Hampshire Regiment Regular army service numbers look up

[km1971]

My Great Grandfather, Walter Wilson Lane, born Basingstoke 1855,  was in the Hampshire Regiment, 67th Foot.  He left the Hampshire Regiment on the 28th December 1882.  His service number was 1706.  Can anyone tell me roughly when he joined the army and also where the Regiment were in 1881 when the census was taken. Thank you.

Sorry, I missed this one. Being in the WW1 section does not help.

Findmypast have the same details. It says he was discharged from the 37th Regiment after his 1st period, which was normally ten years. They merged with the 67th Regiment in 1881. As he did not serve for a 2nd period he did not receive a pension; and that is why his record has not been kept. So in theory he enlisted circa December 1872. However he was serving in FindMyPast's 1871 index which was taken at census time. He is serving in the 37th Regiment at Dover. This will be the Depot. The service companies were in India.

So he may have re-engaged for a 2nd Period, and later changed his mind. Or (more likely) his enlisted under-age. In this case his 1st Period would not have started until his 18th birthday.

G2 means character was 'good' with two good conduct badges. Each worth 1d a day additional pay.

For the 1881 census they were in Kilkenny. The Irish census has not survived. To research further you will need to look at the muster books in the National Archives. They are not online. You start at 1871 and work backwards until you find him enlisting. His first (and last) entries in the musters give the best chance of find additional information. But the ones in between will tell you where he was each month, plus any promotions, fines and punishments, and if he was on the marriage establishment.

Ken

[Minnieccat]

Thank you for your reply, Ken.

[Eisley]

Hi James

Alfred wisely tried the Militia before committing to 12 years as a Regular. To purchase a discharge from the Militia was only £2. It was £20 from the Regulars.

The 1st and 2nd Battalions comprised the Regular army. Recruits signed up for 12 years with the colours (in uniform), or seven years in uniform followed by five years in the 1st Class Army Reserve. If his record does not appear on Ancestry you have some research to do. Firstly was he a soldier in 1911? If not he probably transferred to the Reserve in January 1907. His '12' would have been up in 1912 but he could have extended his time in the Reserves for four years. So he would be recalled at the start of WW1. Or he was discharged in 1912 and re-enlisted in 1914 and was given the same number.

Reservists joined whichever Regular battalion was Home in August 1914. This was the 1st Battalion. It does not mean he served with them from 1900. You can search for any Boer War medals on Ancestry. If he served in South Africa it would be with the 2nd Bn. The 1st Bn stayed in the East Indies.

Regarding WW1, he went to France with the 1st Bn several weeks after the start. So this gives no clues as to his pre WW1 battalion.

You should ask a Moderator to separate your question from the rest. It will make it easier to follow.

Added...I have found him as a House Painter in 1911, and obligingly he also states he is an Army Reservist. This is only the third Reservist stating the fact on a census I have found from many thousands. They usually just quote their civilian job. So we now know he probably transferred to the AR in 1907 - although if he was overseas, the army had the right to keep him for a further year, or until his battalion came home.

Ken

Hi Ken,

Thank you so much for your information - I really do appreciate it.  The details about how the reservists were signed up, etc. are really useful.

I had just started looking into the census data for these two and their side of the family and saw the same job description mentioned after I posted my query - very handy Alfred mentioned his army status - I wish they were all so obliging on their census forms   (I noticed the two brothers were not on the 1901 census but that seems to make sense as Alfred had moved to the regular battalions not too long before and the census was taken just after Ernest signed up so was doing his initial 49 days.)

Am I right in thinking that, after their initial training which seems to have be 49 days for Alfred and Ernest, the reservists returned to serve for around one month each year?  I assumed this was for training.  Ernest's form seems to suggest this as he , but I wasn't sure if that was standard practice.

Thanks again,

James.

[km1971]

Hi James

When he was a Reservist he was part of the Regular army. The 49 days 'training on enlistment' when he was in the Militia. They were part way between the Volunteers (who served one evening a week - usually for four years) and Regulars. Volunteers became Territorials in 1908.

After initial training Militiamen served 6-8 weeks a year for six years. Reservists, Volunteers and Militiamen were all liable to be recalled/embodied to serve full-time if there was a general mobilization. This happened in 1899 and 1914. Volunteers and some Militiamen failed to be embodied and were usually discharged.

Some Militia battalions went to South Africa as a fighting unit. No Volunteer battalions went to SA as a whole. But large numbers joined Volunteer Companies of Regular battalions. They stand out on the medal rolls as they were usually renumbered alphabetically.

There used to be a Militia Reserve but the name seems to have disappeared by 1900. They were often former Regulars who enlisted for four years after discharge from the Regular army.

Ken