16th Dragoons

[Vasquez109]

I've found a record for my ancestor William Stevenson and wondering what the document actually is. The record is part of a collection for admissions into the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. Admission date is 2 Mar 1791. Aged 41. Theres also a discharge paper I found for 14th Feb 1795 which also says aged 41. Is anyone familiar with military records like these?

Thank you.

[Andy J2022]

His discharge paperwork (available on FindMyPast) which you have already seen says that he was discharged on 14 February, 1795, therefore I think the admission date for the Royal Chelsea Hospital is actually 2 Mar 1795, not 1791. 'Admitted' in this sense means that he was accepted as being pensionable, and it doesn't necessarily mean that he was an in-pensioner who lived in the Royal Hospital. Because the injury which caused him to be discharged was to his hand (see page 2 of his discharge paperwork below) he probably wasn't sufficiently disabled to become an in-pensioner. As you will have seen, he also served in the 17th Light Dragoons.
He will have served most his time in America during the American Revolutionary War, before the 16th Light Dragoons returned to Europe in 1793 to take part in the Flanders Campaign which was in effect, the start of what would later become the Napoleonic Wars. The 17th Light Dragoons also served in America at the same time as the 16th, so his experience there will have been pretty similar irrespective of which regiment he was with. As a farrier he was probably based in the Regiment's rear echelon and so did not actually fight on horseback.

[ShaunJ]

Looks like his birthplace was Allerton in Lancashire, not Allerton "Co Leister" as recorded in the Chelsea admissions record.

[Andy J2022]

As I mentioned, I don't think he was an in-pensioner. However if he was, he would be recorded in WO23/134 at TNA which contain the muster rolls for in-pensioners 1795-1813.

[Andy J2022]

Looks like his birthplace was Allerton in Lancashire, not Allerton "Co Leister" as recorded in the Chelsea admissions record.

Shaun, his discharge is more precise aboout his place of birth.

[ShaunJ]

Ah so its Leicester not Lancaster. I must get my glasses cleaned !

[Vasquez109]

Thank you so much. Will there be any other military record available? I understand not everything is online and might have to go to Kew. Would a record of his joining be available?

Many thanks,
David.

[Andy J2022]

No, it's not very likely that any of his other records will have survived unless they are in a regimental museum. Once a soldier had been accepted for a pension, there was no need to keep his attestation papers.

[ShaunJ]

We know that he served 19 years and two months, so must have attested sometime around December  1775.