WO 97/151, Royal Hospital Chelsea, Soldiers Service Documents, 1760-1913
Discharge papers of some Belper men who served in various regiments and received a war pension.Introduction
Charles II set up the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, in 1679, and the Royal Hospital, Chelsea in 1681. The two hospitals, in Ireland and England respectively, reflected the separate army establishments for the two countries, which did not become joined until the Act of Union in 1800. Even then, it was not until December 1822 that the payment of Kilmainham out-pensions was taken over by Chelsea Hospital, and in-pensioners remained in Kilmainham until 1929, when the last transferred to Chelsea.
Entitlements to pension
Soldiers who left the Army with a disabling injury, or as invalids or (for relatively few soldiers before the later 19th century) after completing an agreed term of service, were entitled to a pension from, or institutional care at, Chelsea or Kilmainham. A description of an ex-soldier as a 'pensioner' usually means he was in receipt of an out-pension from one of the military hospitals, not that he was an in-pensioner, actually resident in the hospital.
The major series of records (and the first place to look for any soldier) resulting from the grant of a pension are the attestation and other discharge documents in WO97, covering 1756-1913: see British Army Soldiers' Discharge Papers (1760-1913), for more details.
You may search for a name listed in the Chelsea Pensioners' Records HERE
For men awarded out-pensions by the Board of Kilmainham Hospital, there are certificates of service, 1783-1822. They are arranged by discharge number, found in admission books WO119
| Name | Unit(s) served in | Age | Date(s) |
| Samuel Allsworth | 59th Foot Regiment | 29 | 1805-1816 |
| William Baker | 11th Foot Regiment | 24 | 1842-1844 |
| George Bamford | 1st Foot Guards | 30 | 1804-1816 |
| Jervis Berkin | 67th Foot Regiment | 19 | 1844-1846 |
| Samuel Booth | Royal Staff Corps | 45 | 1813-1838 |
| Samuel Booth | 35th Foot Regiment | 32 | 1837-1851 |
| William Booth | 23rd Foot Regiment | 30 | 1809-1813 |
| Richard Calder | Rifle Brigade | 19 | 1846-1847 |
| Edward Calvert | 29th Foot Regiment | 41 | 1818-1840 |
| John Chadwick | 54th Foot Regiment | 41 | 1828-1844 |
| Richard Cooper | 82nd Foot Regiment; Reserve | 56 | 1803 |
| Joseph Edwards | 10th Dragoons | 28 | 1837-1848 |
| Samuel Eley | Derbyshire Militia | 61 | 1809-1853 |
| Samuel Falkingbridge | 43rd Foot Regiment; 1st Dragoon Guards | 47 | 1795-1817 |
| James Gration | 1st Foot Guards | 45 | 1819-1846 |
| Joseph Gregory | 102nd Foot Regiment | 53 | 1800-1811 |
| Thomas Hallsworth alias Thomas Halsworth | 61st Foot Regiment | 38 | 1823-1840 |
| John Harrison | 1st Foot Guards | 31 | 1800-1811 |
| Job Haslam | 2nd Life Guards | 45 | 1816-1841 |
| James Haynes | Derbyshire Militia | 49 | 1804 |
| Joseph Hodgett | 39th Foot Regiment | 29 | 1826-1837 |
| Samuel Holbrook | 27th Foot Regiment | 54 | 1807 |
| Uriah Holmes | 34th Foot Regiment; 8th Royal Veteran Battalion | 51 | 1806-1814 |
| James Horton | 59th Foot Regiment | 40 | 1804-1824 |
| Samuel Hunt | 82nd Foot Regiment | 36 | 1806-1828 |
| Thomas Hutton | Royal Artillery Drivers | 29 | 1812 |
| John Jackson | Derbyshire Militia | 28 | 1798 |
| William Jenneys | 69th Foot Regiment | 27 | 1826-1837 |
| Joseph Jenny alias Joseph Janney | 54th Foot Regiment | 41 | 1826-1847 |
| Henry Kiddy | 14th Foot Regiment | 39 | 1831-1852 |
| Samuel Norton | 3rd Dragoon Guards | 37 | 1806-1821 |
| Joseph Robinson | 52nd Foot Regiment | 31 | 1806-1823 |
| David Sanders | 70th Foot Regiment | 18 | 1845-1845 |
| John Shorter. | 52nd Foot Regiment | 31 | 1799-1810 |
| Thomas Slater | 6th Dragoons | 44 | 1803-1827 |
| Zachariah Smith | 5th Royal Veteran Battalion; 45th Foot Regiment | 27 | 1807-1812 |
| James Staely alias James Staley | Royal Artillery | 31 | 1812-1820 |
| David Stone | 59th Foot Regiment | 45 | 1832-1853 |
| Henry Storer | 14th Foot Regiment | 37 | 1831-1850 |
| Daniel Taylor | 95th Foot Regiment | 39 | 1830-1854 |
| Samuel Verney | 1st Foot Guards | 23 | 1826-1831 |
| John Walker | 60th Foot Regiment | 32 | 1830-1844 |
| William Wall | 37th Foot Regiment | 40 | 1824-1847 |
| Benjamin Waters | 75th Foot Regiment; 76th Foot Regiment; 24th Dragoons (Light) | 47 | 1797-1816 |
| George Watson | 1st Foot Guards | 53 | 1813-1832 |
| James Watson | 87th Foot Regiment; 2nd Foot Guards | 51 | 1790-1816 |
| William Webster | 10th Dragoons | 30 | 1813-1821 |
| John Williams | 1st Dragoon Guards; 10th Foot Regiment | 41 | 1814 |
| Benjamin Wright | 7th Dragoon Guards | 29 | 1837-1848 |
