If you want to go into this in detail then there are several specialised books available - it all gets rather complicated. I'd suggest browsing the bookshop on the website of The National Archives for suitable titles. Normally when people say military, they mean army. At this point it is worth saying that the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines have completely different sets of documents and you will need to research that separately. Also officers and soldiers have distinct records, so what follows is for ordinary soldiers. (If he was an officer you should start with various versions of the army list, which lists all officers and their current deployment - also The London Gazette). If you do not know the regiment, then you are generally reliant on documents that got generated as a result of discharge to pension. If they were killed in action, or did not qualify for a pension, or later a proper discharge, then you generally will not find anything. For this you need to search WO 97 and other series, for which the documents are at The National Archives, but which are available on FindMyPast under record set: "British Army Service Records 1760-1915" which contains the following: * Militia service records 1806-1915 (WO96) * Chelsea Pensioners British Army service records 1760-1913 (WO97) * Royal Hospital, Chelsea: pensioners' discharge documents 1760-1887 (WO121) * Royal Hospital, Chelsea: pensioners' discharge documents, foreign regiments 1816-1817 (WO122) * War Office: Imperial Yeomanry, soldiers' documents, South African War 1899-1902 (WO128) * Royal Hospital, Chelsea: documents of soldiers awarded deferred pensions 1838-1896 (WO131) If he was serving up until WWI (unlikely on the dates you have given) then his records may be either in WO363 (only 40% survived WWII bombing) or WO364 which are on both Ancestry and FindMyPast. If he is in none of these, then that does not mean he was not a soldier, just that his service did not create a record in any of these series. It is also worth noting that over the years, the organisation of the "part-time" army has gone through a number of evolutions, so if you ancestor was in these, rather than a full-time soldier, you may find more difficulties. If he was involved in any active service, then he may have accrued medals, for which his name would appear on an appropriate medal roll - you will find listing for Boer War medals online for example. All medal rolls are at TNA and a search on Discovery should provide them. These may well give more specific details of service. In the absence of appearing in the records already listed, you need the name of a regiment, so you can investigate muster rolls, which are quarterly lists of personnel provided for each regiment. Census, parochial, or civil registration records might well identify the regiment (although frequently they will just say things like "soldier"). Your big problem is going to be that the surname you are reseaching is common, and you may well be searching for a record for John Brown omitting the middle name, or J. H. Brown, not giving the full name. Also remember that the army did not validate any of the information appearing on the attestation form, except for the fact that he was fit to serve and had sworn the oath in front of a magistrate. Keith Drage Swindon UK On 18-Apr-16 4:23 PM, Tod Brown via wrote: > Re: John Henry Brown > > My apologies to those who spent so much time trying to find information > about my gf, John Henry Brown. I did not intend for it to generate so > much activity but I should have known, since I know how much the members > of this board love to do research. I was trying to keep it simple and > see if I could find out about some possible military service that my gf > may have been involved in. > > I do know much more about JHB and I have traced him through all of the > censuses from 1871 to 1901 which is where I have lost him. As others > have discovered, he lived in Halvergate while very young and then moved > with his family to Yarmouth where they resided for about 20 years. > Around 1890, the family, with some of the children, moved to Byker, in > Newcastle. I am guessing that it was a result of the decline in boat > building in Yarmouth that precipitated the move. Altogether, Elizabeth > Hannah Howard and Samuel Brown had 13(!) children, the last two born in > Newcastle. The last child, named for the mother, died at birth or > shortly after. The other child born in Newcastle is mid-identified in > some censuses. Her correct name is Isabella Myra. In 1892, John Henry > was recruited by a coal-mining company in Pennsylvania and traveled to > Philadelphia to join workers in the coal fields. He did not last long, > for in 1893 he had met and married his wife, my grandmother, Ellen > Blemmings, who was born in Glaslough, County Monaghan, Ireland, in 1863. > They were married in Philadelphia. The couple returned to the Newcastle > area after their marriage and it was there that my father, John Albert > Brown, was born in 1895. On my father's birth reg it identifies JHB as a > "wire rope maker". By 1901, another child, a daughter, also Ellen, had > been born (1898) and the family was living outside of Bradford and JHB > was a "carter for railway". When JHB and EB were married, JHB identified > himself as a "coachman". In 1902, one more child, Margaret, was born. By > 1909, JHB had abandoned the family and Ellen and the three children had > come to Philadelphia where Ellen's sister was living. Four years later, > in 1913, Ellen died, leaving her unmarried sister, Margaret, to raise > the children. > > JHB may have had a drinking problem, as that is the family lore. My > father clearly was very ashamed of his background and never revealed any > of the circumstances of his arrival in America to me. On the other hand, > he was quite prone to fabricating stories and one of the recurring ones > was that his father was in the military. I have discovered in my journey > to uncover my father's story (and there is quite a lot to it!) that > often times there was a kernel of truth in his tales, hence the query > about his father's military connection. It does not seem likely however, > given what I have found, but you never know. > > In the past, there have been some folks on this board, Ian Layton in > particular, who have helped me enormously in tracing my family back in > Merry Olde. I have made one unforgettable trip to Norfolk and walked > around in the churchyards of Halvergate, Reedham, Wickhampton and > Cantley to visit some of my ancestors. Ian and I visited the grave of > Edward Layton, my third and Ian's fourth great gf in Cantley. Edward and > his first cousin, Sarah Browne, had two illegitimate children, the > second, John, being my gg-gf (hence my surname). You can find some of > Edward's story in the archives of this Board, if you care to. An > interesting genealogical detective story as it were. > > I began my search for my ancestry when my father died in 1988. Until > that time, my knowledge of his lineage was spotty, at best, and often > contradictory due to his fabrications. Until just before he died, he had > maintained that he had been born in Virginia. It was only literally on > his deathbed that he told me one day, quite out of the blue, that he had > been born in England. I realized then that I had to find out and I have > been at it ever since. What I have found has been exciting, > exhilarating, scandalous, puzzling at times and occasionally > heartbreaking, but it is my story and it now can be passed on to my > daughters and their children. What I have discovered has been > life-changing and extremely personal, probably enough to fill a book > (maybe some day). As all of you know, you can only know yourself when > you know where you came from. Thank you all for all your help. > > > > > > On 4/18/2016 3:00 AM, norfolk-request@rootsweb.com wrote: >> >> Today's Topics: >> >> 1. John Henry Brown (Gloria) >> 2. Re: John Henry Brown (Rosie) >> >> >> To contact the NORFOLK list administrator, send an email to >> NORFOLK-admin@rootsweb.com. >> >> To post a message to the NORFOLK mailing list, send an email to NORFOLK@rootsweb.com. >> >> __________________________________________________________ >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NORFOLK-request@rootsweb.com >> with the word "unsubscribe" without the quotes in the subject and the body of the >> email with no additional text. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NORFOLK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >