Recruitment in the British Army from families with a military tradition. (This contrasted with the Navy, whose officers were more often from a middle-class background.) The second son of King George III, Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, did much to improve the standard of officer recruitment from his position as Commander in Chief of the Army (from 1795 to 1809, then from 1811 to 1827). The sale of commissions, finally abolished in the Cardwell reforms in 1868–1874, and the further Childers Reforms. In spite of its abolition, the status of an officer being from a privileged background and that of another rank being
Recruitment in the British Army recruits were mercenaries from continental Europe, including Danes, Hessians and Hanoverians. These mercenaries were hired out by other rulers on contracted terms. Other regiments were formed of volunteers such as French Huguenots. By 1709, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the British Army totalled 150,000 men, of whom 81,000 were foreign mercenaries. The rest of the army consisted of natives of the British Isles who, apart from the officers, were mainly recruited from the poorest sections of society. Each regiment was responsible for the recruitment of its own troops, and individual colonels would lead recruiting parties on tours of