Muster Books and Pay Lists (WO 12/11233, 11237-8): Royal West India Rangers: 1806-1819.

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The material includes the musters and other relevant documents for the Royal West India Rangers and covers the first and the last years of its existence where, after leaving England, they spent their time in the West Indies: 25 Sept. 1806-24 June 1810, 25 Dec. 1813-24 June 1819. Covers the period of the Napoleonic Wars which had global implications, including the Caribbean. Its subject matter involves the British military – army, personnel, organisation, health and sickness, casualties, finances, and movements, West Indies (particularly the Lesser Antilles), and war with France. Few male children soldiers are indicated as such, and women members (wives) of soldier's family found in some documents. Resettling in Canada, New Brunswick settlement is an additional topic.

The data in the main pay list document includes the names of each of the members, usually for the rank of sergeant down to private, and the pay allotted; and can contain more details about the member, for example, enlistment dates; health (in hospital, or died); movements (transferred to other regiments or companies, embarked for the West Indies, deserted); promotions or demotions; and those discharged. Additional accompanying documents usually include: memoranda; statements of various accounts; certificates; and affidavits, which contain information allowing a fuller picture. Specific examples include the following: the allowances paid to families of soldiers embarked, which gives the names of some of the soldier's family members and location; discharge certificates which give more information surrounding a member's discharge; deductions from the pay list for recruits contains names and dates of those who have recently enlisted; and certificate of officers in support of charges gives the names of company captains and locations.

Based on the commanders' signatures, the places associated with the whereabouts of the regiment are the following: Regimental Army Depot in Britain up to and including the year 1810, Trinidad 1813-June 1815, Guadeloupe June-March 1816, St. Lucia 25 March 1816-June 1817, and Antigua June 1817-1819, when it was disbanded to St. John (Saint John), New Brunswick.

Organisation: Arranged in the main chronologically.

Volume 11233, 25 September 1806 - 24th June 1810

Starting Frame Number and Date Range

2 - 25 September 1806 - 24 December 1806

4 - 25 December 1805 - 24 December 1806

6 - 25 December 1806 - 24 December 1807

8 - 25 December 1806 - 24 March 1807

21 - 25 March 1807 - 24 June 1807

42 - 25 June 1807 - 24 September 1807

50 - 25 September 1807 - 24 December 1807

97 - 25 September 1808 - 24 December 1808

101 - 25 March 1808 - 24 June 1808

112 - 25 June 1808 - 24 September 1808

131 - 25 December 1807 - 24 March 1808

146 - 25 September 1809 - 24 December 1809

189 - 25 June 1809 - 24 September 1809

200 - 25 March 1809 - 24 June 1809

214 - 25 December 1808 - 24 March 1809

231 - 25 December 1809 - 24 Januray 1810

234 - 25 March 1810 - 24 June 1810

236 - 25 December 1809 - 24 March 1810

242 - 25 December 1808 to 24 March 1809

Volume 11237, 25 December 1813 - 24 December 1816

Starting Frame Number and Date Range

4 - 25 December 1813 - 24 March 1814

67 - 25 March 1814 - 24 June 1814

132 - 25 June 1814 - 24 September 1814

196 - 25 September 1814 - 24 December 1814

271 - 25 December 1814 - 24 March 1815

339 - 25 March 1815 - 24 June 1815

404 - 25 June 1815 - 24 September 1815

465 - 25 September 1815 - 24 December 1815

525 - 25 December 1815 - 24 March 1816

580 - 25 March 1816 - 24 June 1816

635 - 25 June 1816 - 24 September 1816

688 - 25 September 1816 - 24 December 1816

Volume 11238, 25 December 1816 - 24 June 1819

Starting Frame Number and Date Range

3 - 25 December 1816 - 24 March 1817

58 - 25 March 1817 - 24 June 1817

113 - 25 June 1817 - 24 September 1817

169 - 25 September 1817 - 24 December 1817

221 - 25 December 1817 - 24 March 1818

273 - 25 March 1818 - 24 June 1818

332 - 25 June 1818 - 24 September 1818

386 - 25 September 1818 - 24 December 1818

437 - 25 December 1818 - 24 March 1819

483 - 25 March 1819 - 24 June 1819

Detailed Contents

Vol. 11233, 25 Sept. 1806-24 June 1810

Updated notations were added to the pay lists in red ink; chronological order not strictly followed. Detachment is located at Army Depot, Britain. Data in Pay Lists contain rank; name of military member and dates of enlistment; the English District they were from, for example, the London or Manchester Districts; and "Remarks" for each member such as: from Unattached Deserters, recruits for General Service, and embarkation to the West Indies. Additional remarks include: discharged having provided 2 substitutes, promoted, deserted (eg. deserted at Abington), hospital, dead, from Tilbury Fort, from Coldstream Guards, transferred to the 54th, and on furlough.

Additional information found within the documents:boys noted, desertions explained, discharges explained, for example, unfit nearly blind; family members named for some; location of companies and men, if not at Army Depot or the West Indies; and new recruits. 1808 a wave of visits to the hospital is indicated in the documents. Following captains, lieutenants, and sergeants are noted in the documents (ensigns are found within the documents but excluded here): captains Anthony Schulthess?, Hugh Flora?, and James Griffiths; lieutenants Nichols, B.M. Robinson, George Armstrong, William Gibbons; sergeants Humphrey Godfrey, Daniel Johnson, John Webber, John Smith, John Golding, and Charles Coughlan.

Additional documentation includes:

1. Statement of effects and credits of deserted and deceased soldiers at Army Depot. Includes, among other data, remarks with an explanation for desertion or death, for example, died on board the Flora transport. 2. Certificate of alteration of clothing. Shows the amount of suits delivered. 3. Deductions from the pay list for the following recruits (name and explanation). 4. Discharge certificates (name and explanation). 5. Amount of money expended for necessaries furnished to surrendered deserters (names and amounts). 6. Amount of allowances paid by Ensign and Assistant Quarter Master to families of soldiers embarked (family names, place, and amount given, for example, Margaret, wife of Private John Fitzpatrick). 7. Certificate of unfit, with explanation (above the age prescribed by recruiting regulations, ruptured left side).

Pay List Abstracts of totals includes - total numbers for officers and the rest of the members, Levy money, Increased rates to Innkeepers and allowance for beer in lieu of beer, and Disbursements

Vol. 11237, 25 Dec. 1813-24 Dec. 1816

Updated notations added to pay lists in red; chronological order. Stationed at Trinidad, Guadeloupe, and Saint Lucia (St. Lucia), as indicated by commander’s signature. Pay List form has changed from previous volume; also includes now the following ranks (with names) at the top of lists: Sgt. [Sergeant] Major, Quarter Master Sgt.[Sergeant], Paymaster Clerk, School Master as Sgt., Armourer as Sgt., and Drum Major.

Additional documentation allows researcher to see lists of officers. Company Captains as listed in Certificates (usually 9-11 companies in number): D.H. Leger Hill, George Jack, William Harper, D.B. Lynch, G.F. Angelo, William Kennedy, Charles Troja, E.. Hubbard, James Smith, B.M. Robinson, Thomas Donald, Richard Annesby/Amesby?, John Boynton, George Ramsay, and John Knox. Certificates most often include place. Sgt. [Sergeant] Majors on the Pay Lists are: James Kent and John Golding.

Additional types of information found within the documents and not already mentioned in previous volume: location of men and companies becomes much more specific as to which island in the West Indies. Waves of increases in mortality and hospital visits seen in pay lists; as well as, a wave of increase in the promotions and reductions in rank; and movement/transfers coming in from other companies. Places noted either in Remarks on the Pay Lists or in the Company Captains’ Certificates: Martinique, Surinam, Dominica, Trinidad, Guadeloupe, Tobago, Island of Chacochacan?, Antigua, Point a Pitre, Vieux Fort, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Fort George, and Europe. More additional documentation included than in previous volume.

Vol. 11238, 25 Dec. 1816-24 June 1819

Stationed at Saint Lucia and Antigua, as indicated by commander’s signature. March - June 1819 Pay List notation: disbanded. Some additional notes written in red pen in the column left of the member's surname: trade and place, for example, labourer, blacksmith, ship wright. Number of servants attached to officers is included in the document. The document, Statement of balance of effects and credits or debits of non-commissioned officers… who have deserted, has been edited with red ink to include officers, and the word "died" inserted beside "deserted." The numbers of dead for this statement shows an increase (shows names and dates of deaths).

Remarks in the Pay Lists state, for the majority, located at Saint John [New Brunswick]; with a few indicating - at Halifax [Nova Scotia], died at Sea, deserted, and provisionally sent to Europe. Company Captains as found in Certificates: same as previous volume, excepting, Hill, Troja, Robinson, and Annesby/Amesby?. Certificates most often include place. Sgt. [Sergeant] Major in the Pay List is John Golding. Places indicated in Company Captains’ Certificates: Saint Lucia, Antigua, St. Christophers, Dominica, St. Kitts, and London [England]; other place names found in the Pay List under "Remarks" includes: Barbados.