Genealogy Chat

i have an uncle in the 1881 cens nottingham occupation chelsea pensioner colour sareant he was only 42 years old ? ive tried google to find out what this all means but no luck so far. can anyone help please dawn xx

If you have Googled Chelsea Pensioner then you will have seen that to qualify, you will need to be over 65 or receiving a military disability pension. You Uncle must have been disabled during military action. I can only assume that your ancestor, a colour sargeant, was staying with relatives at the time of the census, as they do not live away from Chelsea as a rule. Ken

Dawn I found this: Soldiers’ Papers When a soldier enlisted, a form called an attestation paper was completed. Likewise, if he was discharged to pension, a discharge document was completed. The papers were held by the Royal Hospital, Chelsea who administered his pension (hence “Chelsea Pensioner”, a term which applies both to those living at the hospital -“in pensioners” - and those receiving cash payments - “out pensioners). The papers are now at the Public Record Office in Class WO97. The papers for soldiers discharged 1760-1854 are indexed and the index can be accessed via the PRO on-line catalogue (PROCAT) at www.pro.gov.uk/catalogues/procat.htm which can be searched by name. Later records can only be searched in person at the PRO. The papers provide details of birthplace and age, physical description and an outline of service history. Later records may also record the names and addresses of next of kin. The papers will also identify the regiment which is needed to access muster books and pay lists and other regimental records. It is important to note that papers will only be available for soldiers who were discharged to pension. They will not survive for those who died in action or deserted never to return (though incidents of desertion were no bar to a pension http://www.mlfhs.org.uk/Infobase/Begin-Army2.htm Sheila

You can have 'in' pensioners and 'out' pensioners.....'out' pensioners as the title suggests receieve an army pension, either because they were injured or for length of service. 'in' pensioners live in the chelsea hospital and surrender their pension in return for lodgings and care etc. My great grandad was a colour sergeant its a non commisioned rank and historically carried the colours of their battalion in battles. Chelsea pension records are held at the national archives in Kew.

thank you sheila and willow .now know where to look for info sorry took so long to answer been to w**k thanks again dawn xx

Actually Ive seen a Chelsea Pensioner aged 14 - so they can be any age - I assume as long as they were serving and were injured? As already mentioned, there were out pensioners and its normally only the unmarried men who stayed at the Chelsea Hospital. Theres a huge site for the Chelsea Pensioners museum - just google for it.