14 July 2011

Surrey Recruitment Registers 1908-1933 on findmypast.co.uk

I was surprised at how many people with surnames of my interest there re in these transcripts of records of approximately 85,000 men who attested (signed up) for service with a variety of regiments in Surrey between 1908 and 1933, the majority of whom volunteered, or were conscripted, during the First World War.
Surrey formed No.10 District in the Eastern Division, which was further divided into two regimental districts, numbered by the regiment's seniority; thus the Royal West Surreys formed No.2 Regimental District, based at Guildford and comprising the parliamentary divisions of Guildford (South West), Chertsey (North West), Reigate (South East), and parts of Epsom (Mid) and Wimbledon (North East). The East Surrey regimental district formed the 31st Regimental District based at Kingston-upon-Thames, comprising the remainder of the county's parliamentary constituencies. All but one of the registers relate to the 31st District.
With the mass influx of recruits in 1914, more recruiting officers were needed and in the East Surrey regimental area recruiting offices were also established at Richmond, Putney, Wandsworth, Streatham, East Dulwich, Peckham, Upper Norwood, Tooting, Mitcham, Wimbledon, Sutton, East Molesey, Walton on Thames, Epsom and Wallington. These recruitment registers cover these areas and those who were born in the area but attested in other regimental districts.

The registers are published by Find My Past with the kind permission of The Surrey History Trust.
There are further details at:
http://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/military/indexes/surrey-registers

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