Find your ancestors in British Army, Coldstream Guards 1800-1981

Learn about these records

The majority of these records comprise a digitized image and a transcript which serves as a finding aid for that image. There is one enlistment register for 1915 covering the regimental numbers 16055 to 18093 for which there are no images.

  • Casualties 1939-1947
  • Courts Martials 1800-1815
  • Decorations and Rewards 1914-1918
  • Decorations and Rewards 1939-1948
  • Discharges 1884-1947
  • Enlistments 1884-1947
  • Missing in Action 1939-1945
  • Nominal Roll of 1st Battalion men serving in Sudan 1932-1933
  • Officers’ Record of Services 1861-1915
  • Shanghai Defence Force 1927-1928
  • South African Campaign 1899-1902
  • Succession Book of 2nd Battalion officers 1797-1926
  • Succession Book of Officers 1826-1936
  • Record of Campaigns 1854 to 1895
  • Attestations 1946-1981
  • Transfers 1940-1954
  • Discharges 1940-1954
  • Honours and Awards 1914-1938
  • Rewards 1914-1935
  • Deaths 1914-1918
  • Casualties 1940-1945

The amount of information listed varies, but the records may contain the following information about your ancestor:

  • Name
  • Regimental and/or Army number
  • Birth year
  • Birth place
  • Enlistment date
  • Date of discharge and reason for it

Discover more about these records

There are close to 130,000 records in this Coldstream Guards collection. Some men will feature in multiple collections meaning that you may find an enlistment register record, casualty details, details of service in one or more campaigns, gallantry award details and details regarding the man’s discharge or death in service.

The collection begins in 1800 with a small collection of courts martial records and the punishments meted out. This was in the days long before flogging, as a punishment, was banned. We can only grimace now at the number of lashes awarded to men who had fallen foul of military and regimental law; and marvel at how the hapless individuals even survived their punishments.

The largest collections are those which give details of enlistments and discharges. Enlistment registers can be particularly rich sources of information giving details about where a man was born, his age on enlistment, next of kin details and campaigns served in. The British Army was always considered to be the home for the single man with marriage very much discouraged. Nevertheless, soldiers did marry, in particular those who decided to re-engage to complete 21 years, often ending their careers as senior non-commissioned officers (NCOs).

Enlistment registers were maintained by the regiment, into these books the details that had been entered on the man’s attestation paper. Next of kin details in these books – usually a parent – were entered in pencil and then erased overwritten in ink if the man decided to marry. If he wanted to marry ‘on the strength’ and have his wife and children also looked after by the regiment, there were certain criteria that needed to be fulfilled, and the regiment would also make enquiries to ensure the lady in question was reputable.

Here too, in this collection, you will find casualty details: men who were wounded, were recorded as missing, became prisoners of war or who lost their lives in the service of their country.

All of the records you see in this collection are published courtesy of the Trustees of the Coldstream Guards Charitable Fund and are housed in the Coldstream Guards archive at Wellington Barracks in London. Until recently, the regiment was also the custodian of Coldstream Guards service records, but these have latterly been deposited with the Ministry of Defence and can be requested from the MoD.

Don’t forget, also, that Findmypast also published thousands of Coldstream Guards service records and is now home to the most complete collection of Coldstream Guards records from this prestigious regiment of Foot Guards.

A story from these records

126 Drummer John Maskell appears in this collection. Born in March 1880 he featured in the first issue of the Navy & Army Illustrated which was published on the 20th December 1895. There is a photo of John with a tall "Second Lieutenant Heathcote-Amory" who towers over him. John Maskell had only been in the army for about six months when this photo was taken, but he would go on to serve in the Boer War, and it is his Boer War record which you will find published here.