Alan Swindale The group watched a presentation from the 2024 RootsTech “Getting Started with British Army Records” by Raymon Nesbitt of Family Search.
British Army records commence in 1660 and indexed records can be searched on-line on FamilySearch, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Raymon Nesbitt introduced the various collections and how to access them. He admitted that in the end you may have to go to the National Archives to explore the full range of information and to view the original records rather than indexes/abstracts. Often the information is no more than name and regiment, but you can then go on to explore the regiment’s history and where and when it was fighting. The UK campaign medals collection on Ancestry (3.3 million records) is of this nature; it gives the name and regiment and the award. For a campaign medal there is little else but a gallantry ward will usually lead on the citation for the award.
My own experience is that military records are one of those sources that I call ‘serendipity’. You may find someone you are searching for, you may not. In this they differ from parish registers, birth, marriage and death registers and census records where you will generally find the person you want (if you search hard enough). It is more similar to searching probate records, which may not contain the individual at all or provide very limited information but may reveal absolutely priceless information.
The on-line sites are valuable since they will usually suggest relevant military records as part of the search for a given individual.
Next month’s talk will present FamilySearch’s new feature ‘Full Text Search’ which should provide useful access to vast archives of unindexed microfilm. It will be followed by a ‘Help your Neighbour’ practical session.