Why lie about his age?

[Keptin Thedark]

Afternoon All,

Does anyone know if there would be a specific reason why a 17 year old would pretend he was 21 when he joined the Durham Militia in 1797?


Thanks

[Phoenix]

How old did you have to be to join the militia?

[Keptin Thedark]

Exactly... lol.
I haven't got a clue.

[Penelope]

Younger than 17 even, I'd have thought?

Possibly they got paid more once they were 21? Or could join up without parental consent?

[Just Barbara]

I'm pretty sure the lower age limit was 18, it would be in details of the militia musters I think

[Keptin Thedark]

Having had a quick google I think he may have either put his name on the local Militia Muster Rolls/Enrolment list or took the place of someone else who did not want to serve in the Militia.

In the 1757 Militia Act (30 George II chapter 25) Parliament directed that militia regiments be re-established, after a period of dormancy, in the counties of England and Wales. It was realised from the outset that insufficient volunteers could be persuaded to come forward to serve in the ranks. Accordingly, a form of conscription was introduced in which parishes would make lists of adult males and hold ballots to choose some of them for compulsory service. If the chosen men were unwilling to serve in person they would be required to find other men to serve in their stead as substitutes.

Under the 1757 Act the parish constables were ordered annually to record the names of all men aged 18 to 50,

Ballots were not only held for recruitment of men into the "regular" militias, but also for the Supplementary Militias (1796 - 1816), Army of Reserve (1803 - 1804) and Local Militias (1808 - 1813). Separate Militia Ballot Lists have been found in various counties for these, particularly for the Army of Reserve in Cambridgeshire, Kent, Sussex and Bristol. They all seem to contain much the same details on men as the "regular" Militia Ballot Lists, and were for the same age groups, with the exception of the Local Militia Lists, confined to men aged 18 to 30.


from
Militia Musters: 1781-1782

[Just Barbara]

That would make sense, financially it would very likely be worth it too him.

[Keptin Thedark]

Right, I'm satisfied with that then, all other sources say he was born in 1780, and I can find no other possible baptism for him.

[Phoenix]

It depends on questions asked. The question might have been:

-How old are you?

-Of age to be in the militia

And of age taken to be 21.

There was a thread on here recently demonstrating that most people only had the haziest notions of their true age. (A fault I 'm fast developing myself;))