Genealogy Chat

My Gr Gr Grandfather was in the Royal Regiment of Artillery. He joined at Hinckly in 1847. He left to pension in 1869 at Birkenhead. I have his army record. To find out more about where he served (and met his wife)I need to know which battallion he was in. How do I find that out. I do have his army number. Any idea's or help will be very greatly appreciated. Jim Jones

Try PROCAT(online site for National archives at Kew. Janet

You could try the Royal Artillery Association as well. If they can't help, they should be able to point you in the right direction. Paul

This is a very useful site for Artillery matters.....also, where possible, he will dig out records for a VERY reasonable fee. http://hometown.aol(.)co(.)uk/kevinasplin/home.html Bob

Many Thanks for your responses. I have spent many hours at Kew - hence the army record and the appeal. I have literally just found a Royal Reg. of Artillery site but haven't yet worked out how to post a message without joining, I'll work at it though. I will certainly be onto the hometown site, that looks interesting. Many Thanks to you all for your support. Regards, Jim Jones.

Hi James The service record should show all postings and movements of a soldier during his career. It should also show any entitlement to medals or bars to medals. The R.A. would be different than an infantry regiment. An infantry regiment would move from one posting to the next as a regiment. where as R.A. indivdual soldiers would move from posting to posting. Each brigade in a division would have its own attached gunner battery or regiment. that means that you would have to go through indvidual attached muster rolls to see if your relation was there . Once you have found him you should be able to trace his career. I would think that he must have received some medals during those 22 years, why not try the R.A. museum in woolwich to see if they have his medals. If you can find a medal with a bar awarded for an action you should be able to find the units that took part and the muster rolls. Malcolm

As Malcolm says the Service Record should show all his postings. If he was in the Crimean War or the Indian Mutiny then he is bound to have medals and the medal roll is at the National Archives. Whether or not the medal roll is online I am not sure but a look at the PROCAT site will tell you whether or not these are available online. There are muster books also at the National Archives which will tell you in greater detail than the service record the exact movements of individuals and regiments, including all the minutiae. I spent a few days at Kew sorting out the Muster Records but at the end of the mission it is satisfying to see a much more complete picture of your army ancestor. The dates you give suggest surely some action in either of these events. I have just noticed that Malcolm has also suggested the Muster Rolls. Janet

Hi James My g-grandfather was a gunner in the RA,,,I have his army records which shows he was in the East Coast Brigade,,it also has his marriage details and baptisms of his three children plus medals,,illness height,hair colour etc,, Do you have all these details on the information that you hold?

My Thanks again for later input. Unfortunately, the army record I have has no record at all of postings apart from saying the total of time spent in Canada and Malta. There are no records at all of marriage, NOK or children. He joined in 1847 and was discharged in 1869, fortunately to a pension otherwise I don't think I would have this much. I have been told at Kew that I need his Battalion to proceed further in the muster lists otherwise its a question of trolling through thousands of mens details. Hence the appeal to try to shortcut that. I do appreciate your thoughts and comments. Regards, Jim Jones.