Genealogy Chat

From a marriage certificate it looks like an ancestor of mine was a Lieutenant (can't quite work out if it's in the Army, hard to read) - my question is would a Lieutenant in the mid to late nineteenth century have been someone of rank by birth, or could your average sailor or soldier work up to such a position? Any answers to this one would be much appreciated. Deborah

Officers normally came from what one might term the 'upper classes', however, there were such things as 'field commissions', but they were given, as the name suggests, on the field of battle. For a rank and file serviceman to attain the rank of Lieutenant other than in battle would be unusual. Not very conclusive, I fear........ Reg

I'm pretty sure that an average sailor couldn't work their way up. Boys where usually sent to the navy for schooling if their families had connections or could afford it. There would evenually rise to the ranks of Lieutenant. They started out as midshipmen. Others may well have come from well to do families. These days you join as a midi and work your way through what is called the commisioned ranks. Gypsyjoe

If you watch programmes on tv about the army/navy you will see that the officers usually 'bought' a commission. Sharpe of the tv programme worked his way up but that was rare.