RECORD MASTERCLASS
WW1 Pension Cards
Phil Tomaselli explains how to search a huge collection of digitised records for servicemen who were killed or injured during the First World War
Regular soldiers have been entitled to pensions since Charles II’s reign, provided they served a stipulated number of years or were invalided out, but pensions ceased on death with no provision for widows. In 1854 the Royal Victoria Patriotic Fund, with Prince Albert as president, was established to coordinate and administer the private funds being collected for Crimean War widows and orphans. Within six months £290,000 had been collected. This was invested and small pensions paid to widows and dependants of men killed.
In 1901, following pressure from the press and the general public, widows’ pensions funded from the public purse were introduced, but only applied to women whose marriages had been recognised by the services. The Patriotic Fund continued to support others.
The Army and Navy handled their own pensions, and this continued into the first two years of the First World War. There was such a high level of casualties, however, that the Ministry of Pensions was created in December 1916 to handle war pensions. This took several months to get fully established, during which time Chelsea and Greenwich Hospitals continued to administer Army and Navy claims. The hospitals’ records were gradually transferred to the ministry and form part of this important collection.
Saved For Posterity
The Western Front Association (WFA) saved the pension records from destruction by the Ministry of Defence in 2012 and they’re available on Fold3 (fold3.com), a military records website that is now owned by Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk). Access to the records on Fold3 is not included in an Ancestry subscription, so must be purchased separately. A monthly Fold3 subscription costs $7.95 and an annual one costs $79.95.
The surviving cards and ledgers of the ministry make up the collection examined here. Every service person killed, injured or otherwise incapacitated would have had a card created for them because there may have been a pension entitlement for them or their family. They include records for the Merchant Marine and Royal Air Force, but don’t usually include colonial or dominion services. There are more than 7,500,000 records, although there is often more than one for a particular casualty.
Unfortunately there can be many problems in dealing with the records. The formats for cards (even those dealing with the same kind of claim) differ, they’re usually handwritten and difficult to read, and the information on the card sometimes differs from other sources and needs to be checked. Also, it appears that some cards were made out in advance in anticipation of a claim that was never made. These can be disappointing, but at least prove that a relative was injured. Note too that some ledgers appear to have been destroyed, particularly relating to claimants who lived in south-east England.
It’s possible to find out whether there’s a card or other record by searching for them using the serviceman’s full name but there can be problems, especially with common names, both first and surname. The cards were transcribed on digitisation. First names are sometimes abbreviated (“Wm” instead of “William”) and ministry clerks sometimes inserted commas in regimental numbers eg “203,002” for “203002”, so it may help your search to add a comma.
A Wealth Of Information
The cards are the index record for the pension ledgers, although they contain annotations that an experienced clerk could understand and use as a file summary. The ledgers give a soldier’s name, regimental number, rank, date of discharge, year of birth, marital status, address and disabilities. They usually show amendments to pension payments as circumstances change, and there is evidence of some of them continuing to be used into the 1970s. Details of how pensions were calculated can be found on the WFA’s website at westernfrontassociation.com.
As with many digitisation projects there are errors and misplaced records, but there is a wildcard facility. The use of an asterisk (*) within the name of a person or place will bring up records that may be relevant if you can’t find what you’re looking for because of a mistranscription or an abbreviation.
The records are available to members of the WFA free of charge via westernfrontassociation.com/ancestry-pension-records. There is direct access to the Fold3 pension records and Fold3’s search facilities, but there is no access to other groups of records on the website. Annual membership of the WFA starts at £29 and has other benefits that may be of interest if you have several ancestors who served in the First World War.
Phil Tomaselli is a military family history expert who contributes to our ‘Q&A’ section every issue.
Watch Out!
Pension records won’t give a full picture of your ancestor’s military life. Service records (where available), medal rolls and Medal Index Cards should also be consulted.
Pension Card, 1917
This pension card for Sergeant Adam Mottershead is fairly typical for a man who died with a dependant.
1 Number
As well as Adam’s full name, his regimental number is included. This information can be extremely useful in family history for locating additional records in which your relation is featured.
2 Battalion
Adam’s battalion is given, and his regiment. If he’d died in Britain with no Medal Index Card then this information could be vital for tracing his military service.
3 Date Of Receipt
Adam’s records were probably received late because he was posted missing (he’s on the Thiepval Monument) and may have been a POW.
4 Circumstances Of Death
This section reveals the date, cause and country of Adam’s death. He was killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme (1 July 1916).
5 Dependant
Adam’s dependant was his mother. Research shows that she was widowed in 1904 and, although he had older brothers, she probably depended on him.
6 Pension
Mary received a weekly pension of 7s, which was first paid on 7 August. She may have received help from the Manchester Regiment
in the meantime.
Resources
Take your research further
WEBSITES
Findmypast
w bit.ly/fmp-ww1-widows-pensions
You can search the First World War widows’ and dependants’ pension forms held at The National Archives in Kew in series PIN 82 via Findmypast’s collection ‘British Armed Forces, First World War Widows’ Pension Forms’.
The National Archives
w tinyurl.com/tna-ww1-wids-dependants
You can search PIN 82 on TNA’s website too. You can also search First World War officers’ service files, including details of their pensions and gratuities, in WO 339 (tinyurl.com/tna-ww1-offs) and WO 374 (tinyurl.com/tna-ww1-offs-374).
Western Front Association
w tinyurl.com/wfa-pensions
The association’s website has a series of detailed explanatory essays about the pension records.