How to find Chelsea pensioner records
Researcher
Tue Oct 21 2025
•
< 5 minutes read
Did your ancestor wear the King's or Queen's uniform? Service records, discharge papers and pension documents can illuminate the stories of the Chelsea pensioners within your family tree.
Who are the Chelsea pensioners?
The term 'Chelsea pensioner' originally referred to the retired soldiers who lived at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, founded by Charles II in 1682. Inspired by the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, it was designed to provide food, shelter, and medical care for veterans no longer fit for duty.
Over time, the scarlet-coated Chelsea pensioners became a national symbol of service and sacrifice. Today, the Hospital still welcomes in-pensioners, continuing more than three centuries of tradition.
Over time, the term Chelsea pensioner came to mean any army veteran who received a pension administered by the Hospital, whether they lived there or not.
There are two types of Chelsea pensioners:
- In-pensioners, who lived at the Royal Hospital in London. Dressed in their distinctive scarlet coats, they remain a familiar sight even today.
- Out-pensioners, who received pensions but lived elsewhere across Britain or overseas.
Most genealogy records concern out-pensioners. If you've got a Chelsea pensioner in your family tree, these resources can help you to understand both their military service and post-service life.
How to trace a Chelsea pensioner using family history records
If you suspect that an ancestor served in the British Army, Chelsea pensioner records (spanning from the 18th to the early 20th century) may contain key details about their experiences. These records are held by The National Archives, but thanks to large-scale digitisation projects, they're accessible via genealogy websites like Findmypast.
Chelsea pensioners' service records
As Chelsea pensioners are simply former soldiers whose pension was administered by the Royal Hospital Chelsea, their service records are discoverable within broader military record collections.
Service records are one of the most valuable resources for tracing an ancestor's time in the military. You can search for them by name, birth date, event date, and soldier number (if available). The more details you start with, the easier it'll be to track down the record that you're looking for.
British Army service records typically include:
- Full name and regiment
- Age at enlistment and place of birth
- Physical description (height, complexion, eye and hair colour)
- Length of service and campaigns fought in
- Medical history and reason for discharge
- Details of pension awarded
Such information can transform your understanding of a military ancestor, helping you track their movements and gain insight into the hardships they experienced.
Whether they fought in the Napoleonic Wars or participated in the D-Day Landings, key facts such as age at enlistment, theatres of battle, and reasons for discharge can illuminate their story in startling detail.
Army pension and discharge records
Alongside detailed service papers, registers of army pensions and discharge papers can shed further light on the stories of Chelsea pensioners spanning over 300 years.
Discharge records can confirm when and where a soldier left the army, the pension he received, and sometimes his job and where he lived.
Together, these records allow you to trace a soldier's life story far beyond their years in uniform - showing how they re-entered civilian life and where they lived after the army.
What can I uncover with Chelsea pensioner records?
Chelsea pensioner records can help you:
- Confirm military service and identify the correct regiment
- Pinpoint an ancestor’s birthplace and age – often earlier than civil records survive
- Understand the impact of injury, illness, or long service on their later life
- Track family movements, especially if pensions were paid abroad in colonies or garrisons
For many families, these records are the key to piecing together service before the First World War - a period where other records can be patchy.
By delving into the records of the Chelsea pensioners, you not only uncover the details of your ancestor's army career but also gain insight into the sacrifices and struggles faced by generations of ordinary soldiers. They are among the most human and revealing of all military sources - offering both the facts of service and the stories behind them.
Did your ancestor receive a pension from the Royal Hospital Chelsea?
If your ancestor was awarded an army pension, their details may have been recorded by the Royal Hospital Chelsea. These pension records often include a soldier's name, regiment, length of service, age, and even physical description.
For family historians, they provide a remarkable window into the lives of ordinary men who dedicated years to military service, whether or not they ever became in-pensioners living at the Hospital itself.