Re-archiving the Individual: British Army Officers, 1790-1820
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: School of History
Abstract
This project will explore how we can reconstruct historical lives from archival records on a mass scale. Using a case study of officers in the British Army in the late 18th and early 19th century the project will facilitate a wider exploration of individuals in archives by engaging the archive sector with the process of re-arranging archival collections through digital technologies whilst preserving their integrity in accordance with archival standards. The digitisation of archival records has predominately worked with the confines of the records themselves, for example transcribing names in census or parish record, leaving the user to piece together information across records and time from multiple sources. My fellowship will make a transformational step in digital humanities techniques to move from finding names within records (e.g. by optical character recognition or re-keying sources) to linking records together of individuals. This record-linking process will allow the exploration of individuals as historical actors and their social networks at a scale that is impossible through traditional historical techniques. The project will develop both the technology and the practice to find individuals en masse within archive collections - to 're-archive' records in a way that offers innovative opportunities for researchers, new ways for archives to engage with the collections they hold, and is more user-friendly.
The project's life archive of the British Army officers, created in conjunction with the Sheffield Digital Humanities Institute and The National Archives, will enable the analysis of the 40,000 officers who served between 1790 and 1830. Through this, we will be able to recover the historical experience of the silent majority of Army officers, avoiding the pitfalls of conflating well-known and well-researched individuals with what was typical. This database will be publicly available and enable users to interrogate the data through a series of search and data visualisation tools. These tools will enable analysis of both the whole data set or sub-sets (for understanding groups such as regiments, cohorts, particular ranks or roles) and individuals (for biographical enquires).
The fellowship includes plans for a wide range of publications and dissemination activities, including four conference presentations, two articles, a toolkit and report for the archive sector, three workshops, a launch event for the database, and a conference that includes a wikithon, facilitated research, discussion panels, and training. Following on from the fellowship I will also publish a book on British Army officers.
The project's life archive of the British Army officers, created in conjunction with the Sheffield Digital Humanities Institute and The National Archives, will enable the analysis of the 40,000 officers who served between 1790 and 1830. Through this, we will be able to recover the historical experience of the silent majority of Army officers, avoiding the pitfalls of conflating well-known and well-researched individuals with what was typical. This database will be publicly available and enable users to interrogate the data through a series of search and data visualisation tools. These tools will enable analysis of both the whole data set or sub-sets (for understanding groups such as regiments, cohorts, particular ranks or roles) and individuals (for biographical enquires).
The fellowship includes plans for a wide range of publications and dissemination activities, including four conference presentations, two articles, a toolkit and report for the archive sector, three workshops, a launch event for the database, and a conference that includes a wikithon, facilitated research, discussion panels, and training. Following on from the fellowship I will also publish a book on British Army officers.
Publications
Linch K
(2024)
The architecture and archaeology of War Office records
in Archives and Records
| Description | This project explored how we can reconstruct historical lives from archival records on a mass scale. Using a case study of officers in the British Army between 1790 and 1820, the project developed new techniques to digitally re-arrange records in archives to recreate careers, whilst preserving the integrity of records according to archival standards. The technical development of "re-archiving" individuals' records underpins the project's public-facing database of army officers, available at http://georgianarmyofficers.org. The achievements and discoveries of the project are: - The creation of a public online database of digitised records of British Army officers from 1790 to 1820, which has rebuilt the careers of over 60,000 individuals. This database is searchable by name, unit, or rank, and data can be exported for further analysis. - Initiated the rigorous analysis of the careers of officers in the British Army. We examined the scale and changes in the officer corps of the British Army between 1790 and 1820. Using case studies, we discovered the role family, patrons, and friends played in the initial appointment of officers in the era. - The project built a community of potential users of the database who contributed to the development and testing of the database. This community included academics, postgraduate students, archivists, professionals from military heritage sector, and family historians. - Developed a more thorough understanding of record keeping in the British Army in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and the influence of these practices on current archival holdings. We examined how and when military records from the War Office were transferred and how they were incorporated into The National Archives. Through this, we have highlighted the importance of the history of archival collections on historical research. - Developed an algorithm to match archival records about individuals to build biographies. - In tune with the ethos of the Research, Development, and Engagement Fellowship, the project has developed the PI's and PDRA's experience and expertise in digital humanities as well as working with the Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAM) sector. - Developed networks and shared expertise between The National Archives, The National Army Museum, and academics (including postgraduate researchers). |
| Exploitation Route | The project database provides biographies of thousands of British Army officers that can be used by family historians, biographers, creatives, and the military heritage and history sectors. The person-matching algorithm developed for this project could be re-used on other digitised historical datasets. Our work on records and the history of archive collections might inspire other archives to examine the history of their collections. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/dir-record/research-projects/1681/re-archiving-the-individual-british-army-officers-1790-1820 |
| Description | The project's public database improves accessibility to historical records and provides a springboard to the use of archival material by the public. The database has nearly 1000 users (data as at March 2025), with each user spending on average 3 minutes on the site. The database website has enhanced understanding of military careers in the era. Additionally, the database serves as a resource for the military heritage sector or any institution that holds records of army officers in the era. The database allows those in the GLAM sector to quickly research names and careers, and so more easily tie records or objects to historical individuals, with the ability to contextualise their career with their peers. The person-matching technology developed in this project has inspired archive sector to consider further projects. The understanding of staff at The National Archives about War Office records has been enhanced. This has resulted in updated information for public users about these records and developed the training that they offer to specialists. Additionally, our work on War Office records has provided inspiration for future collections-based research. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal Policy & public services |
| Title | British Army Officers, 1790-1820 |
| Description | Tabular data describing the contents of the printed Army Lists which the project transcribed and the life archives resulting from the project's linking process. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2025 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | n/a |
| URL | https://www.dhi.ac.uk/data/britisharmyofficers |
| Title | Georgian Army Officers |
| Description | Public database of the records digitised during the project. The database utilises a person-matching algorithm to match records and produce biographies of the military careers of officers in the British Army between 1790 and 1820. The database is searchable by name, unit, and / or rank. Data can be exported from the site. The database is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International CC BY-NC 4.0. This license requires that reusers give credit to the creator(s). It allows users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, for non-commercial purposes only. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | As at March 2025, the site have nearly 1000 active users, who spent over 3 minutes on average on the site. Most users are from the UK, but also the USA, the Netherlands, China, Finland, and Ireland. The site provides users to a summary careers of individuals, making it easier for them to track their career and unit(s) and further their own research on these individuals. |
| URL | https://www.georgianarmyofficers.org/ |
| Title | Source code for the British Army Officers project |
| Description | The code in this repository can be used to ingest the xlsx files contained in the data/drive folder into an SQLite database (https://www.sqlite.org/), apply regularisation to various fields, and then attempt to deduce which spreadsheet rows might refer to the same historical people, using rules implemented in the file python/match.py. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2025 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | n/a |
| URL | https://github.com/hridigital/british-army-officers-public |
| Description | The National Archives - Military and Naval records section |
| Organisation | The National Archives |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Organising workshops to explore TNA's collections. Working together on a journal article. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Expertise in the records. Research into the collection. Helping organise and run events. |
| Impact | Kevin Linch, William Butler, and Simon Quinn, 'The Architecture and Archaeology of War Office Records', Archives and Records 2024, 2024 . |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | The National Army Museum, London |
| Organisation | National Army Museum |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Organising workshops to that involved NAM staff. Informing NAM staff about technological developments for research about military records. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Expertise about NAM archival collections. User testing of database, based on professional needs. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Careers and Careerism? Charting the lives of British Army Officers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A presentation at the annual British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference, held at the University of Oxford. Approximately 15 people attended. The discussion and questions afterwards explored the nature of Army Officer careers in the era, and provided more detail about the database being developed. The paper was written by Kevin Linch (who was unable to attend) and delivered by Simon Quinn. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Data Workshop: British Army Officers, 1790-1820 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The workshop team were a mixture of PhD students, archivists and historians (both working at universities and outside them) and family historians. It included participants from: The National Archives; West Yorkshire Archive Service; the University of Northampton, and York St John University; the National Army Museum; and the University of Leeds Special Collections. This workshop provided first sight of a database that reconstructs the careers of 40,000 individuals who served as officers in the British Army between 1790 and 1820. Based on transcriptions of the printed annual Army Lists, the workshop explained and explored the database that uses cutting-edge technology to match records. The workshop highlighted the transformation in searching and analysing officers' careers offered by the database. It takes awkward-to-use PDF files of printed books that are organised by year with no search function and allows users to find individuals and cohorts across 30 years of data. Participants at the workshop were particularly enthusiastic about the database's technology for linking together records, especially the ability to view the probability of the match. In contrast to existing search tools used in finding related records, this aspect of the database was transparent about the confidence that a user could have in the results. This was particularly appreciated by the family historians, as it meant they could then focus their attention on cases that needed them. The workshop was organised by Kevin Linch and Simon Quinn. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/2526/first-views-of-the-british-army-officers-database |
| Description | Family and Social Connections of British Army Officers' Commissions, 1790-1820 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at the National Army Museum's "Alliances in the History of Armed Conflict, 1642-Present" conference held in March 2023. We delivered a 20-minute paper in a panel titled 'Personal, Social and Emotional Connections Between Civilian and Military Groups'. The presentation sparked questions and discussion afterwards with other historians from a diverse range of periods and persepctives. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.nam.ac.uk/alliances-history-armed-conflict-1642-present |
| Description | Interview for documentary |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Filmed interview for the documentary: Mayhem! The scandalous lives of Georgian Kings. Produced by onetribeTV and distributed on Sky History. I was asked questions concerning Britain's war effort under George II and George III. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.history.co.uk/shows/mayhem-the-scandalous-lives-of-the-georgians |
| Description | Making Life Archives Workshop: Person-Matching Technology and Archival Records |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop about the person matching technology used in this project. 8 professionals from the archive and museum sector attended. The workshop explored how the technology worked and discussed uses in other archive records. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/history/events/event/3156/making-life-archives-workshop-person-matching-tech... |
| Description | Making the British Army Officer |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk and discussion held at The National Army Museum as part of the lunchtime talk series. 50 people were present in the room at the time, and the talk was live broadcast and recorded. Over 250 people viewed it online. The talk explained how the project was transforming documentation from the era into a database that the public will be able to use, and explored different aspects of the lives of Army officers in the period. Attendees welcomed the new information that was being presented to them, and / or the contextualisation it gave for their own interests in the period. Direct comments (through the online platform), included: • Excellent talk by Dr Kevin hosted by Dr Matilda, many thanks to all! Excellent! • Thank you, NAM and the panel, for an interesting talk • Many thanks for a most enlightening analysis • Absolutely fascinating. Thank you everyone involved. • Thanks so much .Very interesting • This is so interesting and different |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/c/officer |
| Description | Personal and Personnel: Military Records 1790-1820 Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A workshop mixing PhD students, archivists, and historians (both working at universities and outside them), including: The National Archives; the Universities of Cardiff, Leeds, Northampton, Sheffield, Stirling, York, and University College London; and The Napoleonic and Revolutionary War Graves Charity. Kevin Linch, Simon Quinn, and Will Butler organised the event. Participants explored and discussed fourteen different historical documents held in The National Archives War Office collection. The material included the original letter written by the Marquess of Wellington to the government in London giving information about the battle of Vitoria as a list of casualties, statistical returns of information, and letters from widows asking the government to support them in their distress. We learned more about how military authorities received and digested information about what was happening in the Army's campaigns. Exploring these records sparked further questions to address: who compiled the information that was sent to London? How long did it take for information to get to the UK when the Army had troops across the globe from North America to Australia? And what information was lost in transit? An unexpected discovery in the letters was that the Army became aware of officers wearing medals who were not entitled to them. This led to investigations by military authorities in their own records to discover who had been awarded medals officially, and then the publication of this definitive list in the annual Army Lists so that it was publicly available. Within the military records, individuals can often be hidden under bare statistics. But in this workshop, we found ways to explore individual stories. Wounded officers were listed according to a scale from 'slightly' to 'severe', hinting at personal knowledge of these individuals. We found petitions from wives and sisters for support as they had been left destitute by an officer's loss, challenging the idea that officers (and their families) had significant financial resources. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/2417/exploring_the_personal_in_personnel_records_of_the_british... |
| Description | Record Keeping Workshop (TNA, October 2022) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop exploring how records about Army officers were used in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Processes were reconstructed by bringing together material from different archival series held at The UK National Archives (which cannot be done in their reading rooms). The workshop led to a deeper understanding of how records related to each other, and generated questions and discussions about how we can better represent these relationships to potential users. It also highlighted the value of reconstructing the creation and use of archival records to understand and explore collections - a process that emerged from the workshop that we sketched out as 'collection experimental archaeology'. The workshop involved 8 people, and mixed archivists from The UK National Archives (3 people), a curator from The National Army museum, postgraduate students (2), and the project team (2). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Waterloo Study Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Study day hosted at The National Archives. 9 members of the public attended. Participants were show original historical documents and their relationship to the Georgian Army Officer database. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/history/events/event/3082/workshop-waterloo-study-day-officers-of-the-britis... |