of the Boer War. I suspect there may have been a military tradition from earlier generations, but  I've no other information.
 
I've always had a strong interest in 18th and early 19th Century military history, figuring out how my family might have participated in that era was one of my goals in genealogy, but so far I've not found anything. Names from that period are just BMD's at the moment.

John