This series of records is found within the Northumberland Quarter Sessions records. Described as Returns of Persons, Waggons and Carts and Cart Horses for Carrying Soldiers and Baggage, the documents list all ‘persons’ aged between 15 and 60 ‘not engaged in any military capacity’ by township.

The ‘persons’ are males with occasional references to females as owners of waggons, carts or cart horses. There are also occasional references to men exempted from service because of disability.

The document was drawn up under the posse comitatus (Latin for force of the county). This was an ancient right that allowed the sheriff of each county to raise a voluntary force to maintain public order. The printed header to the documents notes the purpose of the force to include ‘to repel invaders’. This return was drawn up in 1797 when both government and the wider population were particularly concerned about revolutionary activity in France and feared a French invasion. It was envisaged that as well as repelling invaders the voluntary force might be used to evacuate the civilian population from coastal areas.

The returns are important records as they demonstrate the deep concern felt in Britain about the revolutionary activity in France. They also serve as a census of the male population between the given ages. The first national census of England, Scotland and Wales was recorded in 1801.