'These Meritorious Objects of the Royal Bounty ...' The administration of the out-pension of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea in the early eighteenth century

Abstract

This paper explores the establishment and operation of the Chelsea Outpension from 1688 up to 1755. It asks why such rewards for service to the Crown should have been paid to members of the labouring classes distributed across the British Isles, at a time when central government welfare did not exist.

It examines the structure and organisation of the Army, with particular emphasis on the recruitment of the Other Ranks, who were the recipients of the pension. It describes the work of soldiering in the early eighteenth century; accounts for the reasons why men reached the conclusion of their military service - whether long or short - and it examines the qualifications that entitled soldiers to a pension or debarred them from it.

The process of discharge is rehearsed against the background of statistical examination of length of service and age at discharge along with a major study of the incidence of wounds, illness or injury that terminated soldiers' service.

How the pension was paid; what verification procedures were instituted; whether abuses of the system were perpetrated and how it was reformed, occupy the latter part of the narrative. The study concludes with some consideration of the sufficiency of the pension to sustain life and how Out-pensioners managed for the remainder of their days as, mostly elderly and increasingly infirm, civilians.

Through this investigation light is shed on concepts such as the 'duty of care' that the State was prepared to adopt in respect of its servants and its willingness and capability to undertake the multitude of tasks required in administering and paying the pension.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Christopher Woolgar: orcid.org/0000-0003-0418-0718

ORCID for John Mcaleer: orcid.org/0009-0008-6971-7997

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