Discover if you had ancestors serving in the British Army in 1878. Explore this army list to uncover valuable information, such as your relative’s full name, regiment, and rank.
Discover if you had ancestors serving in the British Army in 1878. Explore this army list to uncover valuable information, such as your relative’s full name, regiment, and rank.
These records include both transcripts and images of the original army list. While the amount of information available varies, most transcripts include the following:
First name(s)
Last name
Year
Regiment
Listing type
The images often provide additional information, which varies depending on the rank of the individual:
For Field Officers: The date of their last regimental appointments with rank specified in the List of General and Field Officers
For Captains with the Brevet of Field Officers: The date of their first commissions as Captains
For Captains and Subalterns: The date of their army rank with seniority indicated by the order of their names in each rank
For Veterinary Surgeons: The date of their appointment with rank shown under the Veterinary Department
For certain Medical Officers: The date when they joined that regiment
In one form or another, since 1702, army lists have been regularly provided by the British Army and contain the names of all serving officers. This 1878 list contains the names of over 43,000 servicemen.
Words such as “Peninsula” and “Waterloo” added to regiment titles indicate the Honorary Distinctions allowed by those regiments on their Colors and Appointments, commemorating their service.
Names printed in italics on the List of Regiments are officers that are on the Supernumerary or Seconded Lists.
Crown Copyright.
Images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, England.