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Document FAQ

  1. British Army Records - Free online?
  2. Wills 1858-2009
  3. British Army Records Availability
  4. WW1 Soldiers Death Certificates Contents

  1. British Army Records - Free online?

    No you will need to order one of our British Army Service Papers searches. The vast majority of service papers, attestations, discharge and pension documents have not been digitalised, though some genealogy websites offer a pay-per-view service on a number of classes within the War Office records.



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  2. Wills 1858-2009

    After the 11th January 1858 the responsibility for Probate was transferred from the church courts to central government. All Wills and administrations since then are arranged yearly in alphabetical order of surname, so it is useful to know a date of death as a starting date from which we can base our search.
    The majority of indexes are large books similar to the old General Register Offices indexes and probably weigh the same (about 2 kilos), some of the more recent indexes (from 1993-1996) are on microfiche and from 1996-present are on computer. The latter is quite difficult to search - the options are quite restrictive - if your date of death is wrong then a Will won't be found and  therefore it is necessary to employ more creative search methods!
      The indexes contain an abstract of the Will, namely surname and first name, address, occupation (on the more older indexes), date of death, probate office where the Will was proved, date the Will was proved, computer or folio number if applicable. Executors and next of kin are sometimes mentioned in the older indexes, but not on the more recent ones, the gross and net size of the estate is also mentioned in some of the indexes.
      Once an entry in the indexes has been identified, an application can be made for both the Will and Grant or Administration if only that has been identified.

    When a Will is not found - Not all Wills are available!
    If Probate has not been granted, there will be no record of any Will. Probate is not required if the estate is small, or if the majority of assets are held jointly, and financial institutions agree to release any monies to the administrators. In such cases, the Will may never become a public record. Sometimes Probate is not sought until many years after the death of the deceased, so a longer search should always be considered.



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  3. British Army Records Availability

    Not all Service Records are available:

    • If a soldier died in service his record will not usually be found amongst the series of service papers.
    • Before 1883 service records are normally only for men who were discharged and received a pension.
    • Soldiers' documents for those who were discharged by purchase have not survived for the pre-1883 period.
    • From 1883 to 1913 the series of service papers includes soldiers who were discharged to pension and those who were discharged for other reasons, such as termination of limited engagements or discharge by purchase.


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  4. WW1 Soldiers Death Certificates Contents

    The contents of WW1 Soldiers death certificates are as follows:

    Regimental Number
    Rank
    Full name of deceased
    Age at death
    Country of Birth
    Date of death
    Place of death
    Cause of death*

    *Not in detail, i.e. Killed in action. You will need to order a search of the War Diary for the possibility of finding out how your soldier died.



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