Discover your British military ancestors in this collection of British Officers serving in early America, 1614-1787.
Discover your British military ancestors in this collection of British Officers serving in early America, 1614-1787.
Each record is available in a PDF format. Use the previous and next buttons at the top of the page to browse through the publication. The PDF search experience can be different from searching transcribed records. Use our search tips below to get the most out of this collection.
To the left of the PDF, you will find the Transcription Box, which includes:
Title – the title of the publication
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Image number and image count – this will tell you where you are in the publication and help you to explore the publication further.
The collection holds the following titles:
British Officers Serving In America 1754-1774 - Published in 1894 and compiled from the “Army Lists” by Worthington Chauncey Ford. As quoted in the book by Worthington Chauncey Ford, ‘Having occasion to consult the “Army List” of the English army for the period of the French and Indian war, and experiencing no little difficulty in determining the particular officer I wished to locate, it occurred to me that a complete list of such officers and regiments as served on the American continent before the Revolution, would be useful to others. I was fortunate enough to find a complete set of these annual “Army Lists” in the Astor Library, New York, and from these “official” registers the following names have been taken.
British Officers Serving In The American Revolution, 1774-1783 - Compiled by Worthington Chauncey Ford and published in 1897. Worthington Chauncey Ford begins the book ‘The following list is in continuation of the “British Officers Serving In America 1754-1774 and has been prepared upon the same plan. As it is intended to serve as a check-list, every effort has been made to make it full and complete’.
Officers Of The Province Of Pennsylvania, 1681-1776 - Published in 1895 and compiled by Clarence M. Busch, records of Pennsylvania Marriages prior to 1810. List of officers of the Colonies on the Delaware and the Province of Pennsylvania, 1614-1776: Officers of the Colonies on the Delaware, 1614-1681; Officers of the Province of Pennsylvania, 1681-1776; Provincial officers of the Three Lower Counties, New Castle, Kent, and Sussex; Provincial officers for the Three Original Counties, Chester, Philadelphia, and Bucks, 1682-1776; Provincial officers for the additional colonies, 1729-1776.
Provincial Officers For The Additional Counties, 1729-1776 Compiled by Clarence M. Busch and published in 1895. Includes the counties Lancaster, York, Berks, Cumberland, Northampton, Bedford, Northumberland, and Westmoreland.
Provincial Officers For The Three Original Counties: Chester, Philadelphia, and Bucks - Published in 1895 and compiled by Clarence M. Busch, a list of the officers and their dates of service.
Provincial Officers Of The Three Lower Counties: New Castle, Kent, and Sussex - Compiled by Clarence M. Busch and published in 1895. A list of the officers and their dates of service.
Searching through a PDF (Portable document format) is different from searching through fully transcribed record sets. Here are some tips to keep in mind while you search for your ancestors:
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Name searches
A name search will return results which have the search terms on the same page within the document. This means that searching for John Smith will return pages where the names 'John' and 'Smith' occur. For this reason your search may return the name William Smith or John Brown. By inserting quotations around the full name the search function will locate the terms together; for example, “John Smith.”
To search for your ancestor by their name, write it as it would appear on the document. For example, if your relative was known as ‘Will’ it is likely that the name used for official records was ‘William.’
If you are unable to find your relative on your first search you can try different name variations. A number of register books only use abbreviations for first names. For example, if your search is unsuccessful for William Smith, try W Smith or Wm Smith.
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Page numbers often correlate with the individual images of the documents rather than the page numbers used within the publication. Therefore page 1 starts with the cover page.