Researching the Name

One of my favorite things is to learn about the people who once wore my helmets. To do this, though, you have to have a name with which to begin. It can be a few initials or a full name. In my opinion, the best part of this process is turning the initials (if that's all you have) into a name.

Be careful, if you can't find a label immediately, look behind the liner/sweatband. I almost missed the label in the middle picture above because it was hidden behind the liner.

Step 1:

Once you have the initials, it is time to start looking through the army lists. The army lists were annually published books which recorded every officer by regiment and rank in the entire British Army. These books should be available for free online (A link is under resources).

• If your helmet has a pre-1881 plate, look through the 1878-1882 army lists under his regiment, and then look for his initials or name.
• If your helmet has a queen's crown (but is not pre-1881), start with the 1882 army list and work your way up until you find him.
• If your helmet has a king's crown, start with the 1902 army list and work your way up until you find him.

Be careful, for helmets after the Childers Reforms of 1881, the owner might have been part of a militia battalion (the 3rd and 4th battalions of a regiment) and not a regular battalion (the 1st and 2nd battalions of a regiment). The lists for the militia battalions of regiments are located in a different section of the book, typically later. I learned this the hard way when researching my Suffolk Regiment helmet. I only looked at the regular battalions, and after weeks of being stumped, I finally found the militia battalion section, where I  found the officer. 

Step 2:

Once you find the officer in the army lists, you should have a little more information. In some they list the first name of the officer. in others, where they were stationed. In one, they listed the birthdate. All army lists, however, contain either the date of their commission as an officer or their most recent promotion. 

You can use the new information you find, hopefully a name, to start searching online. If you're LUCKY something will come up. One trick to find a name is to use the dates of promotion to search the London Gazette for the announcements of their promotion. An example of what I found through the Gazette while researching my Inspector of Army Schools Helmet can be seen in the accompanying image from the London Gazette (See my poorly drawn red arrow).

Step 3:

Try using ancestry.com or other similar sites to look up original documents like marriage certificates, deployment records, and award rolls. These searches can take a lot of time, but they will allow you to see a complete picture of the person's life. 

Please email me if I was able to help, I'd love to hear what you found.