bermaids" and explains the nickname dates back to the Battle of Vittoria. The problem of amalgamation and nicknames can be very confusing to a beginning researcher. Regimental naming, numbering and nicknames sometimes remain with the regiment long after their formal name or number has changed. For this reason it is important to record all information regarding an ancestor's service in the event that a rather bizarre sounding name is actually the nickname of the regiment.
What If You Don't Know the Regiment?
An example of other articles written by Iain Swinnerton's for Practical Family History [available at major reference libraries or can be purchased from Global Genealogy 613-257-7878] includes:
The following list is not meant to provide an exhaustive list of all primary records. More detailed information about Army records is available from the PRO (see PRO leaflets and fact sheets listed below).
The records giving details of regular soldiers' careers during the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are held at the Public Record Office (PRO) in England. Records are often more extensive and readily available for officers. For example, the main records used for Officers are the published Army Lists (beginning in 1754). Information about Officers granted commissions before 1727 are available by using Dalton's English Army Lists and Commission Registers, 1661-1714, George I's Army, 1714-1727 and Irish Army Lists, 1661-1685. These published works are available in the PRO itself, on microfilm through the LDS. Some large libraries and national repositories in other countries also have copies of the lists. The National Library of Canada and the National Archives both have copies of the Army Lists and the pre-1727 lists.
The book Tracing Your Ancestors in the Public Record Office (5th edition, by Amanda Bevan, 1999), includes excellent and extensive information about Army records. The book also explains the types of commissioned officers:
Regimental Officers: colonel (in command of a regiment), lieutenant-colonel, major.
Company Officers: captain (in command of a company) and his subalterns, lieutenant, cornet (cavalry), ensign (infantry). In 1871 cornets and ensigns became second lieutenants.
Other Officers: paymaster, adjutant, quartermaster, surgeon and chaplain.
An example of the more common records used by researchers to find enlisted men are as follows:
Regimental Description and Succession Books: Regimental Description and Succession Books are found in the War Office (WO) files (25) in the Public Record Office (PRO). However, microfilm copies are also available at the Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) in Salt Lake City and on loan to local Family History Centers of the LDS. The dates for the description books cover the period 1778 to about 1878. Not all regiments are well represented in these books for all time periods. The records of some regiments appear to be lost. Only a small percentage of all soldiers are included in these books. Volumes 266 through 688 cover the regular Army regiments.
Some Description Books are arranged alphabetically, other books by date of enlistment. They usually begin with an index, and give a description of each soldier, his age, place of birth, his trade and successive service details. The books can have as many as 39 columns across two pages. Each entry begins with the full name of the soldier, the number of the company in the regiment he was assigned to, his height (at enlistment and at age 24), age at the time of enlistment (in both years and days). The next columns describe the soldier's complexion, the colour of his eyes and hair, the form of his feature (visage), and whether he had any physical marks. Country/town and parish of birth are given. Occupation (if any) outside of the military is noted. Date, place, and period of enlistment are provided (including the name of the person that enlisted the man). Notations of any previous military service and dates of promotion are also noted. Information also included desertion, tra