A Chelsea Pensioner, or In-Pensioner, is a resident at the

Royal Hospital Chelsea The Royal Hospital Chelsea is an Old soldiers' home, Old Soldiers' retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse — the ancient sense of the word "hospital" — by King Charles II of Eng ...

, an Old Soldiers' retirement home and nursing home for former members of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

located in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

. The Royal Hospital Chelsea is home to 300 retired British soldiers, male and female (the latter since 2009), and is located on

Royal Hospital Road Royal Hospital Road is a street in Chelsea, London, Chelsea, London, England. It runs between Chelsea Embankment on the north bank of the River Thames to the southwest and a junction with Lower Sloane Street, Pimlico Road, London, Pimlico Road ...

. Historically, the term "Chelsea Pensioner" applied more widely, referring to both In-Pensioners and Out-Pensioners who live elsewhere.

In- and Out-Pensioners

The Royal Hospital was founded by King Charles II in 1682 as a retreat for veterans.Guidebook, p. 3 The provision of a hostel rather than the payment of pensions was inspired by

Les Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides (; ), commonly called (; ), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and an old soldi ...

in Paris. During the reign of

King William III William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 167 ...

and

Queen Mary II Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. She was also Princess of Orange following her marriage on 4 November 1677 ...

, the Royal Hospital was still under construction so they introduced a system for distribution of army

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

s in 1689. The pension was to be made available to all former soldiers who had been injured in service, or who had served for more than 20 years. By the time the Royal Hospital was completed, there were more pensioners than places available in the Royal Hospital. Eligible ex-soldiers who could not be housed in the Hospital were termed ''Out-Pensioners'', receiving their pension from the Royal Hospital but living outside it. ''In-Pensioners'', by contrast, surrender their army pension and live within the Royal Hospital. A number of veterans were incorporated into the Corps of Invalids from 1688 to 1802, receiving the equivalent of the out-pension in exchange for performing garrison duty. In 1703 there were 51 Out-Pensioners. By 1815 this had risen to 36,757. The Royal Hospital remained responsible for distributing army pensions until 1955, following which the phrase "Out-Pensioner" became less common, and "Chelsea Pensioner" was used largely to refer to "In-Pensioners".

Conditions for admission

To be eligible for admission as a Chelsea Pensioner a candidate must be a former soldier or non-commissioned officer of the British Army (including National Service) or a former officer of the British Army who served in the ranks or was awarded a disablement pension while serving in the ranks. They must be of pensionable age, be able to live independently on arrival at the Royal Hospital Chelsea and be free of any financial obligation to support a spouse or family.

Life of In-Pensioners

Applicants for the Royal Hospital Chelsea (RHC) are invited for a four-day stay during which they get a taste of what life is like for a Chelsea Pensioner. If they enjoy their stay and it is felt that they will fit in they are invited to become a Chelsea Pensioner. Upon arrival at the Royal Hospital, each In-Pensioner is measured up for their Blues (day-to-day uniform) and Scarlets (the famous uniform that they wear on parade). They are given their own room, or "berth" in a ward, and are allocated to a Company. Up until refurbishment works carried out in the 1950s, these rooms measured 6 × 6 feet. Work completed in 2015 has ensured that all In-Pensioner berths include en suite facilities, a writing desk, and natural light. On entry, In-Pensioners surrender their army pension, in return receiving board, lodging, clothing and full medical care. In-Pensioners also have their own club with a bar, lounges and restaurant; there are allotments for those who enjoy gardening and facilities for

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

. If an In-Pensioner becomes unwell they are moved into the Infirmary, which is a care home with nursing and a G.P. medical centre. The Royal Hospital Burial Ground is at

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

in Surrey. The Chelsea Pensioners were among the first to be included in the UK's rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations, having received their first dose on 23 December 2020.

Admission of women

The records at Royal Hospital show that a woman, Christian Davies, was admitted to Chelsea Hospital , and was awarded a pension for her service in the army and the wounds she received in the service of Queen Anne. She died in 1739 and was buried in the Royal Hospital Chelsea with full military honours. From Davies' death until 2009, only male candidates were admitted. It was announced in 2007 that female ex-service personnel would be admitted on the completion of modernisation of the long wards. In March 2009 the first women in the Hospital's 317-year history were admitted as In-Pensioners: Dorothy Hughes (aged 85) and Winifred Phillips (aged 82). Dorothy Hughes Chelsea pensioner

Winifred Phillips (1926–2016) trained as a nurse and joined the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existe ...

in 1948 and enlisted in the

Women's Royal Army Corps The Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC; sometimes pronounced acronymically as , a term unpopular with its members) was the corps to which all women in the British Army belonged from 1949 to 1992 except medical, dental and veterinary officers and chap ...

in 1949 while serving in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. For the next 22 years she served in Singapore, Cyprus and Egypt reaching the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2. She wrote two books about becoming one of the first female Chelsea Pensioners: ''My Journey to Becoming the First Lady Chelsea Pensioner'' (2010), and ''Mum's Army: Love and Adventure from the NAAFI to Civvy Street'' (2013). She never married. Dorothy Hughes joined the

in 1941, later working as part of 450 Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery in the London Division. In 1945 the Battery was deployed near Dover to defend against

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...

attacks. She later worked with the Army Operational Research Group developing fuses in shells used against

V-2 rocket The V2 (), with the technical name ''Aggregat (rocket family), Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range missile guidance, guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the S ...

s and was discharged from the Army in 1946 with the rank of Sergeant.

Clothing

Arthur Portrait Cheslea Pensioner July 2007 007

Chelsea Pensioners are entitled to come and go from the Royal Hospital as they please, and are permitted to wear civilian clothing wherever they travel. However, within the Hospital, and in the surrounding area, they are encouraged to wear a blue uniform. If they travel further from the Royal Hospital, they should wear the distinctive scarlet coats instead of the blue uniform. The scarlet coats are also worn for ceremonial occasions, accompanied by

tricorne The tricorne or tricorn is a style of hat in a triangular shape, which became popular in Europe during the 18th century, falling out of style by the early 1800s. The word "tricorne" was not widely used until the mid-19th century. During the 18th ...

hats. At other times a peaked hat, known as a

shako A shako (, , or ) is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor, and sometimes tapered at the top. It is usually adorned with an ornamental plate or Cap badge, badge on the front, metallic or otherwise; and often has a feather, hackle ...

, is generally worn. In uniform, the pensioners wear their medal ribbons and the insignia of the rank they reached while serving in the armed forces. They may also wear other insignia they earned during their service and this has included parachute jump wings and SAS jump wings.

Memorials and burial sites

Several cemeteries have memorials to and graves of Chelsea Pensioners. Burials were initially at Old Burial Ground, Royal Hospital Chelsea and then

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

, where the Chelsea Pensioners' Monument was erected in 1901. Since 1893, burials have taken place at

in Surrey where the care of the graves was transferred in 1961 to the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

''Men In Scarlet'' album

Seven Chelsea Pensioners at the Royal Hospital Chelsea released an album on 8 November 2010 in order to raise money for the Chelsea Pensioners' Appeal. Featuring Dame

Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 1917 – 18 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is Honorific nicknames in popular music, honorifically known ...

Katherine Jenkins Katherine Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns.The Soldiers and Janey Cutler, the album is full of well known wartime songs and includes their traditional march, " The Old Brigade".

Chelsea Football Club

Nearby

Chelsea Football Club Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in Fulham, West London, England. The club was founded in 1905 and named after neighbouring area Chelsea. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, pl ...

has been affiliated with the Chelsea Pensioners for many years; the club's first nickname was the ''Pensioners'' and until the 1950s the club crest featured a Chelsea pensioner. Residents of the Hospital can be seen attending Chelsea's home games at Stamford Bridge. When Chelsea won the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

title in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, Chelsea Pensioners formed a

guard of honour A guard of honour (Commonwealth English), honor guard (American English) or ceremonial guard, is a group of people, typically drawn from the military, appointed to perform ceremonial duties – for example, to receive or guard a head of state ...

as the players and management came out for the trophy presentation. This was repeated when Chelsea won the title in 2010. In tribute to the trademark scarlet coats worn by the pensioners, Chelsea's kit for the 2010–11 season featured a red trim on the collars.

Genealogical records

Given that Royal Hospital Chelsea was responsible for administering pensions until the First World War, it retained copies of service records up to that time. In principle, the records were kept for all persons in receipt of a pension. For others, their records were retained for fifty years after discharge. These have been digitised, and can be viewed via various genealogy subscription sites.

In-Pensioners

There are admission & discharge registers of in-Pensioners that have survived. They have been digitised, and can be accessed via various genealogy subscription sites.

Out-Pensioners

There are admission registers of out-Pensioners that have survived. Some of these had served long enough to accrue a deferred income. Others were in receipt of a pension, owing to being medically discharged from the army. They have been digitised, and can be accessed via a paywall.

References

External links

Chelsea Pensioners WebsiteSelected service records of in-pensioners who died while resident in the hospital 1923-1981. Available from the UK National Archives' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chelsea Pensioner 1682 establishments in England British Army Chelsea, London Retirement in the United Kingdom Veterans' affairs in the United Kingdom *