HEICS?

[MJHS1]

Can anyone please confirm who was entitled to use the letters HEICS (Honorable East India Company Service)? Was it all officers of the Indian Army 1760 - 1837? Any other ranks serving in the Indian Army? Anyone else?

[Ashtone]

Deleted - error.

[majm]

Can anyone please confirm who is entitled to use the letters HEICS (Honorable East India Company Service)? Is it all officers of the Indian Army 1760 - 1837? Any other ranks serving in the Indian Army? Anyone else?

The Honirable East India Company ....  that does not just refer to a 'company' in a miitary sense, it actually refers to a COMPANY as in a business sense.  The origins of global business stem from the VOC and the EIC. 

Mr Google may be a useful starting point.

JM

[Ashtone]

Mike - interesting question. As regards the military aspect, weren't the HEICS and Indian Army two separate entities? The blurb below won't answer your query (and is a bit confusing to me), but does shed a bit of light on the subject:

"Each presidency had its own infantry, and later cavalry, that became the Indian Army under one Commander-in-Chief in 1748. The three areas each contained separate European and Native (sepoy) regiments, so named but commanded by European HEIC officers. Additionally the native princes operated their own private armies. These armies were at first small but numbers escalated from the mid-1700s until the 1857 mutiny. Thus, in addition to the British merchants, there was a huge number of British army officers and soldiers proud to be in HEICS - the Honourable East India Company Service."

Link: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/England_East_India_Company_Records_(National_Institute)

[majm]

See the following thread

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=842376.0 

JM

[majm]

http://www.militaryarchiveresearch.com/HEIC.htm

HEIC Service - lieutenant  military or navy

JM

[majm]

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28652751  The Sydney Herald, 31 December 1840 page 1

So this is an advertisement in a Sydney, New South Wales, newspaper.    This is a commercial voyage, and is for a sailing from Sydney direct to London.  NO mention of any port on the sub-continent at all, but the Commander of the vessel (Minerva) is using the post nominal H.E.I.C.S.

For London Direct
The fine new fast sailing clipper built brig MINERVA, 300 tons burthen, F. J. Wainwright, H.E.I.C.S., Commander, has beautiful accommodation for a select party of passengers, and having the principal part of her cargo engaged will be early dispatched.
For freight apply to RAMSAY & YOUNG,  Hunter-street. December 19, 1840

JM

[MJHS1]

Thank you for your immediate and helpful replies. My question did relate to a military context and topic 842376.0 was a thread that I started 12 months ago. I still haven't managed to trace any record of John MacDonald HEICS, hence my question. The link to the militaryarchivesresearch.com is interesting, as it suggests that there are more sources of HEICS Army records that I have been aware. I'll try to investigate further.