I have an ancestor who was in the 28th Regiment of Foot (North Gloucestershire) and i have found a reference to his discharge which says "discharge by purchase" can anyone tell me what this means please? rosie

Hi Rosie A discharge by purchase is just that. Before about 1870 officers could purchase their commission in the English Army. The more money you had meant the higher the level of officer. If you wanted out of the army - you simply sold off your commission. and used the money to retire on After about 1870 Commissions had to be earnt the way they do it today - go up through the ranks. I am not exactly sure at what date the change took place but I had family members who purchased their commissions. Frances At 06:50 AM 29/03/2006, you wrote: >I have an ancestor who was in the 28th Regiment of Foot (North >Gloucestershire) and i have found a reference to his discharge which >says "discharge by purchase" > >can anyone tell me what this means please?

Further, this process could be applied to ORs, and in spite of Frances' submission I think your ancestor was more than likely to have been in the ranks due to the terminology used - "discharge by purchase", ie an individual had bought his discharge. An officer would probably be noted as having left the regiment "commission sold". One of my ancestors, who joined an unknown Regiment in 1806 following a family dispute, was "bought out" by his older brother shortly thereafter. The brothers were unable to resolve their dispute, and to my great good fortune (indeed my very existence), my ancestor subsequentially joined the 73rd Highlanders, later the 73rd Foot, which accompanied Col Lachlan Macquarie to Australia in 1809-10. Cheers David Grierson in Melbourne Frances Kenney wrote: > Hi Rosie > > A discharge by purchase is just that. > > Before about 1870 officers could purchase their commission in the > English Army. The more money you had meant the higher the level of > officer. > > If you wanted out of the army - you simply sold off your > commission. and used the money to retire on > > After about 1870 Commissions had to be earnt the way they do it > today - go up through the ranks. > > I am not exactly sure at what date the change took place but I had > family members who purchased their commissions. > > > Frances > > > At 06:50 AM 29/03/2006, you wrote: > >> I have an ancestor who was in the 28th Regiment of Foot (North >> Gloucestershire) and i have found a reference to his discharge which >> says "discharge by purchase" >> >> can anyone tell me what this means please? > > > > ==== AUS-MILITARY Mailing List ==== > Please support RootsWeb who make this list possible > http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html > >