Military question can anyone advise how old a man had to be to join the Shropshire Militia?
The thing to remember is that unlike the later Volunteers, men did not volunteer
* to join the militia, their names were drawn from a ballot and they had to serve unless they could find someone else to take their place. This duty arose out of the old feudal system whereby the peasantry owed a duty of military service to their lord of the manor.
I don't know the age groups for the period you were asking about (although I might be able to find them), but slightly later in 1803 the ballot was based on men between the ages of 17 and 55. They fell into 4 groups:
- Those aged 17 - 30 and unmarried, having no living child under 10 years.
- Those aged 35 - 50 and having no children.
- Those 17 - 30 who were/ had been married and had 3 or more children under 10
- All those aged 17 - 55 not in groups 1 to 3.
Their commitment was for 3 years and they could only be deployed in defence of the British Isles ie England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, although Ireland had its own militias. The militia came under the Home Office, not the War Office, for administrative purposes such as pay etc.
*Correction. By an Act of 1794 Lords Lieutenant were authorised to increase the Militia by raising volunteer Companies during embodiment on the same conditions of pay, bounty, clothing etc as the Regular Militia.
