Ancestry adds UK Officer Service Records

From the UK National Archives, record group WO 76, Ancestry's UK, Officer Service Records, 1764-1932 has 129,218 entries.

The following information can be found, where available: Name, Name of relative(s), Relationship to serviceman, Place and date of birth, Place and date of death, Age, Place and date of enlistment, Place and date of discharge, Gender, Marital Status, Regiment and unit, Service rank, Service number, Marriage date.

The bar chart shows the distribution of year (+/- 10) of birth and enlistment. The collection is most likely to be useful for the 19th century. Notice that many more records include enlistment year than birth year.

From the catalogue description for WO 76 "the series includes services of Royal Artillery officers, 1771 to 1870, and one volume of returns made in 1861 by officers of the Indian Army (Artillery)."

Ancestry provides no images but TNA mentions that "records within this series are available to download free of charge as part of the Digital Microfilm project."