UK, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Service Records, 1903-1922

Source Information

Ancestry.com. UK, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Service Records, 1903-1922 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2022.
Original data: ADM 337: Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve: Records of Service, First World War. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives.

About UK, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Service Records, 1903-1922

This collection includes service records for British Royal Naval volunteer reserves who served between 1903 and 1922.

Service records for ratings provide more detailed information than officer records such as birth dates, physical descriptions, and previous occupations. They also contain details about naval service, such as division and service numbers, dates and periods of engagement, ships or units served in, periods of service, and remarks about character and ability.

The records for officers include their rank, appointments, honours and awards, dates of promotion, and names and addresses of next of kin.

Using this collection

You can use these records to find details about your ancestor including:

  • First and last names
  • Rank
  • Birth date
  • Birthplace
  • Enlistment date
  • Discharge date
  • Occupation

    • The records for ratings are arranged by division and then division service number. Those who joined the volunteer reserves after the start of the First World War will have a "Z" in their service number.

    These records allow you to trace an ancestor's naval reserve career from start to finish. In addition to the transcribed information, the original record will fill in details between the ancestor's enlistment and discharge dates. The First World War occurred during the span of these records, and the original documents may state when and where the ancestor was involved in a battle.

    Collection in context

    The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves was established in 1903, and the unit provided much of the naval manpower during the Great War between 1914 and 1918. The volunteers were men who were not seafarers by trade, but they wanted to serve their country in the navy in the event of war. When the First World War started in August 1914, the volunteer reserves were organised into six divisions with 47 companies. The divisions were established regionally, with units in London, Clyde, Bristol, Tyneside, Sussex, and Mersey.

    Bibliography

    DreadnoughtProject.org. "Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve." Accessed March 4, 2022. http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Royal_Naval_Volunteer_Reserve.

    National Archives. "Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve service records 1903-1922." Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/royal-naval-volunteer-reserve-service-records-1903-1922/.

    ---. "Royal Navy ratings of the First World War." Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/royal-navy-ratings-of-the-first-world-war/.

    Royal Museums Greenwich. "Research Guide B11: Royal Navy: First World War." Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/research-guides/research-guide-b11-royal-navy-first-world-war.

    University of Southern California. "Research Guides: Evaluating Primary Sources." Accessed March 4, 2022. https://libguides.usc.edu/primarysources/evaluate.