CD Review - The Surrey Recruitment Registers CD

This first CD from the Surrey History Trust contains some unique information. Recruitment registers for the period of the First World War are extremely rare as such records were supposed to have been destroyed after the war. There are 44 volumes of about 200 pages each covering the period 1908 to 1933 giving details of just under 85,000 soldiers. Of these registers, all but one volume relate to the 31 st Regimental District, based at Kingston, including the Borough of Croydon and the last register to the 2 nd Regimental District, based at Guildford. However, apart from Surrey and London the recruits came from all over the UK. Also from many parts of the world, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, and 79 came from Russia!

The detail given about a soldier varies from register to register. In the Sample Images section, one observes 26 columns of information. Generally, the details recorded about each recruit included name, age in years and months, height, chest measurement, weight, complexion, colour of eyes and hair, distinctive marks, occupation, place of birth, date and place of attestation, by whom attested, name of recruiter, recruiting agent, examining medical officer, whether the recruit was approved or rejected and the regiment to which the recruit was posted. Not all these columns have been completed and in many instances, have been used for information other than that given in the column header, e.g. the Remarks column may have included the soldiers’ address. Some of the details dealing with army administration have not been included on this CD.

There is a Surname Index, which includes Forenames or Initials, Birthplace, Regiment and the Register Volume and Page where the soldiers’ details will be found. This is book-marked by the first two letters of the soldiers’ surname. Each of the Volumes has been book-marked at five page intervals.

Looking for two of my mother’s brothers who enlisted and who lived in Kingston jointly owning a Dining and Tearooms at 54 Eden Street, I found only one of them in these registers. He appeared as Burridge, H J aged 34 yrs 0 mths when in actual fact, he was 35 yrs 1 month when he was attested at Kingston in December 1916. His occupation: Caterer. I was surprised that his height was stated to be 5 ft 10 ins when I remembered him to be a rather tall man (but when he died in 1944, I had not yet grown to that height myself). Medical Grade A2, which from the Introduction meant Fit for overseas duties, as regards physical and mental health but NOT trained. Category: 40. In October 1915, the Derby Scheme was introduced when men were divided into 46 groups, the unmarried men forming the first 23 groups according to their age whilst the last 23 groups comprised the married men. Presumably, my uncle’s category of 40 indicated that he was an older, married man but there is no breakdown explaining this on the CD. By March 1916, the Derby Scheme was replaced by conscription though in Surrey, both schemes appear to have run side by side for the rest of the year. In the Remarks column my uncle’s address was given as 6 Dagmar Rd, Kingston. This was interesting, as I knew that my grandmother, who was then living at their shop, did not get on with her daughter-in-law and that was probably why my uncle and his family lived elsewhere. My uncle’s army number was 25225 and he was posted to the 29th Training Reserve Battalion. In this volume, as in others, there was no heading for Birthplace. Other volumes may have a heading for marital status and after the war, next of kin. Some volumes only have initials for forenames.

This is a very interesting CD especially if one finds a relative listed. I have only two minor criticisms about this CD. For the Sample Images section, three consecutive pages are illustrated. It would have been better had they been taken from different volumes as the content varies, images of these should have been included. The other criticism is with the Introduction, which appears to have been written in 1981. It describes Regimental Structure which I gave up trying to understand! I doubt , however, whether many purchasers of this CD will read it all.

Peter D Cleaver

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