NAM.1968-06-43-32

Recruits - Attestation forms, 1793-1811. Including Surgeons Certificates. Mostly endorsed either ‘deserted’ or ‘dead’. Includes the attestation forms of Thomas Beeding, 7th (or The Queen’s Own) Regiment of (Light Dragoons), 1804 and William Giles, 7th (or The Queen’s Own) Regiment of (Light Dragoons), 1809. A potential recruit was taken before a magistrate where he ‘attested’ that he was legally entitled to serve in the Army and was fit for service, and also swore an oath of loyalty to the King. The recruit was formally warned of the severe penalties for mutiny and desertion and given a brief medical examination. The attestation forms were completed and the recruit signed them of made his mark. Attestation forms included a description of the recruit to help the authorities track him down if he tried to desert. From the collection of papers of Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, 1st Earl of Uxbridge (1768-1854), 7th (Queen’s Own) Light Dragoons. Associated with Napoleonic Wars, Waterloo (1815). The Marquess of Anglesey, then Lord Paget, was appointed to the Colonelcy of the 7th Light Dragoons in 1797 and held that appointment for 45 years before becoming Colonel of the Blues. At that period the Colonel of a Regiment took a greater part of the day-to-day administration than he would later. It is because of this that Regimental papers came into his possession when no longer current. The 7th Hussars papers are the orderly room correspondence of the Regiment between 1810 and 1816 with some earlier material. They consist of correspondence on many different subjects, important and trivial. The arrival and resignation of officers and personal occurrences of both officers and soldiers are included. There is considerable and detailed correspondence on such matters as uniform, necessaries, weapons and horses. There are also several bound volumes of circular letters and orders received from the War Office, Court Martial transcriptions and monthly rolls.

Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)