Half-pay
Encyclopedia
In the British Army
and Royal Navy
of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, half-pay referred to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service.
Half-pay was originally thought to have been put in place to put officers into semi-retirement. While his services were not immediately needed, the officer would receive half of his original pay. This ensured that the officers would be supported while they waited to get recalled to active duty in the military. Half-pay officers could be called back at any time, so this restricted them from serving with any other military service or foreign army.
The half-pay is frequently referenced in the Horatio Hornblower
series of historical novels by C. S. Forester
, in which the protagonist and his fellow naval officers on various occasions express their dread at the prospect of being "marooned ashore on half-pay".
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, half-pay referred to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service.
Half-pay was originally thought to have been put in place to put officers into semi-retirement. While his services were not immediately needed, the officer would receive half of his original pay. This ensured that the officers would be supported while they waited to get recalled to active duty in the military. Half-pay officers could be called back at any time, so this restricted them from serving with any other military service or foreign army.
The half-pay is frequently referenced in the Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy officer who is the protagonist of a series of novels by C. S. Forester. He was later the subject of films and television programs.The original Hornblower tales began with the 1937 novel The Happy Return Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy...
series of historical novels by C. S. Forester
C. S. Forester
Cecil Scott "C.S." Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith , an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of naval warfare. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen...
, in which the protagonist and his fellow naval officers on various occasions express their dread at the prospect of being "marooned ashore on half-pay".