Militia Records

[lennon2011]

Hi, I don't suppose anyone could kindly explain Militia Records to me could they? I managed to finally get the record of a distant uncle which says: These are to certify, That Rob Phillips. was Enrolled the second Day of March. 1792. a Subtitute for **** ********.

I've blocked the other person's name as I'm not related to them as far as I know, Robert did have a young son with no known mother so perhaps this guy is related to the mother somehow. Anyway, why are substitutes used as I'm not familiar with militia records at all and in all honesty the only comparison I can think of in this case is an animated film.

I know the time period of 1801 when this was eventually accepted would have been Napoleon but I've not had much luck in searches.

[ozgirl]

Taken from the Militia Act 1802 in Wikipedia

Instead of serving themselves, they could arrange to provide a "personal substitute" who was willing to serve in their stead; this could be a volunteer already on the local ballot, or someone from elsewhere in the county (or a neighbouring county), and it was expected that they would receive a bounty of a few pounds to encourage them to volunteer.

[lennon2011]

Thank you, I've looked further into the name of the other person and found they got married in 1793 and that Robert himself applied for church relief for his son but again no mention of his wife. I had the thought that they had a connection through Roberts son but Chester le street and Durham aren't as close as I'd like for that one to work out.