Where to find Seven Years War records online

[nathanmarks]

Hi, Family tradition has it in my family, a story passed from my great grandmother's (Ruby Jay) grandfather (Andrew May) to her that his (Andrew May's) paternal grandfather came over to the country during the Seven Years' War. Apparently, he and his brother fought under Wolfe at the Battle of Quebec, and afterward wanted to remain in America, so they "hid out" and then found their way to Virginia. I'm hoping to find records for the British soldiers who severed under Wolfe during the Seven Years' War in hopes that 2 brothers with the last name May will appear on a casualties/missing soldiers. I know fairly well how to dig up American military records, but I've never dealt with British ones before. Are there any online resources with military records dating back this far (the Battle of Quebec was in 1759), or will I need to go about hiring someone in Great Britain to dig them up for me? Obviously, I don't know the specific unit they were a part of, but according to britishbattles.com, the British unites involved in the conflict were:

15th Foot later the East Yorkshire Regiment and now the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire
22nd Foot now the Cheshire Regiment (only the grenadier and light companies)
28th Foot later the Gloucestershire Regiment and now the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment
35th Foot later the Royal Sussex Regiment and now the Princess of Wales's Own Royal Regiment
40th Foot later the South Lancashire Regiment and now the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (only the grenadier and light companies)
43rd Foot later the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and now the Royal Green Jackets
45th Foot later the Sherwood Foresters and now the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment
47th Foot later the North Lancashire Regiment and now the Queen's Lancashire Regiment
48th Foot later the Northamptonshire Regiment and now the Royal Anglian Regiment
58th Foot later the Northamptonshire Regiment and now the Royal Anglian Regiment
60th Foot later the King's Royal Rifle Corps and now the Royal Green Jackets
Fraser's Highlanders, disbanded at the end of the war.
The Louisburg Grenadiers, the Light Infantry and 6 companies of American rangers


As this is a new area of research for me, I would appreciate any help or hints in how to figure this out. "May" wasn't a horribly common name at the time, but it wasn't horribly uncommon either. If nothing else, I'd be fine with looking at all the British May's who were involved in the battle and compare names to tax records in Bath County, VA.

The 1880 Census reflects this story. Andrew's father, Reuben, claims his father was born in England and his mother was born in Virginia. Reuben was born in 1796. So the "family story" and at least that census appear to match up to a certain extent, so I'd really like to explore the possibility of finding Reuben's father and uncle among British army records from the time.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

--Nathan Marks

[v.wells]

Have you tried www.nationalarchives.gov.uk ? I don't know my way around the site well, but it may be able to locate something using the quick search engine.

[nathanmarks]

Have you tried www.nationalarchives.gov.uk ? I don't know my way around the site well, but it may be able to locate something using the quick search engine.

I have some. I'm not very well-acquainted with navigating it either, and had trouble locating a section specifically for military records. Its' the only site I've really tried, as it seemed like the only good lead when googling the subject. I'll keep looking through the site though and see if I can find a footing. Thanks.

[Jan1954]

I have some. I'm not very well-acquainted with navigating it either, and had trouble locating a section specifically for military records. Its' the only site I've really tried, as it seemed like the only good lead when googling the subject. I'll keep looking through the site though and see if I can find a footing. Thanks.

Hello Nathan - welcome to Brit-Gen,

The best place to start with the records held by TNA is the Research Guides. Have a browse.

There is a section entitled British Army: soldiers' discharge papers and pension records 1702-1913, so I wonder if anything is held therein for your chap.