The specialist military genealogy website has added the 1800’s Worldwide Army Index, containing over 500,000+ records compiled from musters contained in WO 10-11-12 War Office Paylists held at the National Archives, Kew.
 
Whilst census returns have revealed many long-lost souls there was still the matter of many thousands of British (English, Scottish, Welsh & Irish) subjects who remained unaccounted for. Some of them would have been merchant mariners or Royal Navy subjects away on the highs seas or folk who simply upped and emigrated. A great number were army personnel.

• The 1851 Worldwide Army Index lists all officers and other ranks subjects serving in the January-March quarter of 1851 together with their regimental HQ location. The index is effectively a military surrogate for the 1851 census taken on 30th March 1851. Also included are recruits, boy soldiers, bandsmen and civilians working in the armed forces as clerks, pension recruiters and suchlike. Colonial regiments which invariably had numbers of British subjects are also included. The index consists of over 243,000 lines indicating army number, rank, first and last names, regiment and regimental HQ location. This index does not contain the names of commissioned officers as in 1861 their names were excluded from the Paylists. Officers might nevertheless be identified in the 1861 edition of the published Army Lists.

 

• The 1861 Worldwide Army Index lists all other ranks subjects serving in the April-June Quarter of 1861 together with their regimental HQ location. The index is effectively a military surrogate for the 1861 census taken on 7th April 1861. The index consists of almost 250,000 records. Other ranks are indicated by army number, rank, first and last names, regiment and HQ location. The index is augmented by an additional 11000 lines of notes indicating detachments, attachments, units recruits will likely join and so on.

 
Many thousands of men of the British Army were serving overseas in far flung parts of the British Empire over many decades of the 1800s. Many of those serving in 1851 could well have been born as early as 1810 whilst others who joined in the census year might well have continued their service as late as 1872, exceptionally 1877.
 
If a male subject cannot easily be found in the 1851 census then he may not be where expected; or in Ireland (where there is no 1861 census equivalent); serving in the navy or abroad. There is a high probability that he was serving in the army.
 
The 1871 Worldwide Army Indexes are also included in Forces War Records collection. Please consult the relevant index introductions prior to searching.
 
Records in these collections are likely to include the following:

• First name
• Surname
• Army Number
• Rank
• Regiment or Corps
• Battalion or Company
• Intended unit for recruits
• Regiment location
• National Archives Reference

             

Uncover every clue in the hunt for the female members of your family, with Rachel Bellerby of Family Tree magazine’s guide to the top resources for finding the women in your family tree.

Whilst it can be tempting to begin your family tree search by following your surname through the generations, if you fail to research your maternal line you’re missing out on a huge section of your ancestry.

Find the women within your family tree with our guide to the top resources for finding female ancestors.

1. Marriage certificates
The number one resource for taking your family tree back a generation, since a bride’s maiden name (and often the name of her father also) will be listed on the certificate of marriage, allowing you to search for that person’s birth record and thus the names of the parents. Remember also that a person listed as witness to a wedding might be a family members such as a sibling or cousin, perhaps pointing you in the direction of a maiden name.

2. Historical newspapers
Remember that 19th-century newspapers often identified individuals by a surname and initial only, so a search for an ancestor’s full name may not yield the full results. Notices of marriages, births & deaths, obituaries and engagement announcements can all give clues to help with your research.

3. The census
A valuable resource for tracing female ancestors through from childhood, to marriage and sometimes on to widowhood. Look for clues from the names of relatives staying with an ancestor who aren’t part of that nuclear family, since elderly mothers sometimes lives with their children, or young single women would lodge with family members.

4. Parish records
When searching for a female ancestor before civil registration be sure to check birth records for each of that person’s children since birth certificates sometimes include the mother’s maiden name, which could point you in the direction of her marriage and/or baptism record.

5. Family heirlooms
Women are often the keepers of the family archive and so check with members of your family if they have items such as old photographs, certificates, a family Bible or hand-written recipe books. Many a clue can be found on the back of a photograph, the flyleaf of a book or from newspaper clippings.

Online women’s history projects

• Women’s History Network
• English Heritage, Women who made history
• Women’s Archive of Wales
• Mapping Memorial to Scottish Women
• Women’s History Guide, National Archives of Ireland