Soldiers' effects 1901-1929

 

 

Ancestry, in partnership with the National Army Museum, has today published registers of soldiers effects between 1901 and 1929. The following text appears on ancestry.co.uk:

 

"This database contains records detailing the money owed to soldiers of the British Army who died in service from 1901 to 1929. A small percentage of soldiers who were discharged as ‘insane’ are also listed here. Records typically include the name of the soldier, his next of kin and their relationship, the date of death and sometimes the place, plus other details. In cases where the soldier was discharged as insane, the place and date of discharge are often recorded in the place and date of death field.... Early records also list a soldier’s trade before enlistment. Payments went first to widows, or, if the soldier wasn’t married, to a parent (often a mother) or siblings."

This is another good resource from Ancestry, albeit probably not giving a huge amount of new or useful detail in the majority of cases.  The image above shows the entry for my great uncle, John Fredrick Nixon, who was killed in action on the 3rd October 1918 and appears to show that his father, my great grandfather, was paid a total of £26, 3s and 11d; a combination of back pay and war gratuity. I'm sure he would have much preferred to have had his son back.

Despatches - Findmypast

My employer has asked me if I'll contribute a fortnightly post to a new blog, "Despatches" on Findmypast. As I already support a wife, three children and ten blogs, adding another to the family is hardly a hardship and something, moreover, that I'm very happy to write.

The image above, used as a header on the Despatches blog, shows my great uncle, John Frederick Nixon, and I'll talk about him in more detail on the next Despatches post, two weeks from now.