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Museum Archives

The Museum’s collection includes over 25,000 photographs and over 40,000 objects – many of which are archived and not on display in the Museum. These include personal letters, documents, diaries, memoirs and maps relating to The Rifles, The Royal Green Jackets, and its antecedent Regiments.

Our archives are held at Hampshire Record Office (HRO). Access to the archives may be gained during HRO’s normal opening hours.

The archives covering the Oxfordshire & Buckingamshire Light Infantry are held on loan by the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust (SOFO) in Woodstock. Enquiries related to this Regiment should be submitted directly to SOFO.

As well as these archives, the Museum holds a substantial library of books on site, including regimental histories and chronicles, with which to answer research enquiries.

Your Research Enquiry

The Museum is a useful first port of call for those seeking information about the actions, battles, and engagements of the battalions of the Royal Green Jackets and its antecedent regiments.

We do not hold the individual service records of those who have served in the Regiment, though through the Regimental chronicles we hold a fairly comprehensive record of those who served as officers, as well as our archive of documents, objects, and images. We also have a library of relevant books which can be used for research. 

Other Useful Starting Points

If you’re looking for individual service records post-1920, visit the government website, where you can apply for your own service records or the records of a deceased serviceperson.

Research guides on how to start researching the history of an Army Regiment or individual are available from The National Archives, along with relevant resources.

Hampshire County Council’s ‘Family History Starter Kit’ give provides brief guide to the main sources available from Hampshire Archives to help you to research family history.

Research Fees & Reproduction Costs

Research at the Museum is conducted by staff and knowledgeable volunteers with a deep understanding of the Regiment’s history. To cover costs, a fee is charged for handling inquiries.

Research Fees:

  • £30 for the first hour (or part of it).
  • £10 for each additional half-hour (or part of it).

For those making inquiries for commercial purposes or financial gain—such as authors or media researchers—special rates may apply. To avoid any confusion, please declare your intentions at the start.

If you need copies of materials from the Museum for personal research, these can usually be provided within copyright law. A fee, including a handling charge, will be applied based on the specific request and costs involved.

Again, special rates may apply if the material is intended for commercial use or financial gain. Please declare this intention upfront to avoid misunderstandings.

How to Initiate a Research Enquiry

The easiest way to initiate a research enquiry is to write to or e-mail the address below:

The Curator
The Royal Green Jackets Museum
Peninsula Barracks
Romsey Road
Winchester, Hants, SO23 8TS

E-mail: office@rgjmuseum.co.uk

You may also telephone for advice or visit the Museum, but research will generally not be initiated without a supporting letter or email providing as much of the following information as possible:

  • Your name and address, telephone number and e-mail address.
  • Whether or not you are a relation of a member of the Regiment and/or have any other Regimental connections
  • As much background information about your enquiry as possible. In particular, be sure to tell us what you already know. Try to be specific about regimental and battalion titles and numbers, the names of persons and places, and about dates. The more information you provide the better. The less information you provide, potentially the more difficult and longer it will take to provide you with an answer – and the more costly.
  • Be explicit about the question(s) you want answered.

Research will not be initiated until the initial £30 fee has been made – either via cheque made payable to The Rifleman’s Museum, or made with debit/credit card over the phone on 01962 828549.

How to Initiate a Research Enquiry

Enquiries will be addressed as soon as possible after payment has been received. Depending on how many enquiries the Museum is dealing with, this may take up to three weeks. If your enquiry can’t be answered within three weeks, we will give you an approximate response time.

For enquiries requiring up to an hour and a half of research, we will proceed without further contact, and the additional £10 fee will be requested when you receive your response. If the research is expected to take longer and incur higher costs, we will seek your approval before proceeding.

If your enquiry is likely to involve significant additional costs (e.g., extensive photocopying, colour printing, or photographic reproduction), and these costs exceed a few pounds, we will ask for your approval first.

If it becomes clear that an enquiry can’t be answered or needs to be referred to another office (HRO), we will typically refund the research fee immediately. However, if research has already started but no answer is found, the research fee will usually still apply.

Customer Satisfaction

If you’ve made use of our research services and are pleased with the level of service you have received, we encourage you to consider becoming a Friend of the Museum or making a one-off donation to the Museum.