Edwardian British Militia Attestation Forms

During the Victorian and Edwardian eras, militias were a central part of the British military. Although their service was limited to 'home' service, many of the men also opted to serve overseas. Militia attestation forms were formally referred to as Army Form E 504. They contained the following types of information:

1. Birth place
2. Place of residence
3. Occupation and employer
4. Marital status 
5. Number of children under the age of 14
6. Next of kin (name, relationship, address) 
7. Previous military experience
8. Physical description
9. What battalion they served with

To better understand the structure of a militia attestation form, lets look at one that belonged to James Sword. 

Front of Attestation Form

How do we know that we are dealing with a militia attestation form? There are two main indicators, both of which are found at the top of the page. In the central bolded font it says "attestation for the militia" instead of stating 'short service' (which was for the army). The second indicator is the form number found in the top right hand corner. As previously mentioned, militia forms were called 'Army Form E 504', where as enlistments into the army were called 'Army Form B 217'. Over time the format of the this form changed slightly, however the location of these two indicators remained constant. 

One thing that I noticed when reviewing the first page of the form was that it asked if the soldier had received a 'Notice'. At first I though this was referring to something along the lines of conscription, however it actually has nothing to do with that. The 'Notice' was actually another military form (formally known as Army Form E 597). Essentially, it served as a contract to inform the recruit of the hazards associated with the work they were expected to perform. 

Back of Attestation Form

The back of the form provides a thorough physical description of the recruit. Along with describing their height, weight, hair and eye colour, it also describes any identifying marks.

One thing that I found particularly interesting was that they never mentioned his small pox scars. All the other forms in his service file made note of this marking, where as here the closest description was 'freckled face and body'. 

Statement of Services

The statement of services page describes the movement of the soldier within the British military. This is the page that tells you if, when, where, and for how long they received training. It also tells how long they served and if they were ever transferred into an overseas battalion (as was the case for James).

There are two key features that should be noted on this page. The first is the very first line of handwriting. This tells us that he was initially placed with the Royal Fusiliers and received 49 days of training. The second key feature is where he was transferred to. On July 4 1906, James was transferred to the Kings Royal Rifle Corp. In some cases this is the line that gives the discharge date. 

Like many men of his generation James' story is one that is lost to history. He died during world war 1 without having any known children. I uncovered his story of growing up in the poverty of London's East End, attending Industrial and Truant Schools, and ultimately how he lost his life serving in the military. His story his truly one of my favourite genealogical discoveries. If you are interested in his story, I have written a post about it here.