Questions on 1870's army record.

[Pat370]

I've been trying to decipher my Gt Grandfathers Army record. On the Enlistment page there is a question that looks like
"Have you ever been marked with the letters IO or BC"
Does anyone know what this means please?

[Jomot1]

Hi Pat

Until the very early 1870's the British Army would mark men D or BC for Deserter or Bad Character - there is some debate about whether this was a tattoo or a branding; the general consensus being that although the terminology used was branding, it was actually a form of tattoo.

[Peter Goodey]

From Wikipedia:

[branding] was abolished in 1829 except in the case of deserters from the army, who were marked with the letter D, not with hot irons but by tattooing with ink or gunpowder. Notoriously bad soldiers were also branded with BC (bad character). The British Mutiny Act of 1858 provided that the court-martial might, in addition to any other penalty, order deserters to be marked on the left side, 2 inches (5 cm) below the armpit, with the letter D, such letter to be not less than an inch long. In 1879 this was abolished.