Passing yourself off as younger in the army?

[4b2]

I have an ancestor who was enlisted in the army in India in 1805. When he was enlisted he was actually 34, but said he was 31. Then in the later records I have, he was listed as born c. 1779, instead of 1771. He held a junior position in the army and I noticed that in the registers there are very few recruits who were 35 or so. I was wondering if he may have decided to say he was younger as older men joining the lowest ranks of the military was not seen in a positive light?

[Andy J2022]

When you say he enlisted in India, do you know which regiment he joined? The majority of troops in India at that time were employed by the Honourable East India Company, and they had different entry standards to His Majesty's forces. Most of the approximately 200,000 strong HEIC armies were Indians, but there were so-called European regiments, and almost all the officers of the HEIC armies were British or European. The British Army did not actively recruit in India.

That said, as the threat from Napoleon's French army was still considerable at this time (1805-7), various initiatives had been put in place to bolster recruitment for the Regular Army which was 42,000 soldiers under strength. One of these was the raising of the maximum age on enlistment to 40 years of age, and a reduction in the term of engagement, which had previously been for life, to 7 years active service with the Infantry and a further 3 years in the reserve. There were also changes to the bounty paid to new recruits.

[4b2]

Thank you for the knowledgeable reply.

In 1807 he was a private in the Grenadir Company of Madras European Regiment. In 1810 he was a matross in the 2nd Battalion Artillery and in 1813 he is listed as an artillery gunner.

What had been the general arrangements for recruits at an earlier date, in terms of age?

And regarding the bounty. My impression is that it was not deemed as particularly desirable to join the army. It seems like there had traditionally been a long service, with the chance of death and the poor conditions and high mortality of living in somewhere like India. Was the bounty there to give people more of an incentive to join?

[Andy J2022]

The 1st Madras European Regiment was part of the HEIC, not the British Army. Following the Indian Mutiny it would later be absorbed into the British Army and become, initially, the 1st Madras Fusiliers in July 1858, and then the 1st Royal Madras Fusiliers in May 1861. After the Childers Reforms of 1881 the  Regiment became the 102nd Regiment of  Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers).  The battalion saw action in the Dutch East Indies during the period 1795 to 1811 (more details here).

However since he joined the Madras Army's 2nd Battalion Artillery he may not have been involved in the fighting with the Dutch.
Whereas the European Infantry regiments were entirely made up of British and European soldiers, the Artillery battalions were a mixture of sepoys (Indian raised troops) and Europeans, with the Europeans providing the bulk of the non-commissioned officers. However as you may know, at that time a matross was the artillery equivalent of a private soldier, and gunner was a rank above, roughly equivalent to a lance corporal today. Like the infantry, the HEIC's artillery units were also absorbed into the British Army, and in the case of the 2nd Battalion Artillery it became the 20th Brigade, Royal Artillery on 19 February 1862.

You may find more details about the HEIC's armies in the India Office Collection at the British Library.
Other useful resources here: https://wiki.fibis.org/w/East_India_Company_Army
and here: https://www.genguide.co.uk/source/india-office-records/
And to get an idea of what life in the HEIC Armies  was like for a British soldier, I can recommend From Recruit to Staff Sergeant by NW Bancroft 1979 Ian Henry Publications [First published Calcutta 1885]. Bancroft served with the Bengal Artillery slightly later than your ancestor, but their military experience would have been quite similar.

[4b2]

Thank you for the tips. This was exactly the information I was looking for.