How can I find out more about my Waterloo ancestor?
Q I have a Waterloo Medal that was passed to the family on the death of my mother-in-law. Around the edge is the recipient’s name, William Elliott, and his regiment – 7th Regiment Hussars. In the Waterloo Medal Roll, I found a William Elliott, tag no. 244, William Elliott, no. 14, 7th Regiment or Queen’s Own Hussars. How do I find out about William?
Lorraine Wilmhurst
A William was certainly at Waterloo, serving with the 7th (The Queen’s Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars). Not only does his name appear on the medal roll, but in the regimental muster for the July/ September quarter of 1815 (reference WO 12/769 at The National Archives in Kew) he has the additional note “Waterloo Man”. This can be viewed under 7th Dragoons in the collection ‘UK, British Army Muster Books and Pay Lists, 1812–1817’ on Ancestry ( ancestry.co.uk).
Men who’d served at Waterloo were entitled to additional pay. A Supplementary Pay List in the same muster states that William enlisted on 19 May 1810.
Most surviving records giving personal details of soldiers relate to pensions, and virtually all are digitised on Ancestry or Findmypast ( findmypast.co.uk), or indexed in TNA’s catalogue ( discovery.nationalarchives. gov.uk). Despite this, I can find nothing for William. But why not?
Working forward in the musters from 1815, William was
“discharged” on 21 December 1818, but not to a pension (WO 12/770, not digitised). The Army was always short of men, but refused to introduce conscription. Various schemes were launched including one for only 10 years’ service with no pension, but a larger bounty. It seems that William enlisted this way, and was discharged early to save money!
There is additional information in WO 12/767 from when he joined the regiment. A handwritten note says, “Recruit joined from London District.” He must have been 18 to enlist and may have lived in, or near, London.
Phil Tomaselli