Units in India & Burma -1911 Census

[Guest]

Dear All - The 1911 Census including men in units serving in India is available through Ancestry, however there is no Index. The units based in India cover over 4,000 pages. Having carefully trawled the data I have built an index which provides the 'landing page' for each unit i.e. the first page in each unit's Census roll. It should be possible for researchers interested in a particular unit to build an effective nominal rolls from the data. Most of the men serving in 1911 would have served in 1914 due to service commitments. [Edit: I have added the index for the 230 page Burma and Andaman Islands below]

I have created separate lists for different Arms which will run consecutively from this post.

1. Line Infantry - see below - note units are in order of precedence and where Bn's with separate detachments appear in two separate locations on the list, both are given.

2. Line Cavalry - see second post

3. RFA & RGA - see third post

4. Other Units Including RE, RAMC, Depots, Bde HQs. - see fourth post. Please note that some of the Sanitoriums include convalescing men from many different units.

Please PM me if you spot any errors and I will amend. Apologies for the rubbish formatting, but I can't get my nice neat columns to replicate in the post. Any mistakes are mine. Regards Guest

Page no. Unit Station Province

2782 1st Bn Royal Scots Allahabad

2395 1st Bn King's Own Regiment Dilkusha, Lucknow

1359 1st Bn Kings Own Regt (detachment) United provinces

2026 1st Bn Northumberland Fusiliers Rawalpindi Punjab

382 2nd Bn Royal Fusiliers Pachmari depot

516 2nd Bn Royal Fusiliers Jubbulpore

2891 2nd Bn King's Regt Ambala Punjab

2481 2n Bn East Yorks Regt Fyzabad Oudh

1974 1st Bn POW West Yorkshire Regt Rawalpindi Punjab

2253 2nd Bn Leicestershire Regt Madras

3439 1st Bn Royal Irish Regt Agra United Provinces

2835 1st Bn Lancashire Fusiliers Multan Punjab

564 2nd Bn Cheshire Regt Jubbulpore

255 2nd Bn Royal Welch Fusiliers Quetta Baluchistan

3295 Ist Bn King's Own Scottish Borderers Ranikhet

898 2nd Bn Worcestershire Regt Jhansi

3182 4th Bn Worcestershire Regt Bareilly

403 2nd Bn East Lancashire Regt Mhow Central Provinces

3036 1st Bn Duke of Wellington's Regt Ambala Punjab

1923 1st Bn Royal Sussex Regt Rawalpindi Punjab

3107 1st Bn South Lancashire Regt Lahore

2089 2nd Bn Black Watch Sialkot Punjab

2200 1st Bn Oxfordshire & Bucks LI Nigiri

309 1st Bn Essex Regt Quetta Baluchistan

3910 1st Bn Sherwood Foresters Trimulgherry Deccan

3966 1st Bn Sherwood Foresters Trimulgherry Deccan

1291 2nd Bn Royal Berkshire Regt Chakrata United Provinces

1431 2nd Bn Royal Berkshire Regt Meerut

1746 2nd Bn Royal West Kent Regt Peshawar NWFP

3953 2nd Bn Shropshire Light Infantry Trimulgherry Deccan

3995 2nd Bn Shropshire Light Infantry Trimulgherry Deccan

2613 1st Bn Middlesex Regt Dinapore

2555 3rd Bn Middlesex Regt Lehong

198 3rd Bn KRRC Dagshai

1326 4th Bn KRRC Chakrata

1359 4th Bn KRRC det 1st Bn Kings Own United provinces

3507 4th Bn KRRC (detachment) Fort Delhi

462 1st Bn Manchster Regt Kamptee Central Provinces

1795 2nd Bn North Staffordshire Regt Peshawar NWFP

1565 1st Bn York & Lancaster Regt Karachi

617 1st Bn Durham light Infantry Nasirabad Rajputana

2471 1st Bn Highland Light Infantry Lucknow

1043 1st Bn Highland Light Infantry Dilkusha, Lucknow

2313 1st Bn Highland Light Infantry Dilkusha, Lucknow

3237 1st Bn Seaforth Highlanders

961 2nd Bn Gordon Highlanders Cawnpore

3768 2nd Bn Cameron Highlanders Bangalore

3587 2nd Bn Royal Irish Fusiliers Quetta Baluchistan

100 1st Bn Connaught Rangers Ferosepore Punjab

22 2nd Bn Leinster Regt Jullunder Punjab

1847 1st Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers Nowsheera NWFP

2665 2nd Bn Rifle Bde Calcutta

Edit 24th March 12: Additional Units serving in Burma and Andaman Islands - 231 pages

Page 2 2nd Bn East Surrey Regiment (also individual Companies starting on pages 16, 29, 38, 47, 116, 125)

Page 56 1st Bn Royal Irish Rifles (also individual Companies starting on pages 62, 80, 88, 96, 107, 214, 213)

Page 152 1st Bn Border Regiment (also individual Companies starting on pages 166, 181, 190, 205 (Andaman Island detachment))

[Guest]

Cavalry Regiments serving in India - 1911 Census pages for each unit

Page no. Unit Station Province

2992 1st King's Dragoon Guards Ambala Punjab

3839 7th Dragoon Guards Trimulgherry Deccan

3364 1st Royal Dragoons Muttra

850 6th Inniskilling Dragoons Mhow Central Provinces

2360 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars Dilkusha, Lucknow

3405 13th Hussars Meerut

3724 14th King's Hussars Bangalore

1068 10th Royal Hussars Rawalpindi Punjab

1098 17th Lancers Sialkot Punjab

[RammyLad1]

Guest, the click here facility doesn't appear to be working.

Duncan

[Guest]

RFA, RGA and RHA Units serving in India - 1911 Census page index numbers

Please Note the the RFA in nearly every case use the format 8th Bty RFA, wheras the RGA flipped between No.11 Coy RGA and 11th Coy RGA. I have chosen to use the former format. There is one oddity - the 13th Bty (not Coy) RGA which is confusing so I left it as it is. I am sure this is not a typo for the 13th Bty RFA as this appears separately. The RHA used letters of the alphabet and were consistent.

Page no. Unit Station Province

3674 2nd Bty RFA Bangalore

1169 4th Bty RFA Rawalpindi Punjab

2777 6th Bde RFA Allahabad

707 7th Bty RFA Jhansi

3686 8th Bty RFA Bangalore

3870 10th Bty RFA Trimulgherry Deccan

720 11th Bty RFA Jubbulpore

2942 12th Bty RFA Ambala Punjab

734 13th Bty RFA Neemuch

1407 14th Bty RFA Agra United Provinces

1693 18th Bty RFA Nowsheera NWFP

1012 20th Bty RFA Dilkusha, Lucknow

3096 25th Bty RFA Lahore

3882 26th Bty RFA Trimulgherry Deccan

2543 28th Bty RFA Fyzabad Oudh

1181 38th Bty RFA Rawalpindi Punjab

746 52nd Bty RFA Jubbulpore

153 58th Bty RFA Ferosepore Punjab

1625 59th Bty RFA Hyderabad Sind

1704 62nd Bty RFA Nowsheera NWFP

1390 63rd Bty RFA Meerut

1378 64th Bty RFA Meerut

770 66th Bty RFA Jhansi

785 69th Bty RFA Hasnabad Rajputana

1551 73rd Bty RFA Bareilly United Provinces

2744 74th Bty RFA Barrackpore

1716 75th Bty RFA Nowsheera NWFP

2756 77th Bty RFA Allahabad

1192 78th Bty RFA Campbellpore

2734 79th Bty RFA Dinapore

799 80th Bty RFA Jubbulpore

2171 83rd Bty RFA Kamptee Central Provinces

2189 86th Bty RFA & 11th Bde RFA Staff St Thomas' Mount

2 89th Bty RFA Jullunder Punjab

79 90th Bty RFA Multan Punjab

1728 91st Bty RFA Peshawar NWFP

3897 92nd Bty RFA etc Trimulgherry Deccan

1637 93rd Bty RFA Hyderabad Sind

1649 94th Bty RFA Karachi

1681 3rd Bde RFA Staff Nowsheera NWFP

1402 5th Bde RFA (Staff) & RA Boys Depot Meerut

1625 18th Bde Staff Hyderabad Sind

74 16th Bde (Staff) RFA Jullunder Punjab

1686 No. 1 Ammunition Column RFA Nowsheera NWFP

1203 No. 2 Ammunition Column RFA Rawalpindi Punjab

3088 No. 3 Ammunition Column RFA

1618 No. 4 Ammunition Column RFA Hyderabad Sind

2536 No. 8 Ammunition Column RFA Fyzabad Oudh

3882 No. 9 Ammunition Column RFA Trimulgherry Deccan

3686 No. 10 Ammunition Column RFA Bangalore

818 No.11 Ammunition Column RFA Jubbulpore

825 No.12 Ammunition Column RFA Jhansi

3576 No. 51 Coy RGA Quetta Baluchistan

1502 No. 59(Siege) Coy RGA Roorkee United Provinces

165 No. 60 Coy RGA Ferosepore Punjab

1268 No. 68 Coy RGA Attock

2714 No. 70 Coy RGA Calcutta

832 No. 71 (Heavy) Bty RGA Nowgong

1248 No. 73 Coy RGA Attock

841 No. 72 (Heavy) Bty RGA Nowgong

1258 No. 74 Coy RGA Ismailia

2725 No. 77 Coy RGA Katapahar

1513 No. 81 (Siege) Coy RGA Roorkee United Provinces

2767 No. 82 Coy RGA Allahabad

1738 No. 86 (Heavy) Bty RGA Peshawar NWFP

2824 No. 90 (Heavy) Bty RGA Multan Punjab

1493 No. 91 (Heavy) Bty RGA Roorkee United Provinces

1420 No. 94 Coy RGA Agra United Provinces

1371 No. 94 Coy RGA (detachment) Fort Delhi

3564 No. 101 Coy RGA Quetta Baluchistan

1240 No. 104 (Heavy) Bty RGA Campbellpore

3674 13th Bty RGA Bangalore

1661 RGA Staff & 7?6th Coy RGA Karachi

90 No.2 Mountain Bty RGA Jutogh

1210 No.4 Mountain Bty RGA Rawalpindi Punjab

12 No. 5 Mountain Bty RGA Jutogh

3549 No. 6 Mountain Bty RGA Quetta Baluchistan

3531 No. 7 Mountain Bty RGA Quetta Baluchistan

3540 No. 8 Mountain Bty RGA Quetta Baluchistan

1230 No.9 Mountain Bty RGA Rawalpindi Punjab

3558 RGA Staff, Quetta Quetta Baluchistan

2983 9th Bde RHA Staff Ambala Punjab

3662 D Bty RHA Bangalore

2970 J Bty RHA Ambala Punjab

2958 N Bty RHA Ambala Punjab

1529 P Bty RHA Meerut

1540 R Bty RHA Meerut

1025 U Bty RHA Dilkusha, Lucknow

1153 V Bty RHA Rawalpindi Punjab

1136 W Bty RHA Sialkot Punjab

673 X Bty RHA Mhow Central Provinces

692 Y Bty RHA Mhow Central Provinces

1164 A Ammunition Column RHA Campbellpore

2987 C Ammunition Column RHA Ambala Punjab

1148 B Ammunition Column RHA Sialkot Punjab

702 E Ammunition Column RHA Mhow

3359 F Ammunition Column RHA Meerut

1037 G Ammunition Column RHA Dilkusha, Lucknow

Edit: On the Burma and Andaman Islands document (230 pages) an un-numbered RGA unit based in Rangoon starts on page 139

[Guest]

Other Units based in India - 1911 Census Index pages...

Page no. Unit Station Province

1280 Derha Dun GOC DD Bde Derha Dun

1286 Standing Camp Kailana

1310 Landour Depot Landour

394 Mount Abu Sanitorium Mount Abu Rajputana

3503 Military Grass farm Agra United Provinces

3674 Bde Staff Bangalore

2154 Soldiers Extra Regimentally Employed Bareilly United Provinces

1910 7th Division Staff Meerut

1914 Meerut Cavalry Bde Office Meerut

1918 Station Staff Office, Meerut Meerut

2159 Bde and telegraph office Ranikhet

2165 Station Hospital Rikhet Supply Ranikhet

3524 Gharwal Bde office Roorkee United Provinces

3354 RA Staff Roorkee United Provinces

3712 RAMC Bangalore

3716 RE Bangalore

1524 No. 31 Div Signals Coy Fatehgarh Wsetern Provinces

3168 No. 32 (Divisional Signals) Coy Sappers & Miners Fatehgarh Wsetern Provinces

1671 1st (KGO) Sappers & Miners Karachi

2145 4th Coy 1st (KGO) Sappers and Miners Rawalpindi Punjab

2150 No.11 Coy 2nd (QO) Sappers and Miners Rawalpindi Punjab

3344 1st (KGO) Sappers & Miners Roorkee United Provinces

2140 26th Railway Coy Sappers and Miners Sialkot Punjab

[Chris_Baker]

Great work, Guest. Thank you.

[Guest]

On 04/03/2012 at 18:52, RammyLad1 said:

Guest, the click here facility doesn't appear to be working.

Duncan

Duncan - change of plan...it was easier just to run the posts consecutively.... I was trying to be too clever thinking I would make 4 separate posts..... Sadly the formatting goes awry when pasting in from excel. If anyone wants a copy of the spreadsheet PM me with your email and I will send. Guest

[Guest]

On 04/03/2012 at 18:58, Chris_Baker said:

Great work, Guest. Thank you.

Chris - If you need the spreadsheet just let me know.... There may be some tiny errors but I have trawled the data 3 times. It should save researchers a fair bit of time. Please note that it is possible to lift the data of the individuals' names as a transcribed 'spreadsheet' hovers just below the pages. There are 30 names per pages, so a Bn on 1,100 men takes about 50 consecutive pages. I have rebuilt the 4th Bn Worcestershires and the 1st Bn Essex Regt (29th Div men at Gallipoli which I am now cross referencing with SDGW data). Also please note that the Battalions and Cavlary Regts are laid out by Companies and Squadrons (mostly) so it is even possible in most cases to rebuild the nominal roll of say, A Coy Durham light Infantry in 1911.

There are 41 separarte Infantry Battalions, so a fair chunk of the regular Army.

There are also lists of units stationed elsewhere. I am working on thes other stations and will post accordingly.

I had to do it anyway for my own research, so in the spirit of the GWF I thought it worth sharing. Hope it saves you some time...

Guest

[Rockdoc]

25th Battery, RFA, is missing from your list. My Grandfather was out there in F Sub-section. I think, without going and looking it all up again, that they formed 46 Brigade with 12th and 58th Batteries. 25th left Southampton in mid-1910 and returned there in January, 1914. His details are in my signature so you can cross-reference him.

Keith

[Guest]

On 05/03/2012 at 11:20, Rockdoc said:

25th Battery, RFA, is missing from your list. My Grandfather was out there in F Sub-section. I think, without going and looking it all up again, that they formed 46 Brigade with 12th and 58th Batteries. 25th left Southampton in mid-1910 and returned there in January, 1914. His details are in my signature so you can cross-reference him.

Keith

Hi Keith - I am 99% certain that the 25th Bty RFA are not within these 4,019 pages as a Battery would take up about 14-15 pages. I slowly plodded through the whole document in jumps of 10 pages (or less when I came to minor units). I did this twice and as part of the exercise scrolled backwards from each 'landing page' to double check the preceding unit was the same as the last recorded landing page (if that makes sense). The 58th Battery RFA was based at Ferozepore the only other units shown at that location are the Connaught Rangers and No. 60 Coy RGA. The 25th Battery RFA does not appear in the vicinity of the Forezepore units (or anywhere else for that matter). I double checked (treble checked?) this just now and scrolled either side of the first and last units and some way beyond. The 12th Battery were based at Ambala in the Punjab (232 km from Ferozepore Cantonment according to Google Maps) and I have repeated the exercise, slowly checking the continuity of units and nothings shows for the 25th Bty RFA . I double checked (treble checked?) this just now and scrolled either side of the first and last unit. There could be a few explanations

1. There is always the possibility that I made a mistake (twice), but I think it is quite low probability - given the two Batteries above were 232 km apart but formed parts of the same Bde it is distinctly possible (and probable) they were based in another town or city. If you know the location I could try and search around the units based in that location - there are seven different stations listed in the Punjab in the Census.

2. The 4,019 page Census does not cover all of India and there is part of it either missing or not yet digitised.

3. The 25th Bty is included in the 470 page Ceylon & India part of the Census (this is work in progress)

4. The 25th Bty is included in the 134 page India & Singapore part of the Census (this is also work in progress)

I should have 3. and 4. done by this weekend so we shall see what it generates. This is the 1911 Census (April) and I assume you are 100% certain the 25th Bty was in India at the time.

Regards Guest

[mrjustinhayward]

Good work, thank you

Justin

[ororkep]

You will find 12 Bty RFA, in XLVI Brigade, Lahore Cantonment Punjab around the 2946 page mark. (for Keith re GF, unless there is another Herbert)

Not to detract from the excellent work by Guest, these images have been available for well over a year now on FMP so I find it interesting the excitement now generated on the forum by Ancestry subscribers. Is it a sort of Betamax v VHS experience for the future of our research in genealogy? I do hope not!

Rgds

Paul

[battiscombe]

Jan 1911 25th Bty was listed as Neemuch and due to move to Lahore cantonment, as was 12th Bty

[Guest]

On 06/03/2012 at 20:49, battiscombe said:

Jan 1911 25th Bty was listed as Neemuch and due to move to Lahore cantonment, as was 12th Bty

Thanks...Problem solved. Page 3096. I have made a transcription error .....and written 35th instead of 25th Bty RFA.... will amend accordingly. Guest

P.S. Lahore is only 78km from Ferozepore (Firozpur)

[Guest]

On 06/03/2012 at 20:24, ororkep said:

You will find 12 Bty RFA, in XLVI Brigade, Lahore Cantonment Punjab around the 2946 page mark. (for Keith re GF, unless there is another Herbert)

Not to detract from the excellent work by Guest, these images have been available for well over a year now on FMP so I find it interesting the excitement now generated on the forum by Ancestry subscribers. Is it a sort of Betamax v VHS experience for the future of our research in genealogy? I do hope not!

Rgds

Paul

The transcribed parts of the records in Ancestry are riddled with errors. It does however allow one to add a suggested name/transcription. Approximately 1/10th of the 1st Bn Essex Regt men's home towns had not been transcribed so searching and finding the individual via Ancestry will not always work. My angle is to use this for rebuilding nominal rolls and for this purpose all the info is there, but for the sake of accuracy I would recommend double-checking the spellings etc. While the Ancestry website is a big leap forward one sometimes wonders who is transcribing the names and places.......probably not people whose first language is English I would suspect. Guest

[Rockdoc]

Thanks for the various responses, chaps. His records aren't on Ancestry, apart from one page relating to his being transferred back to the RFA from the RGA at the end of the War shortly before he was demobbed, so I don't know exactly where 25th Battery were during its time in India. From postcards he sent to my grandmother, he seems to have spent some time in 1910 at Nasirabad and there are quite a number showing the camp at Dalhousie. He certainly spent most time at least nominally based at the Lahore Cantonment and was there at the end of 1913, just before they returned to England.

Keith

[Guest]

Thanks for the various responses, chaps. His records aren't on Ancestry, apart from one page relating to his being transferred back to the RFA from the RGA at the end of the War shortly before he was demobbed, so I don't know exactly where 25th Battery were during its time in India. From postcards he sent to my grandmother, he seems to have spent some time in 1910 at Nasirabad and there are quite a number showing the camp at Dalhousie. He certainly spent most time at least nominally based at the Lahore Cantonment and was there at the end of 1913, just before they returned to England.

Keith

Having trawled the pages, my guess he is there somewhere in these pages but has his name transcribed incorrectly. You might find it worth while plodding through the RFA and RGA units in the cantonments you mentioned to see if he was attached to another RFA/RGA unit. Some of the census sheets have men from many units...also worth searching the Sanitoriums who have many men recovering or resting.

[mrjustinhayward]

Sorry if I've missed anything

2nd Dorsets were at Poona in 1911, Enumeration Book starts at page 294 of 470 in the Ceylon and India section

Justin

[Rockdoc]

Quote

Having trawled the pages, my guess he is there somewhere in these pages but has his name transcribed incorrectly.

I'd forgotten that my brother-in-law sent me an image of the sheet he's on a long time ago. He's listed at Ambala, Punjab with 12th Battery, the only time I have ever seen his name associated other than with 25th Battery. All the letters and cards my Grandmother sent are addressed to the latter unit, right from late 1909 when he was first sent to it at Newport straight from basic training up to after he recovered from his wounds in September 1916. As they were in the same Brigade I suppose he could have been temporarily moved across for training, to cover for someone or something like that but it's a puzzle.

Keith

[ororkep]

Re #17

that was why I posted #12. Keith, he is shown in 12 Bty and not 25 Bty, which was also at Lahore Cantonment.

Rgds

Paul

[Rockdoc]

Thanks, mate. I hadn't quite clicked what you meant and had forgotten about the image I had been sent.

Keith

[Guest]

Hi Guest.

Don`t know if this will help but i found my Gt Grandfather Charles Henry Graver station at Belgaum, Karnataka, India on 1911 census serving with the 2 Bn Norfolks.

Regards Ray.

[peteg]

Hi

Do the couple of 1/Kings Own Bn you mention refer to Kings Own (Royal Lancaster) Rgt ?

My grandfather was a 1/Kings Own man and I have him in Bowerham barracks Lancaster on the 1911 census. I always thought 2/Kings Own were in India at that time.

Pete

[Guest]

Hi

Do the couple of 1/Kings Own Bn you mention refer to Kings Own (Royal Lancaster) Rgt ?

My grandfather was a 1/Kings Own man and I have him in Bowerham barracks Lancaster on the 1911 census. I always thought 2/Kings Own were in India at that time.

Pete

Yes. The King's Own is the King's Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment....not to be confused with The King's (Liverpool Regiment). The cover page definitely shows 1st Bn at Dilkusha, Lucknow, as does the cover page for the detachment at Chakrata, United Provinces.

[peteg]

Quote

Yes. The King's Own is the King's Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment....not to be confused with The King's (Liverpool Regiment). The cover page definitely shows 1st Bn at Dilkusha, Lucknow, as does the cover page for the detachment at Chakrata, United Provinces.

Hi Guest,

My mistake, it's the 1901 census that I have him in Lancaster, not 1911.....lack of eye / brain co-ordination. Sorry.

For the record, I have him in Malta (Nov 1901) 279 days

Calcutta (Sept 1903) 9yrs 116day

Shwebo, Burma (Feb 1906)

Lebong (Dec 1907)

Lucknow (Dec 1908)

The Battalion returned to UK and went into barracks in Dover on 13th January 1913. (2yrs 8 days)