India
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East India Company Armies (c. 1843-1860) and the British Army in India (c.1860+)
Apparently, Irish born soldiers made up a sizeable proportion of the East India Company (EIC) army as, undoubtedly in the post Famine years, this would have seemed like a golden opportunity to many young men to escape the prevailing poverty and hardship. This was certainly the case for my 2x Great Grandfather, Thomas Kayes, from Ashford, Co. Wicklow. According to what should become your reference bible for searching the relevant records - "Researching Ancestors in the East India Company Armies by Peter A. Bailey (FIBIS Research Guide No.1) - there were 3 recruiting centres active in Ireland between 1843 and 1860, namely Dublin, Newry and Cork. Thomas was recruited in Dublin and a few days later married Rachel Castles, also from Co. Wicklow, before they both embarked for their adventure in India, although for Thomas this proved to be very short-lived. The EIC armies were later incorporated into the British Army from around 1858-1859 onwards, so do watch out for regiment name and number changes.
The Families in British India Society (FIBIS) is a very good place to start your research into Irish kin who also took this career path. The site has a number of different features including some free to search databases. There were also some very good pages on their FibiWiki with which to familiarise yourself with the historical background to the EIC's presence in India.
If you have a query and are going to any of the major genealogy fairs that they may have taken a stand at, make a beeline for the distinctive pith helmets! I've found them enormously helpful in the past. You should also be able to buy copies of Peter Bailey's indispensable book from their stands or else from their online shop.
Apparently, Irish born soldiers made up a sizeable proportion of the East India Company (EIC) army as, undoubtedly in the post Famine years, this would have seemed like a golden opportunity to many young men to escape the prevailing poverty and hardship. This was certainly the case for my 2x Great Grandfather, Thomas Kayes, from Ashford, Co. Wicklow. According to what should become your reference bible for searching the relevant records - "Researching Ancestors in the East India Company Armies by Peter A. Bailey (FIBIS Research Guide No.1) - there were 3 recruiting centres active in Ireland between 1843 and 1860, namely Dublin, Newry and Cork. Thomas was recruited in Dublin and a few days later married Rachel Castles, also from Co. Wicklow, before they both embarked for their adventure in India, although for Thomas this proved to be very short-lived. The EIC armies were later incorporated into the British Army from around 1858-1859 onwards, so do watch out for regiment name and number changes.
The Families in British India Society (FIBIS) is a very good place to start your research into Irish kin who also took this career path. The site has a number of different features including some free to search databases. There were also some very good pages on their FibiWiki with which to familiarise yourself with the historical background to the EIC's presence in India.
If you have a query and are going to any of the major genealogy fairs that they may have taken a stand at, make a beeline for the distinctive pith helmets! I've found them enormously helpful in the past. You should also be able to buy copies of Peter Bailey's indispensable book from their stands or else from their online shop.
What can I find out and where are the records available?
As you can imagine, armies generate sizeable quantities of paperwork including recruitment attestation papers, embarkation lists, muster rolls, pension records etc., all of which are brilliantly described in Peter Bailey's book. Many of these records survived and are held at the British Library as part of their India Office Records collection, where there are microfilm and card indexes should you want to visit in person. Note, some of the microfilm images are white on black and can be difficult to read. Once the EIC armies were incorporated into the British Army, then you will have to follow the new regiments into the military records held at the National Archives in Kew.
Ecclesiastical records also abounded in the form of baptisms, marriages and burials in both Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. The LDS made copies of some of these records and have included them in their free indexes online as follows, but no images; The same indexes appear to have been licensed to Ancestry (£) and can be searched on their site if you have a subscription.
However, if you want to see images of the registers and documents online, you will need to have a worldwide subscription to Find My Past (£), as they appear to have licensed images from the British Library and indexes from FIBIS;
The FIBIS Wiki page on Church Records in India is an excellent place to learn more about these records. Be sure to learn about the importance of the 3 presidencies of Bengal, Madras and Bombay as this is how most of the records are primarily arranged. As far as I can tell, these are all Anglican records. Roman Catholic records appear to be much rarer and, I believe, that some of the churches were often Portuguese in origin. There are some specific RC records available on microfilm at the British Library but I think they can only be searched there and they appear to be for very limited time periods. Of course, if no RC church was available, your ancestors may well have had to use the Anglican church and you should also search those records too.
There are also legal records in the form of pensions, will registers, grants of representation and inventories. So far, I have only found these on Find My Past (£) with the most significant collections as follows; Check their other related collections by searching their World page with India as a keyword and you will see miscellaneous other smaller British India Office and East India Company records.
As you can imagine, armies generate sizeable quantities of paperwork including recruitment attestation papers, embarkation lists, muster rolls, pension records etc., all of which are brilliantly described in Peter Bailey's book. Many of these records survived and are held at the British Library as part of their India Office Records collection, where there are microfilm and card indexes should you want to visit in person. Note, some of the microfilm images are white on black and can be difficult to read. Once the EIC armies were incorporated into the British Army, then you will have to follow the new regiments into the military records held at the National Archives in Kew.
Ecclesiastical records also abounded in the form of baptisms, marriages and burials in both Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. The LDS made copies of some of these records and have included them in their free indexes online as follows, but no images; The same indexes appear to have been licensed to Ancestry (£) and can be searched on their site if you have a subscription.
However, if you want to see images of the registers and documents online, you will need to have a worldwide subscription to Find My Past (£), as they appear to have licensed images from the British Library and indexes from FIBIS;
- British India Office Births and Baptisms
- British India Office Marriages
- British India Office Deaths and Burials
The FIBIS Wiki page on Church Records in India is an excellent place to learn more about these records. Be sure to learn about the importance of the 3 presidencies of Bengal, Madras and Bombay as this is how most of the records are primarily arranged. As far as I can tell, these are all Anglican records. Roman Catholic records appear to be much rarer and, I believe, that some of the churches were often Portuguese in origin. There are some specific RC records available on microfilm at the British Library but I think they can only be searched there and they appear to be for very limited time periods. Of course, if no RC church was available, your ancestors may well have had to use the Anglican church and you should also search those records too.
There are also legal records in the form of pensions, will registers, grants of representation and inventories. So far, I have only found these on Find My Past (£) with the most significant collections as follows; Check their other related collections by searching their World page with India as a keyword and you will see miscellaneous other smaller British India Office and East India Company records.
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2023
