There has recently become available at the Help Desk a partial index of those men who served in the Wiltshire Militia during the Napoleonic Wars 1793-1815. A brief description of the creation and function of the Militia will explain how and why this could be of use to researchers, together with the five unique features that set them apart from other military forces of the period.

The Infantry drilling, 1807

The first of these features was that the Militia Act of 1758 introduced the idea of conscription. The Regular Army before this date and up to the First World War was officially a volunteer army, but it was felt that volunteering would not raise enough men to serve the purpose of the new force, which was to defend the country in the face of an invasion threat and replace the Regular Army at home during a time of war. Each county was ordered to raise a certain number of infantry men (800 for Wiltshire); each parish was allotted its quota of this total, which was to be selected by ballot from a list drawn up by the parish constables containing the names of all males between the ages of 18-50 (later reduced to 45) with a number of exceptions, including peers, parish officials, clergymen, teachers, preachers, articled clerks, apprentices and members of the regular army. The term of service was for 3 years (later 5) after which time the whole process began again, although men could re-enlist and were encouraged to do so by means of a bounty.

The second unique feature was that those not willing or not able to serve could either pay a hefty fine (with the guarantee that they would have to serve the next time the ballot came up) or pay for a substitute. This substitute did not have to come from the same parish or even the same county as the principal (the term for those balloted).

During peace time the militia trained for 24 days a year by companies (10 of these based on an area e.g. Chippenham) but on the outbreak of war the regiment was ‘embodied’ (the third unique feature) and despatched to replace units of the regular army wherever they were needed, so long as it was out of their county; this is the fourth unique feature, and is probably the main use of the database, in that over the 22 year period it covers, roughly 3000 men of Wiltshire will have more or less disappeared from the local records; some came back, some joined the Regular Army and some settled where they had been serving when their time was up. Other uses are that most of the records give the parish of origin and occupation of the militiaman (as well as those of the principals, when they were substituted), some give their ages and, in the case of those applying for poor relief, the names of their wives and number of children.

Poor relief is the fifth unique feature of the Militia and arises from the fact that, although once embodied they were paid the same as the regulars, there was the added bonus that their families could claim poor relief from the parish, half of which was paid by the parish and half by the County Treasurer from the land tax. This could lead to all sorts of complications if a man from out of county was serving as a substitute, as it was his original parish of settlement that had to pay half the poor relief and then claim it back from the parish for which he was serving. However, the paperwork that this engendered is of benefit to anyone trying to list those who served in the Militia, as the other records are rather sparse.

The usual military records for this period that list names are muster rolls and attestation papers. These latter were filled in when the recruit first enlisted and give a physical description and some personal details, such as place of origin and occupation. There are no attestation papers for the Wiltshire Militia until the 1860s and the only surviving muster rolls are in the National Archives, dating from 1798; none are held at the History Centre.

As mentioned above, the County Treasurer’s accounts (WSA A1/712/1-22) lists those claiming poor relief for their families, giving sometimes the name of the wife, the number of children, where the family is living, the parish for which the claimant is serving and whether he is a substitute – if so, the name and place of the principal is noted.

Obviously, the number of men asking for poor relief is only a fraction of those serving. An even smaller number were able to claim pensions from the Chelsea Hospital after 21 years service, in line with the regulars. Indeed, many of these men were seconded from the regular army to the Militia, but there are enough Wiltshire men among them to make it worthwhile listing them. There is one extraordinary example of a man who served in the Wiltshire Militia all his life: William Phillips had been conscripted in 1758, the year of the Militia’s creation, and was finally pensioned off in 1816, aged 82. These records are held at the National Archives in WO97/1091-1112 with the certificates of service in WO121/1-136 and there is online access to an index of them.

The third main source for the database is a list of balloted men for North Wiltshire (although it seems concentrated on the Chippenham area) from which data has been extracted for 1793-1815 (WSA 137/123). These give name, occupation, place of residence and age of the balloted man, as well as name and place of residence of any principals.

Two similar lists exist for the Salisbury area covering 1808 and 1812 in WSA 906/W/266 & 270 respectively, but these deal only with men who served as substitutes. The information is much the same as in the North Wiltshire lists, but without the age of the substitutes; in compensation the occupation of the principals is listed.

The total number of men who served in the Militia on the database at present is about 1450, although there may be repeats, with the same man turning up in different records at different times. As stated above, over the 22 years of the Napoleonic Wars it can be calculated that upwards of 3000 men between the ages of 18 to 45 will not be reflected in the local records, causing a puzzling gap in many a family tree. Some may have married while away, some may have had their families with them and had children outside Wiltshire, some may have settled in the area to which they were posted once their time was up, or, alternatively, some recruited in distant counties or towns (Norwich, where the regiment was stationed in 1809-10, seems a particularly fertile ground for this) might have decided to try their luck in Wiltshire when they were disbanded.

It is hoped that this database will provide answers to some of these questions, as well as ones not directly connected to those who served in the Militia; for example, there are about a thousand individuals named as principals, with their places of residence and (sometimes) occupations that could be useful information for anyone researching ancestors in Wiltshire in the early 19^th century. There are many more sources for the Militia in obscure places at the History Centre, as well as the muster rolls at the National Archives, and I hope to be able to add to the database on a regular basis. To that end, I would welcome any references to Wiltshire militiamen that come to light during your research. It is by no means a complete piece of work, but it is a start.

If you have enjoyed this article, the following entries may also be of interest:

Wiltshire Yeomanry Records Reunited Again!

News from the Archives
(Includes information about the 'Defence of the Realm' Registers for the Napoleonic War)