In 1897 the 21st Hussars was re-designated the 21st Lancers. Read about numbering in the 21st Hussars HERE. Numbering in the 21st (Empress of India's) Lancers picked up from where the 21st Hussars left off, and this post will look at numbering in the regiment between 1897 and 1906.
All the numbers below are taken from service records which survive in the WO 363 and the WO 364 series at the National Archives. View them at Kew or on-line via Ancestry which is currently offering a FREE 14-day trial.
4032 joined on 15th January 1897
4208 joined on 9th September 1898
4250 joined on 28th January 1899
4785 joined on 21st February 1900
5089 joined on 2nd January 1901
5549 joined on 1st January 1902
6623 joined on 23rd February 1903
I currently have no data for 1904
6366 joined on 4th September 1905
6569 joined on 13th January 1906
In December 1906, Army Order 289 changed the way in which the cavalry were to number. Prior to this Army Order, all cavalry regiments had numbered individually by regiments. Now, line cavalry and household cavalry were differentiated, and each corps of line cavalry was to use a separate number series extending to 49,999. For more information on cavalry numbering and examples of cavalry attestations, see these previous posts:
Queen's & King's Regulations - numbering
Cavalry numbering in 1906
A cavalry numbering conundrum
I also offer a comprehensive, fast and cost-effective military history research service. Follow the link for more information.
This post will look at numbering in the 21st Hussars.
My data for the cavalry regiments goes back further than 1881 and so I'm going to start in 1874 which is where my data for this regiment currently begins. Service records for all of the following numbers survive in WO 364 and WO 363 at the National Archives. These records can also be viewed on line via Ancestry which is currently offering a FREE 14 day trial. Plenty of cavalry records also survive in WO 97, the Chelsea Pensioner series.
1370 joined on 28th November 1874
1412 joined on 5th October 1876
1784 joined on 24th July 1878
1940 joined on 26th May 1880
2016 joined on 3rd February 1881
2131 joined on 3rd January 1883
2414 joined on 23rd February 1885
2486 joined on 21st January 1886
2733 joined on 25th January 1887
2998 joined on 22nd February 1888
3132 joined on 21st October 1889
3225 joined on 9th September 1890
3331 joined on 4th July 1891
3472 joined on 28th July 1892
3590 joined on 14th February 1893
3857 joined on 28th September 1894
3955 joined on 25th August 1895
3977 joined on 21st November 1896
In 1897 the regiment was re-designated the 21st Lancers and so as far as this post is concerned, the 21st Hussars story ends here. See HERE for the 21st Lancers.
In December 1906, Army Order 289 changed the way in which the cavalry were to number. Prior to this Army Order, all cavalry regiments had numbered individually by regiments. Now, line cavalry and household cavalry were differentiated, and each corps of line cavalry was to use a separate number series extending to 49,999. For more information on cavalry numbering and examples of cavalry attestations, see these previous posts:
Queen's & King's Regulations - numbering
Cavalry numbering in 1906
A cavalry numbering conundrum
I also offer a comprehensive, fast and cost-effective military history research service. Follow the link for more information.
