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Military Service (Civil Liabilities) Department - Grants


Matlock1418

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Military Service (Civil Liabilities) - Grants for ex-servicemen - recently caught my eye as some examples found in the WFA/Fold3 pension records .

A couple of examples below:

J. FITZGERALD 4775

223058875_FITZGERALDJohn4775.jpg.89d9b4c56ee970a626f2fd1bacdcd87c.jpg

 

T. V. KANE  3398690

1762422946_KANETV3398690.jpg.69f65e971f2226395560a2d07e39f579.jpg

Images courtesy of WFA/Fold3 - with thanks

 

Is anyone able to please give more information on the origins and administration/activities of the Military Service (Civil Liabilities) Department and the grants award process

TIA

:-) M

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Whilst awaiting the awesome power of GWF to kick in I have done a bit of looking about for Military Service (Civil Liabilities) on the web = Some snippets below:


"The soldier's guide to obtaining state assistance under the Military Service (Civil Liabilities) Regulations" ...
Author:    Fitzherbert John Osbourne Coddington
Publisher:    London, Gale [1916]
https://www.worldcat.org/title/soldiers-guide-to-obtaining-state-assistance-under-the-military-service-civil-liabilities-regulations/oclc/42517792
Several copies appear to be in libraries in the UK
Reprints may also be available from AMAZON - but seemingly out of stock in the UK at present.

 

= Please ... Has anyone a copy of the Military Service (Civil Liabilities) Regulations?

Presumably there was an earlier Army Order = Has anyone got a ready copy of this AO?

 

For Officers there seems to have been an active effort to advertise Military Service (Civil Liabilities) - see this 1917 notice in the British Medical Journal
MAY 12, 1917] THE SERVICES. [THE British Medical Journal p633 & p634]
http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC2348334&blobtype=pdf

Reproduced below from the above - with thanks

283023264_GrantstoOfficersbyCL(1)-BMJ12-05-1917p633.jpg.70345d703ed367e1ab0b922fedea5dda.jpg

 

 

386194140_GrantstoOfficersbyCL(2)-BMJ12-05-1917p634.jpg.d75b45a92c16a19dcccd9cd4648e88c4.jpg


This refers to ARMY ORDER 108 (March 14th, 1917) = Has anyone got a ready copy?

It also suggests that the grants were for liabilities/obligations whilst still serving.

 

Later the grants were made to allow soldiers to maintain a previous small business and/or set up a new one after service - I think it seems from the above cards [?]

= I look forward in hope to further enlightenment from GWF.

:-) M

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Augustus George Hardy MAUND appear to have managed to get something out of the MS(CL)D, but not specified, even though on his card amongst the WFA/Fold3 pension records it appears to read "Rejected" [so presumably only rejected for a pension??]

- Formerly a Serjeant with the Suffolk Regt it would appear - apparently with a whole raft of numbers 51393, 14556,  TR9/28005 & Z/Suff/3522

265462866_MAUNDAugustusGHSuffolkRegt.httpww1lit_nsms_ox_ac.uk-ww1lit-items-show-5202(1).jpg.ee400b9cfd0bd1098f9c406f329e4d16.jpg

'This item is from The First World War Poetry Digital Archive, University of Oxford (www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit); © [Copyright notice]' - with thanks
http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/items/show/5202

In the bottom left corner there appears to be a calculation on the other side of the page

1704183987_MAUNDAugustusGHSuffolkRegt.httpww1lit_nsms_ox_ac.uk-ww1lit-items-show-5202(3).jpg.1a61b2e16b44f2e6cbe81958e5976c47.jpg

- I wonder of anyone can read it ??

= I wonder how he used his grant ???

:-) M

 

Edit:  Further documents shed a bit more light on Serjeant MAUND and his situation with the MoP and the MS(CL)D:

631333994_MAUNDAugustusGHSuffolkRegt.httpww1lit_nsms_ox_ac.uk-ww1lit-gwa-document-9606-8491.jpg.a6829895a02a026d6dcb62c163b3c8a0.jpg

This item is from The First World War Poetry Digital Archive, University of Oxford (www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit); © [Copyright notice]' - with thanks

From these we can see that he had indeed been refused a disability pension by the MoP. 

Also that after the above grant was awarded he was in hot water with the MS(CL)D for not providing the necessary receipts within the specified 21 days -  I wonder if he did provide the receipts and on what he spent the grant. ??

We also learn, from what appears to be his headed notepaper, that he had apparently been, or perhaps was later, a Pioneer Serjeant in the 12  Battn. Worcestershire Regt. [or at least that is what he had printed - not the Suffolk Regt]

 

Further edit: More discoveries - As everyone loves a photo - here is the man

1788097504_MAUNDAugustusGHSuffolkRegt.httpww1lit_nsms_ox_ac.ukww1lit-gwa-item-8486.jpg.7796d89c6546efa3026f2574277d2b02.jpg

This item is from The First World War Poetry Digital Archive, University of Oxford (www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit); © [Copyright notice]' - with thanks 

This thread is not really for this soldier - but for those who follow with a particular interest in him - It is to be noted that the same source has a number of other items including further letters for rejection of his pension claim, 10 images of letters to his daughter and his Protection Certificate - all currently identified as/searched under "Maud, Augustus" http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/items/browse?search=maud%2C+augustus&advanced[0][element_id]=&advanced[0][type]=&advanced[0][terms]=&collection=&geolocation-address=&geolocation-latitude=&geolocation-longitude=&geolocation-radius=10&search-between-from=&search-between-to=&submit_search=Search

 

 

 

Edited by Matlock1418
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  • 2 weeks later...
20 hours ago, ss002d6252 said:

Thanks Craig,

I'm not at all surprised it was you that has replied to my thread.  And that it was you that has written the above topic at WFA.  :-)

It is clear from the 1916 guide produced by Coddington [see ref. above] that the original Military Service (Civil Liabilities) Regulations were to do with more general financial difficulties/assistance for serving non-Regular service personnel - but I've not yet found the original 1916 Regulations & terms, nor the change to the later Civil Liabilities Resettlement Scheme [of which had previously not heard of as such] which seems to have lead to the grants

For the grants to one-man businesses [as was a specification] mobile carting and similar seem to commonly feature in the rather limited number of examples I have seen so far, e.g. for a couple of Royal Munster Fusilier veterans a harness & cart for one and similarly for a turf business for another [so probably in Ireland I guess] - see also in your WFA article and the example above for a taxi [he seems to have done well getting the maximum of £104].

 

1) Wonder if you can please guide me to further original reading. ???

 

2) Having found my examples by sheer luck = For further review - Is it possible to systematically search/strip out such examples of grants from the bulk of the WFA/Fold3 pension record cards ??? 

:-) M

Edited by Matlock1418
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1 hour ago, Matlock1418 said:

It is clear from the 1916 guide produced by Coddington [see ref. above] that the original Military Service (Civil Liabilities) Regulations were to do with more general financial difficulties/assistance for serving non-Regular service personnel - but I've not yet found the original 1916 Regulations & terms, nor the change to the later Civil Liabilities Resettlement Scheme [of which had previously not heard of as such] which seems to have lead to the grants

This is the page of the 1916 regulations that sets out the criteria.
image.png
 

And the 1919 regulations

image.png


Craig

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1 hour ago, Matlock1418 said:

2) Having found my examples by sheer luck = For further review - Is it possible to systematically search/strip out such examples of grants from the bulk of the WFA/Fold3 pension record cards ??? 

 

No. All you can do is use the navigation bar and skip through until you see the brown slip.


Craig

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Once again Craig

Many thanks for these details.

As I suspected/feared regarding searches

But thanks for sharing your experience.

:-) M

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Found this - in a longer article about Demobilization and Resettlement - available online at:

https://theodora.com/encyclopedia/d/demobilization_and_resettlement.html

"Resettlement of One-Man Businesses

In May 1916 the Military Service (Civil Liabilities) Department came into being to help the wives of serving soldiers where military service imposed serious hardship. The scheme was limited to men who had joined the forces since Aug. 4 1914. The general items in respect of which assistance was granted included rent, mortgage interest, payment in instalments of contracts such as the purchase of premises, business or furniture, rates and taxes, insurance premiums and school fees. The maximum amount granted was not to exceed £104 per annum. Up to the conclusion of this scheme on July 31 1920, 475,271 applications had been received and 312,810 grants had been made to a total value of £ 6,239,670. In Feb. 1919 the Government decided to extend the principle of this scheme with a view to resettling men in their previous businesses when they were, as a result of military service, suffering serious financial hardship. The scheme as amended took two forms: current assistance could still be given in respect of liabilities such as those mentioned above, or alternatively, a lump sum grant towards the restarting of a business might be given.

So far as the second class of case was concerned, the Civil Liabilities Department was not empowered to pay resettlement grants for new businesses except in the case of disabled men. In that case alone the disability was in itself treated as serious financial hardship, and powers were given to make grants for those men in respect of new businesses. Under this scheme up to the end of Jan. 1921, 251,259 applications were received; 95,651 grants were made at a total expenditure of £2,675,665. In addition, there was a special scheme for providing tools for workmen who had to return to their pre-war occupations. Under this scheme £21,562 was paid out."

 

As for its accuracy - Time may tell.

Frustratingly, as is often the case, the sources/references are not cited. :-/

:-) M

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  • 4 weeks later...

A Form of Application was required

991080874_MilitaryService-CivilLiabilities-FormofApplication(p1).png.9cf2b362867d916d1a4fc70a6af71174.png

Image courtesy of the National Archives - with thank

Front cover page (above) - three further pages to be completed by the applicant [or his wife or other representative if he was on Foreign Service]

See within: 

Adjutant and Quarter-Master General https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7355301 = in Part 2, pages 40-43 [WO-95-3036-2_2.pdf]

:-) M

 

Edit: Would probably have helped the applicant to have to hand the earlier-mentioned

"The soldier's guide to obtaining state assistance under the Military Service (Civil Liabilities) Regulations" ...
Author:    Fitzherbert John Osbourne Coddington     Publisher:    London, Gale [1916]

 

Edited by Matlock1418
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23 minutes ago, Matlock1418 said:

An Form of Application was required

991080874_MilitaryService-CivilLiabilities-FormofApplication(p1).png.9cf2b362867d916d1a4fc70a6af71174.png

Image courtesy of the National Archives - with thank

Front cover page (above) - three further pages to be completed by the applicant [or his wife or other representative if he was on Foreign Service]

See within: 

Adjutant and Quarter-Master General https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7355301 = in Part 2, pages 40-43 [WO-95-3036-2_2.pdf]

:-) M

 

 

I haven't looked at the application process in any depth but that's handy to see. Odd place for it to turn but you find some strange things in the diaries.

 

Craig

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Considering that PBI pay rates for the previous few years was in the order of one or two shillings a day, a lump sum grant of £100 was not an insignificant sum. Equivalent to around £10,000 a year today.

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4 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

Considering that PBI pay rates for the previous few years was in the order of one or two shillings a day, a lump sum grant of £100 was not an insignificant sum. Equivalent to around £10,000 a year today.

Along the same sort of level as modern day business grants (which the system later morphed in to).

 

Craig

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44 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

a lump sum grant of £100 was not an insignificant sum. Equivalent to around £10,000 a year today.

 

A small slip on your part ;-0 = Not a year - it was a lump sum [or sums to the total max. of £104]

But yes, probably not too bad really.

 

From my quick & brief and non-systematic/scientific explorations of the WFA/Fold3 pension cards the above example grant for the full £104 amount for a taxi was the solitary best I have yet seen

In addition to the earlier examples a few more I have come across:

= Horse & cart £50-£70

= Pony & harness £31

= Horse £25

= Donkey cart & harness £20-£30

= Cow £30

= Dairyman & Baker £75

= Grocery business £45-£60

= Tobacconist & Confectioner £30

= Fish hawking business £30

= Tinsmith £40

:-) M

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