Findmypast Weekly Update

With Remembrance Day approaching, this week’s Findmypast release carries a strong military focus, featuring First World War pension award case files from The National Archives, major additions and access to British Army Service Records from 1760 to 1939, and an update to the British Newspaper Archive adding 269,680 pages across five new titles and 29 updated publications.

Drawn from The National Archives series PIN 26, this collection of First World War pension records comprises representative case files created by the Ministry of Pensions. Transcribed and enhanced by volunteers from the Friends of The National Archives, these 22,869 records document war pension awards and offer deep insights into the human cost of the conflict. The files encompass serving soldiers, officers, dependants, widows, nurses, and personnel from the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, and mercantile marine services. Because transcripts are organised by the serviceman’s name, dependants and widows are located through the service person’s file.

The PIN 26 series arrived at The National Archives in two distinct tranches: pieces PIN 26/1–203 (transferred in 1975) are listed by date of pension termination or death with selection code letters, while PIN 26/204–22756 (transferred between 1989 and 1997) detail covering dates, names, and the nature of disability.

Searchable fields include name, year, regimental number, rank, regiment, description, notes, nature of disease or disability, archive reference, sub-series, and covering dates.

Spanning nearly two centuries from 1760 to 1939, this massive collection brings together more than 8.1 million documents across 17 distinct series from The National Archives and the Scots Guards at Wellington Barracks. The papers document both commissioned officers and other ranks, tracing men through attestation papers, medical examinations, regimental board proceedings, discharge papers, and pension awards.

A central strength of the collection lies in the variety of War Office (WO) series represented. These include Royal Hospital Chelsea in- and out-pension records (WO 22, WO 23, WO 97, WO 121, and WO 131), Militia service records (WO 96), Imperial Yeomanry papers from the South African War (WO 128), and Household Cavalry records (WO 400). For the First World War, the collection provides surviving records from the “burnt documents” in WO 363 (two-thirds of which were lost during the September 1940 Blitz on Arnside Street), intact disability pension files in WO 364 administered by the Ministry of Pensions, and officer personal files in WO 339 and WO 374.

Transcript details typically include first and last name, birth year, birth county and country, service number, rank, regiment, battalion, attestation age and date, residence, pension information, date of death (if died in service), document type, and archive series. Accompanying original images often provide rich biographical context, including physical descriptions, previous civilian occupations, marital status, religion, next-of-kin names and addresses, and complete campaign histories.

The British Newspaper Archive / Findmypast newspaper holdings expanded by 269,680 pages this week across five new titles and 29 updated publications. Notably, this week’s new additions feature a distinctive run of late 18th- and 19th-century periodicals aimed at women, highlighted by extensive runs of The Lady’s Magazine and the Lady’s Monthly Museum.