Libellus ONLINE ARTICLES AND SELECTED OFF-PRINTS FROM MAGNA For members' use only, please do not circulate without permission of the editor to avoid possible copyright infringement

COPY 1/6/887: Photographic group of the officers of the West , 5 sitting and 12 standing. Copyright owner of work: William Spanton, 6 June 1864.

The Royal Sussex in the Archives: Looking beyond the War Office records

Tony Wakeford looks at the variety of the Royal Sussex Regiment’s records held at Kew. On Monday 20 May 2019 the Friends were part of a joint symposium held at the Record Office (WSRO) in with the West Sussex Archives Society (WSAS). 1 We joined colleagues from WSRO, WSAS, the Royal Sussex Regiment Museum Trust, the Army Museum’s Ogilby Trust, members from the Friends of The Keep (, East Sussex and University of Sussex Archives at Falmer) and members of the public for a fascinating day exploring the Royal Sussex Regiment’s (RSR) rich and varied heritage through the records and artefacts held in various archives.

I gave the opening introductory talk highlighting the RSR’s sources held at TNA. The purpose was to focus on the extent and variety of records that were not only in the War Office WO record series, but were elsewhere too in other less likely record series. The origins of the Regiment can be traced to in 1701, and in the years that followed saw action in many parts of the world. In 1832 William IV granted the Regiment ‘Royal’ status because of its actions assisting the inhabitants of Barbados following a

hurricane in 1831. In 1881, the RSR was part of the Childer reforms that reorg2anised the , and was finally amalgamated with other regiments in 1966. The records held at Kew reflect the RSR’s long and distinguished history. A brief review of entries held on Discovery reveal the diverse nature of the records held for the predecessors and the regiment itself. The tables below provide a snapshot of the range of record series. Sussex Militia ADM Admiralty, Navy, Royal Marines, and Coastguard WO War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies HO Home Office PROB Prerogative Court of Canterbury PRO Domestic Records of the Public Record Office, Gifts, Deposits, Notes and Transcripts COPY Copyright Office and Stationers' Company

35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot PROB Prerogative Court of Canterbury ADM Admiralty, Navy, Royal Marines, and Coastguard WO War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies HO Home Office PCOM Prison Commission and Home Office Prison Department IR Boards of Stamps, Taxes, Excise, Stamps and Taxes, and Inland Revenue CO Colonial Office, Commonwealth and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices T HM Treasury TS Treasury Solicitor and HM Procurator General's Department SP State Paper Office – including Secretaries of State up to 1782

107th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Light Infantry) CO 295/537: Trinidad Despatches, volume 4, for PRO Domestic Records of the Public Record Office. July-September, 1921. Gift Deposits, Deposits, Notes and Transcripts ADM Admiralty, Navy, Royal Marines, and Coastguard WO War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies

Royal Sussex Regiment (from 1881) WO War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies PIN Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance MH Ministry of Health CO Colonial Office, Commonwealth and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices FO Foreign Office ADM Admiralty, Navy, Royal Marines, and Coastguard COPY Copyright Office and Stationers' Company HO Home Office INF Central Office of Information IR Boards of Stamps, Taxes, Excise, Stamps and Taxes, and Inland Revenue RG General Register Office, Social Survey Department, and Office of Population Censuses and Surveys T HM Treasury

WO 121/40/1: War Office - Royal Hospital Chelsea, discharge document and certificate of service for Private John Heade of the Sussex Militia, May 1800. ri end s Fof THE NATIONAL AR CHIVES Libellus ONLINE ARTICLES AND SELECTED OFF-PRINTS FROM MAGNA For members' use only, please do not circulate without permission of the editor to avoid possible copyright infringement

FO 371/107627: Foreign Office Correspondence. The appointment of Queen Juliana as Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Sussex Regiment, 6 February 1953.

Listed below are some examples from the range of documents held at TNA relating to individual soldiers and to the RSR itself: • HO 42/40: Home Office Domestic Correspondence George III, letter from the Duke of Richmond, 1797, regarding the loyalty of the Sussex Militia. • WO 121/40/1: War Office - Royal Hospital Chelsea, discharge documents and certificates of service, 1800. • PROB 11/1600/114: Wills and Administrations, 1818. • ADM 157/393: Portsmouth Division - Attestations and Discharges, 1854. • COPY 1/6/887: Photographic group of the officers of the West Sussex Militia, 5 sitting and 12 standing. Copyright owner of work: William Spanton, 16 Abbey Gate Street, Bury St Edmunds. Copyright author of work: William Spanton, 16 Abbey Gate Street, Bury St Edmunds. 6 June 1864. • WO /146/1/66: War Office Distinguished Conduct Medal – submissions to the Sovereign, 1885. • MH 106/2089 War Office: First World War, Representative Medical Records of Servicemen - Influenza reports, 1915. • CO 295/537: Colonial Office and predecessors – Trinidad Despatches from T A V Best, the acting governor of Trinidad, 1921. Withdrawal of the Regiment from Trinidad against a background of perceived social unrest. • FO 371/107627: Foreign Office Correspondence. The Netherlands Royal Family; appointment of Queen Juliana as Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Sussex Regiment, 1953. • WO 373/169/444: War Office and Ministry of Defence: Military Secretary's Department: Recommendations for Honours and Awards for Gallant and Distinguished Service...(Army), 1962. Specific aspects can be found in the following War Office record series: • WO 95 WWI War Diaries • WO 166, 169, 170, 171, 172 WWII War Diaries • WO 372 Service medals and award rolls index • WO 100 Campaign medals Overall, the RSR’s presence in the archives is well represented by an interesting and diverse collection of over 44,000 documents. Although the War Office holdings dominate the collection, there is plenty of other material that offers the opportunity to explore, for example, the personal and political context of the Regiment alongside military related matters.

CO 295/537: Trinidad Despatch from T A V Best, the acting governor of Trinidad, 12 September, 1921.

Notes 1. This was the Friends’ first collaborative event with another like-minded organisation supporting an archive, linking the locally held records to the national records at TNA. 2. A history of the Regiment can be found at: https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/media/2505/royal_sussex_regiment_1701- ri end s 1966.pdf (accessed 1 September 2020). Fof THE NATIONAL AR CHIVES