Nature of Source
Introduction
The Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, issued by Ministry of Pensions, provide an invaluable set of records for those researching ancestors who served in World War I. These index cards were created by the Ministry of Pensions to administer WWI war pensions paid to widows and dependents of soldiers, sailors, and airmen who were killed, wounded, or incapacitated during the Great War.
Historical Background
The Ministry of Pensions was established in 1916 to centralise the administration of war pensions. Prior to the creation of the ministry, the army and navy managed their own pension arrangements. For the army, pension records were administered by the Royal Hospital of Chelsea and navy pension records administered by the Royal Hospital of Greenwich. Following the establishment of the Ministry these records were eventually transferred and incorporated into a single collection
In 2012, the Western Front Association (WFA) saved six million of these pension records from destruction. Today, these records are accessible online for free to WFA members and through the subscription-based website Fold3, owned by Ancestry.
Types of Pension Cards
The digitised records consist of three major groups of cards:
Other Ranks Killed or Died in the Great War
These cards provide details about non-officer rank individuals who were killed or died as a result of their service in World War I.
Widows and Dependents of Other Ranks Died
This set contains records of the pensions paid to widows and dependents of non-officer rank servicemen who lost their lives in the war.
Other Ranks Survived: Requested/Rejected/Receiving Pension
This group includes records of non-officer rank soldiers, sailors, or airmen who survived the war, whether they applied for, received, or were denied pensions.
Other smaller sets of pension cards include:
Officers Survived and Officers Widows
These cards cover officers who survived the war or their widows in cases where officers died.
Nurses Cards
These cards were not separated from other categories by the Ministry of Pensions and are found within the above two sets of cards.
Merchant Naval Cards.
These cards relate to members of the Merchant Navy and their pension claims.
Searching the Records
Please note that in some cases, clerks inserted commas in regimental numbers, for example ‘110,983’ and not ‘110983’. This can result in the number not being found if searched without the comma. The anomaly has been fixed but always search with a comma between the number if not initially found.
Post-1920 Service Records
Service records for all ranks who served after 1920 remain with the Ministry of Defence with each military service maintaining its own record office. To access these records consult the MOD Guide ‘How to apply for access to personal data held by the Ministry of Defence’. Please note, The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is currently in the process of transferring ten million personnel service records to The National Archives for permanent preservation.
Where Found
Western Front Association
The Western Front Association (WFA) holds a significant collection of World War I pension records including the Pension Ledgers and Index Cards. The WFA’s collection includes approximately 15,000 ledger books containing around 1.5 million individual pension record.
Period Covered
1914 – 1923
Genealogical Value
- Full name
- Address and the names and dates of birth of children
- Regimental number
- Rank
- Regiment or ship
- Date, place and cause of death
- Name of dependant
- Address of dependant
- Relationship of dependant
- Pension awarded
Further References
General
- Annal, David & Collins, Audrey. Birth, Marriage and Death Records: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen & Sword Books, 2012
- Beckett, James Deuchar (ed). The Beckett Soldiers Index, A-C: Jade Publishing, 2003
- Beckett, James Deuchar (ed). The Beckett Soldiers Index, D-G Jade Publishing, 2009
- Beckett, James Deuchar (ed). The Beckett Soldiers Index, H-K: Jade Publishing, 2009 (Listing of soldiers from 1793 to about 1854 extracted from TNA series WO 120 and WO 116 and other sources such as marriage registers and medal awards. Arranged alphabetically by surname, forename and regiment including whether discharged at either Chelsea or Kilmainham Hospital. These published editions cover more ground than the Beckett Soldiers’ Index available at The National Archives)
- Bevan, Amanda. Tracing Your Ancestors in the National Archives: The National Archives, 2006
- Brereton, J.M. A Guide to the Regiments and Corps of the British Army: Bodley Head, 1985
- Blank, Dr. Stuart. Researching British Military History on the Internet: Alwyn Enterprises, 2007
- Cox. Reginald H. W. Military Badges of the British Empire 1914-18: Ernest Benn, 1982
- Farmer, John, The Regimental Records of the British Army: Grant Richards, 1901 (Free download available at the Internet Archive)
- Fowler, Simon. A Guide to Military History on the Internet: Pen & Sword, 2007
- Fowler, Simon. Tracing your Army Ancestors: Pen & Sword, 2006
- Fowler, Simon. Tracing Your Army Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen & Sword Books, 2013
- Gaylor, John. Military Badge Collecting: Pen & Sword Books, 2002
- Grehan, John & Mace, Martin. British Battles of the Crimean Wars 1854-1856: Pen & Sword Books, 2014
- Kitzmiller, John. In Search of the Forlorn Hope: A Comprehensive Guide to Locating British Regiments and Their Records, 1640-WWI: Manuscript Publishing Foundation, 1988
- Maddocks, Graham. Liverpool PALS: 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th Service Battalions The King’s Liverpool Regiment: Pen and Sword Books, 2015
- Murphy, Gerry. Where Did That Regiment Go? The Lineage of British Infantry and Cavalry Regiments at a Glance: The History Press, 2016
- Paterson, Sarah. Tracing Your Family History, Army: Imperial War Museum, 2006
- Pols, Robert. Dating Old Army Photographs: Family History Partnership, 2011
- Saks, David. Boerejode: Jews in the Boer Armed Forces 1899-1902: 2010
- Spencer, William. Family History in the Wars: The National Archives, 2007
- Spencer, William. Army Records: A Guide For Family Historians: The National Archives, 2008
- Storey, Neil. Military Photographs and How to Date Them: Countryside Books, 2009
- Swinnerton, Iain, An Introduction to the British Army: Its History, Traditions and Records: FFHS, 1996
- Swinson, Arthur. A Register of the Regiments and Corps of the British Army: The Archive Press, 1972
- The Great War: A Photographic Narrative: Imperial War Museum: Jonathan Cape, 2013
- Usher, George. Dictionary of British Military History: A&C Black Publishers, 2006
- Watts, Michael and Watts, Christopher. My Ancestor was in the British Army: Society of Genealogists, 2009
- Westlake, Ray. The Territorials 1908-1914: A Guide for Military and Family Historians: Pen & Sword Books, 2011
WWI
- Banks, Arthur. A Military Atlas of The First World War: Pen & Sword Books, 2013
- Bridger, Geoff. The Great War Handbook: A Guide For Family Historians & Students Of The Conflict: Pen & Sword Books, 2013
- Christopher, John & McCutcheon, Campbell. 1914 the First World War in Old Photographs: Over by Christmas: Amberley Publishing, 2014
- Doyle, Peter & Foster Chris. British Army Cap Badges of the First World War: Shire Publications, 2010
- Doyle, Peter. Great War British Tommy Manual: The British Soldier 1914-18 [All Models]-Haynes Owners’ Workshop Manuals: Haynes, 2013
- Doyle, Peter & Foster Chris. Remembering Tommy: The British Soldier in the First World War: The History Press, 2013
- Doyle, Peter & Foster Chris. What Tommy Took to War, 1914-1918: Shire Publications, 2014
- Doyle, Peter. The First World War in 100 Objects: The History Press, 2014
- Forty, Simon. Mapping the First World War: Battlefields of the Great Conflict from Above: Anova Books, 2013
- Fowler, Simon. Tracing Your Great War Ancestors: The Somme: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen & Sword Books, 2015
- Fowler, Simon. Tracing Your Great War Ancestors: The Gallipoli: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen & Sword Books, 2015
- Gregson, Keith. A Tommy in the Family: First World War Family History Tales and Research Tips: The History Press, 2014
- Hadaway, Stuart. Tracing Your Great War Ancestors: The Egypt and Palestine Campaigns: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen and Sword Books, 2017
- Holding, Norman, More Sources of WWI Army Ancestry: FFHS, 1998
- Holding, Norman & Swinnerton, Iain. WWI Army Ancestry: FFHS, 2004
- Holmes, Richard. Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front 1914-1918: Harper Perennial, 2005
- Holmes, Richard. Shots from the Front: The British Soldier 1914-18: HarperPress, 2010
- Holmes, Richard. The First World War in Photographs: Andre Deutsch, July 2014
- James, Brig. E. A. British Regiments 1914-18: Naval and Military Press, 2009
- Maddocks, Graham. Liverpool Pals: 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th Service Battalions The King’s Liverpool Regiment: Pen and Sword Books, 2015
- Paterson, Sarah. Tracing Your Prisoner of War Ancestors: The First World War: Pen & Sword, 2012
- Rawson, Andrew. The British Army 1914-1918: The History Press, 2014
- Spencer, William. First World War Army Service Records: The National Archives, 2008
- Swinnerton, Iain. Identifying Your World War One Soldier from Badges and Photographs: Federation of Family History Societies, 2001
Websites
Western Front Association
The site provides research tips, detailed guides and tutorials on accessing and using the WWI pension record cards and ledgers.
WWI Related Resources
The National Archives
Online Exhibitions: First World War 100. The site commemorates the centenary of the First World War with a comprehensive program that ran from 2014 to 2018. Explore key aspects of the war through themes such as technology and the Middle East, special projects and partnerships.
The Long, Long Trail
The comprehensive website is dedicated to helping people research and discover information about the British Army and its soldiers of the First World War. It serves as a free resource with useful advice and guidance on researching individual soldiers tracing their movements during the war, researching the histories of regiments and information on the battles and engagements fought by the British Army. The Long, Long Trail was created by Chris Baker in 1996.
The Long, Long Trail
The British infantry regiments of 1914-1918. This section of the Long, Long Trail will be helpful for anyone wishing to find out about the history of the battalions of the British infantry. The history and affiliations of every battalion of every British infantry regiment can be found on these pages.
The National Archives Research Guide
How to look for records of Military maps of the First World War. Use this guide if you are looking for trench maps or other military maps of the First World War
Imperial War Museum
First World War Centenary 1914-1918. Explore the web archive of the First World War Centenary website. The archived site contains various resources and information related to the First World War, including digitised documents and photographs from the war, historical accounts of key events and personal stories and testimonies.
Imperial War Museum
Voices of the First World War. Voices of the First World War is a podcast series that reveals the impact the war had on everyone who experienced it, through the stories of the men and women who were there.
The Western Front Association
The Association was formed with the aim of furthering interest in The Great War of 1914-1918 and to perpetuate the memory of all those on all sides who served during The Great War. The site includes a section on Pension Records with articles providing help and guidance for your research into The Great War.
Lives of the First World War
Imperial War Museum. Lives of the First World War. Discover, Explore and Remember Millions of Personal Stories from The First World War. The project tells the stories of individuals from across Britain and the Commonwealth who served in uniform and worked on the home front. Each person remembered has Life Story page using a variety of sources. The digital project ran from 12 May 2014 to 19 March 2019.
British Jews in the First World War
We Were There Too. The organisation is dedicated to preserving and commemorating the contribution British Jews made during the First World War I. The site aims to create a permanent record of the lives of Jewish men and women and their families, both in the military and on the Home Front, during 1914-1919. The website offers several digitised resources to help users research individuals such as The British Jewry Book of Honour, Kelly’s Directories, plus access to Commonwealth War Graves Commission information.
In Flanders Fields Museum
The museum dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of World War I in the West Flanders front region, located in the famous Cloth Hall in Ypres, Belgium. The exhibits cover The German invasion of Belgium, The four years of trench warfare in the region and the end of the war and its lasting impact.
IWM’s Collections
This online database allows users to explore the vast collection of digitised objects, documents and artifacts held by the IWM related to World War One. The collections include 115,000 photographs from the First World War Q series and 14,000 photographs from the Bond of Sacrifice series.
Mary Evans Picture Library
Picturing the Great War: The First World War Blog.
World War One Photos
Remembering The Men And Women Who Served And Died In The First World War. Explore thousands of identified photos, obituaries and short service records of First World War soldiers sailors, nurses, airmen and civilian workers.
National Library of Scotland
British First World War Trench Maps, 1915-1918. Maps of the Western Front in the Great War depicting British and German trenches. Users can browse individual sheets using a zoomable map or view zoomable overlays of each map on a modern Google or Bing map.
Forces War Records
WW1 Troop Movements and ORBATS. First World War Orders of Battle Maps. Follow in your ancestors’ footsteps using our interactive maps. You can use this to track the progress of units throughout the course of the First World War, from the opening battle at Mons to the closing stages of the Battle of Amiens.
British Red Cross
First World War Volunteers: Search over 90,000 people who volunteered for the British Red Cross at home and overseas during the war. Groups of volunteers were organised into Voluntary Aid Detachments.
Every One Remembered
The Royal British Legion initiative allows members of the public to commemorate with a personal dedication every individual man and woman from across the Commonwealth who fell in the First World War.
The National Archives Media
Tracing British battalions or regiments during the First World War. Unit war diaries, trench maps and photographs are just some of the sources held in The National Archives. This webinar looks at how to find these records and how to use them.
Oxford University
The Great War Archive: The archive contains WWI digital photographs, audio, film, documents, and stories submitted by the general public. The initiative was run by Oxford University between the 3rd March and the 30th June 2008. Users can share First World War objects on The Great War Archive Flickr Group.
Europeana World War I
The collection includes a diverse and extensive range of materials offering untold stories and official histories of World War I. Expect to find postcards, letters, diaries, images and other memorabilia.
The Accrington Pals
Guide to researching the service records of men from the Accrington, Sheffield, and Barnsley Pals battalions. The guide is relevant to WW1 army service records in general.
LiveJournal
Unknown Soldiers. The site is dedicated to sharing and preserving lost or forgotten photographs from World War I.
Step Short
Folkestone Harbour Canteen Visitors’ Books. Online collection of 42,000 names of soldiers, nurses and other individuals who passed through the town of Folkestone on their way to the Western Front between 1914 and 1919.
Online Databases
Western Front Association
Pension Records. Western Front Association member access to the digitised WWI pension record cards and ledgers database via the Fold3 platform.
fold3 by Ancestry
WWI Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923. This collection provides details of military and military-related personnel, who filed for a pension after World War One if injured or, if killed, details of their widow and/or other dependents or their next of kin, if they were unmarried and had no children.
Ancestry
UK, World War I Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923. This collection provides details of military and military-related personnel, who filed for a pension after World War One if injured or, if killed, details of their widow and/or other dependents or their next of kin, if they were unmarried and had no children. View original image on Fold3.com which may require an additional subscription.
Ancestry World War I Military Records
The site offers a gateway page for searching First World War collections. It offers access to a comprehensive range of military records that can help you learn about ancestors who served during World War I. The site also offers videos for tips on how to search and examples of what you could find.
The site features collections such as:
- British Army WWI Service Records (1914-1920).
- British Army WWI Pension Records (1914-1920).
- Medal Rolls Index Cards (1914-1920).
- Silver War Badge Records (1914-1920).
- Citations of the Distinguished Conduct Medal (1914-1920).
- Royal Navy and Royal Marine records.
- Navy medal and award rolls (covering a wider period from 1793-1972).
- The National Roll of the Great War (1914-1918).
- Commonwealth War Graves (1914-1921, 1939-1947).
- De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour (1914-1919).
Please note, the UK, World War I Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923 are not included in the collection.
