SOURCES FOR MILITARY HISTORY Gloucestershire Archives - 1 - INTRODUCTION Military archives held by Gloucestershire Archives are considerable in volume and wide- ranging in content. The term “military” has been widely interpreted, as explained in the section below: “Scope of this Guide”. It includes military material of an archive nature transferred from the Gloucestershire Collection into the archives. This has been listed, mostly, under reference D9125, but retains the original “Austin” numbers. It also includes details of material in the Collection itself, which was relocated from the Library to the Gloucestershire Record Office* in December 2005. Paul Davidson carried out the initial research for this guide under the Millennium Commission's Sharing Museum Skill Millennium Awards scheme when he was on secondment from the North Devon Record Office. Grateful thanks are due to Angela Newcombe, who checked Paul Davidson’s original draft, identified many additional sources and went through the final document. The guide was expanded, restructured, edited and updated by Peter E. Bloomfield, until March 2006 the Deputy County & Diocesan Archivist, Gloucestershire Record Office. This work was greatly assisted by the completion, in 2005, of the catalogue of the records of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars (RGH), by Kate Maisey, Senior Cataloguer. The introduction to her catalogue of that substantial archive provides a very detailed explanation of the development and content of the RGH and its records. THE SCOPE OF THIS GUIDE This guide covers the records of Gloucestershire’s regular, militia, volunteer and Territorial Army units and the records held at Gloucestershire Archives relating to the Royal Navy, Merchant Navy and Royal Air Force. It includes the military experiences of individuals, various European and non-European conflicts from the late 15th century onwards, civil defence and military buildings - whether or not these records relate specifically to the county. In addition to the records held by Gloucestershire Archives (which, from December 2005, includes the Gloucestershire Collection), the coverage of the Guide has been widened to incorporate references to the whereabouts of records held elsewhere which may be useful to the student of Gloucestershire’s military history. These include collections held by the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum, the Ministry of Defence and The National Archives. Finally, the Guide includes an extensive compendium of useful web sites and suggested background reading. Peter E. Bloomfield March 2006 * Please note: In June 2006 the Gloucestershire Record Office changed its name to Gloucestershire Archives. The new name has been used throughout, expect in instances where it would be misleading to do so. - 2 - CONTENTS Page Summary of Locations of Military Records 7 An Explanation of the Various Types of Army Regiment 12 Defence & Fighting Forces 15 Militia: Pre-1757 15 Militia: After 1757 19 Volunteer Infantry and Artillery 27 Gloucestershire Regiment 31 Volunteer Yeomanry Cavalry 37 Fencible Cavalry 40 Royal Gloucestershire Hussars 40 Territorial Force 66 Royal Navy 68 Merchant Navy 79 Royal Air Force, Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Flying Corps & Gloster 81 Aircraft Co. Conflicts: Wars & Rebellions 87 Anglo-Saxons & Danes, 1016 87 Holland’s Rising, 1400 87 The Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485 88 The Northern Rebellion, 1537 88 War against France & Scotland, 1543-46 88 French Wars of Religion, 1559-79 88 The Northern Rising, 1569 88 War with Spain, 1585-1604 89 - 3 - The Irish Rebellion, 1598-1603 89 The Thirty Years War, 1618-48 89 The Bishops Wars, 1639-40 90 The English Civil Wars, 1642-46, 1648, 1650-51 90 The Monmouth Rebellion, 1685 103 The “Glorious Revolution”, 1688 103 War of the League of Augsburg, 1689-97 104 War of the Spanish Succession, 1701-13 104 The Jacobite Rising, 1715-19 [The Fifteen] 105 War of the Austrian Succession, 1739-48 106 The Jacobite Rising, 1745-46 [The Forty Five] 106 The Seven Years War, 1756-63 107 Insurrection of the Negroes on Tobago, 1770 108 The American War of Independence, 1776-83 108 The French Revolutionary & Napoleonic Wars, 1792-1815 109 Anglo-American War, 1812-15 122 War of Greek Independence 122 Afghan Wars 122 New Zealand Maori Wars 123 The Crimean War, 1854-56 123 Italian War of Independence, 1848-49 126 The Indian Mutiny, 1857 126 Zanzibar Rebellion, 1859 127 China War, 1860 127 The American Civil War, 1861-65 127 The Franco-Prussian War, 1870-71 127 The Zulu War, 1879 127 - 4 - First Boer War, 1881 128 Egypt & The Sudan, 1882-98 129 Spanish American War, 1898 129 Second Boer War, 1899-1902 129 Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05 131 Balkan Wars, 1912-13 132 The First World War, 1914-18 132 Russia: Post 1917 Revolution – The Civil War 162 Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 162 The Second World War, 1939-45 162 Post-War Civil Defence: The Cold War 201 The Korean War, 1950-53 203 The Suez Crisis, 1956 204 The Six-Day War, 1967 205 Conspiracies & Riots 205 Gunpowder Plot, 1605 205 Popish Plot, 1678-80 205 Gordon Riots, 1780 205 Emmett’s Rebellion, 1803 205 The Cato Street Conspiracy, 1820 206 Military Buildings 207 Castles and Forts 207 World War II Defences 211 Barracks, Camps, Armouries, Drill Halls & Stores 211 Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst (Berkshire) 212 Miscellaneous Individuals 213 - 5 - Miscellaneous Units 221 The British Legion 224 Miscellaneous Other 225 Searching Ancestors Through Military Records 229 Appendices 233 Gloucestershire Volunteer Infantry & Artillery, 1795-1815 233 Gloucestershire Volunteer Yeomanry Cavalry, 1795-1830 236 The Gloucestershire Regiment’s Service 237 List of Repositories & Useful Addresses 241 Suggested Web Sites 243 - 6 - SUMMARY OF LOCATIONS OF MILITARY RECORDS Gloucestershire Archives Gloucestershire Archives holds the archives of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars (RGH) as well as many other records relating to militia and volunteer companies, and to the Gloucestershire Regiment itself. It also holds a wealth of material on the English Civil War, Napoleonic Wars, First and Second World Wars, and other conflicts dating from the 15th century to the present. In addition to its archival holdings, Gloucestershire Archives is also the point of reference for the Gloucestershire Collection, which includes books, journals, pamphlets and newspapers that feature material of interest to the researcher into military history. In the searchroom you will find a number of indexes, catalogues and guides to help you locate any military records. Please note that all our collections have their own “deposit number”, each number unique to that collection; this is useful to bear in mind when searching our indexes and catalogues. Finding aids to the archives come in the following formats: 1. A Handlist of the Contents of the Gloucestershire Record Office, listed under the bodies to which the archives relate (local authority, parish, estate, solicitors, etc.). Although this includes a section on military records the references cited are very limited. 2. A subject index, complete with list of headings, arranged alphabetically by subject. This gives a brief description of each relevant record, with date and reference number, and includes printed books and pamphlets, and references to material held elsewhere. Useful headings to look under include Air Force, Castles, Militia, Military, Navy, War and Weapons. 3. A photographs and illustrations index, arranged alphabetically by a mixture of place and subject. As with the subject index, this gives a brief description of each record, with date and reference number. Researchers wishing to consult photographs should be aware that many of these are kept in a special “cold” strongroom. For photographs that are not ordered up in advance of a visit there may be a delay of several hours in production to allow time for then to be held in an intermediate area prior to their delivery to the searchroom. Indexes may not give the full reference number. To look up an index reference in our catalogues, make a note of the first part of the reference number - this will comprise the “deposit number” of the relevant collection. When you know this, you can look for the same number on the spines of our catalogues and find out more about the record you are interested in. 4. A comprehensive catalogue, of which the main section is of archive accumulations received from a wide range of individuals and organisations, prefixed by the letter “D”. There are separate sections of catalogues for parish records (arranged by name of parish and prefixed by the letter “P”), for Quarter Sessions records and for the records of Local Authorities. The catalogues will provide more detailed descriptions of our records, as well as complete reference numbers. Always consult our catalogues before ordering documents. - 7 - Classification of Gloucestershire Archives holdings When looking at our indexes you will find a number of different types of reference number, not all of them numerical. Here is an explanation of most of them: AC Pamphlets – archives AG Pamphlets – agriculture AR Pamphlets CC County Council (pre-1974) CBR Cheltenham Borough CG Pamphlets CI Pamphlets CMS Pamphlets - County Miscellaneous D Main series of deposited records DA District Councils (Pre-1974) DC District Councils (Post-1974) EN Enquiry Letters FD Pamphlets GBR Gloucester Borough GDR Gloucester Diocesan Records GE Pamphlets GMS Pamphlets - Gloucester Miscellaneous GPS Photographs K County Council (Post-1974) L Lord Lieutenant ME Pamphlets – medical MF Microfilm MI Pamphlets – military MS Pamphlets - miscellaneous NA Pamphlets – national NS Pamphlets – newspapers P Anglican Parishes P (no.) a Parish Councils PA Pamphlets Pcopy Photocopies PE Pamphlets PS Petty Sessions Q Quarter Sessions QT Tewkesbury Borough Sessions ROL Record Office Library S Schools SA Pamphlets - sale particulars SM Pamphlets TBR Tewkesbury Borough TC Temporary Committees (housed at Shire Hall) TRS Transcripts - 8 - The Gloucestershire Collection This local studies collection holds a large selection of books, journals and articles relating to Gloucestershire’s military history, as well as local newspapers and some, mostly printed, original material.