Transcribed from the 1805 T. Egerton edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org. Many thanks to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Library for allowing their copy to be used for this transcription.
REGULATIONS
FOR THE
ESTABLISHMENT
AND
GOVERNMENT
OF THE
ROYAL MILITARY ASYLUM.
London:
PRINTED FOR T. EGERTON
MILITARY LIBRARY,
WHITEHALL.
1805.
C. Mercier and Co. Printers,
No. 6, Northumberland-court.
WARRANT, CONTAINING ORDERS AND REGULATIONS, REGARDING THE ESTABLISHMENT AND GOVERNMENT OF THE ROYAL MILITARY ASYLUM.
GEORGE R.
WHEREAS OUR Commissioners for the Affairs of Our Royal Military Asylum did, in pursuance of Our Commands, signified to them in Our Warrant bearing date the 24th June, 1801, prepare and present to Us, in their Report, dated the 30th day of April, 1803, certain Orders and Regulations for the good Government of Our said Asylum, and for the attainment of the humane objects for which it has been erected; and did, in the same Report, propose such an Establishment of Officers, as they deemed necessary, in the first instance, to be appointed in Our said Asylum, together with the Salaries and Allowances fitting to be annexed to their respective employments; of which Report, in all its parts, WE were pleased to approve: And Whereas divers additional Regulations and Appointments of Officers have at different times since been represented to Us by Our Commander in Chief, at the request of Our said Commissioners, to be essential to the welfare of the Institution; and have in like manner met with Our Royal Approbation: WE do, therefore, confirm hereby the several Acts which have been done or directed by Our said Commissioners, in conformity to Our said Warrant, and to the Report and Representations afore mentioned: and, in regard to the Commissioners for managing the Affairs of Our Royal Military Asylum, as well as to the Regulations for the Establishment and Government of the same, in future, WE do declare Our Will and Pleasure, to be as follows:
OUR most dearly beloved Son, Field Marshal, Frederic, Duke of York and Albany, Commander in Chief of all Our Forces in Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; Our most dearly beloved Son, General, Edward, Duke of Kent; Our most dearly beloved Son, Lieutenant General, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland; Our most dearly beloved Son, Lieutenant General, Adolphus Frederic, Duke of Cambridge;
General, Charles, Earl of Harrington, Colonel of Our First Regiment of Life Guards; Brownlow, Bishop of Winchester; Lieutenant General, William, Lord Cathcart, Colonel of Our Second Regiment of Life Guards; Our right trusty and well beloved, William Windham, and Our right trusty and well beloved, Charles Yorke, late, respectively, Secretaries at War; General, Sir David Dundas, Knight of the Bath, Governor of Our Royal Hospital at Chelsea; Lieutenant General, George Hewett, Barrack Master General to Our Forces; Major General, Robert Brownrigg, Quarter Master General of Our Forces; Major General, Harry Calvert, Adjutant General of Our Forces; Sir Brook Watson, Baronet, Our Commissary General of Stores and Provisions in Great Britain; the Reverend John Gamble, Chaplain General of Our Forces; and Matthew Lewis, Esq. late Deputy Secretary at War;
Together with,
The General Commanding in Chief Our Forces in the United Kingdom, for the time being; Our Secretary at War; Our Bishops of London and Winchester; the Paymaster General of Our Land Forces; Our Master General of the Ordnance; Our Quarter Master General; Our Adjutant General; Our Barrack Master General; Our Inspector General of the Recruiting Service; the Governor, and Lieutenant Governor, of Our Royal Hospital, at Chelsea; the Colonels of Our Two Regiments of Life Guards; Our Judge Advocate General; Our Commissary General of Stores and Provisions in Great Britain; the Chaplain General of Our Forces; and Our Deputy Secretary at War; All for the Time being; shall be Commissioners for the Government of our Royal Military Asylum, and for the Direction, Management, and Control, of all Affairs belonging thereto.
And, it is Our Royal Pleasure, that Our Commander in Chief for time being shall be the President, and Our Secretary at War for the time being shall be the Vice-President, of Our said Royal Military Asylum.
WE do hereby Grant to Our several Commissioners above specified, or any Five or more of them, forming a Board, (of whom Our Commander in Chief, Secretary at War, Paymaster General, Quarter Master General, Adjutant General, or Governor of Chelsea Hospital, shall always be One) full Power and Authority generally to do, perform, and direct, all such Matters and Things, as They, in their Discretion, shall judge expedient, for the due Government and Maintenance of Our said Asylum; subject to such further Orders, Regulations, and Instructions, as WE shall at any time or times hereafter think fit to give under Our Royal Sign Manual, in relation to Our said Asylum, and to the Government thereof.
Four Quarterly, or General, Boards shall be holden in each Year; viz. on the 1st Tuesday in the Months of January, April, July, and October, or as soon thereafter as may be; of which the Secretary shall give due notice to each Commissioner, one Week, at the least, preceding each Board.
At those Quarterly Boards the general business of the Institution shall be transacted: such as the Appointment or Removal of Officers, not holding their Employments by Commission from Us; the Authorising and Approving of Contracts; the Examining and Settling of all Accounts; and the consideration of the necessary Applications, from time to time, to Parliament, for the Sums required in Support of the Institution.
A Committee (open to all Commissioners, but at which, Three of those specially named by the General Board shall always be present) shall meet as often as occasion may require to receive Reports; to determine on the reception, or rejection, of Children recommended for admittance into the Asylum, under such Restrictions and Regulations as shall have been previously prescribed by Our Commissioners at any General Board; and to give directions in all Matters respecting the interior Economy of the Institution: and whenever such Committee may find it expedient, it is to direct the Secretary to Summon a Special General Board of Commissioners, at any intermediate time between the Quarterly Boards.
In the selection or the Children for admission, preference in general shall be given,
1st. To Orphans.
2nd. To those, whose Fathers have been killed; or have died on Foreign Service.
3d. To those who have lost their Mothers, and whose Fathers are absent on Duty abroad.
4th. To those whose Fathers are ordered on Foreign Service; or, whose Parents have other Children to maintain.
The merit of the Father, as to Regimental Character, shall be always considered as a principal recommendation.
None shall be admitted, except the Children, born in Wedlock, of Warrant and Non-commissioned Officers and Soldiers of Our Regular Army.
Every Child, previously to admission, must be ascertained to be entirely free from mental, and bodily, infirmity.
The Parents, or Friends, applying for the admission of Children, shall be required to sign their consent to such Children remaining in the Asylum as long as Our Commissioners may think fit; and to their being disposed of, when of proper Age, at the discretion of the Commissioners, as Apprentices, or Servants; or, if Boys, to their being placed, with their own free consent, in Our Regular Army, as Private Soldiers.
The number of Children to be admitted shall not exceed One Thousand; viz. Seven hundred Boys, and Three hundred Girls; exclusive of such as, upon any pressure of special circumstances, may be received (for a time, and until they are of proper Age to be removed, or until vacancies may occur in the Asylum) into the infant Establishment in the Isle of Wight; hereby declared to be a Branch of this Our Royal Institution, and to be under the general control of the Commissioners thereof.
The following shall be the Officers, Assistants, and Servants, on the Establishment of Our Royal Military Asylum; subject to such further change, augmentation, or diminution, in the description, number, or Salaries, of the under Officers, Assistants, and Servants, as to Our said Commissioners may hereafter appear necessary: viz.