So he was a signaller in the infantry pre 1899?
** Without your 1901 census information, that could have been pre-1902 when Khaki Service Dress was introduced.
This is possibly George William Thornton from Hull and he was 17 in 1891.
His census records show him doing another job in 1891 and he's a seaman in 1901.
If he was in the army in 1891, even the reserves, it would be on the census?
** Not necessarily, if he was in the army reserve (i.e. finishing his 12yrs short service term of 5 to 7 yrs with colours and then 7 to 5yrs in army reserve) or a part-time Militia reservist, he would tend to record his civilian job in census; very few other rank soldiers recorded their reserve service in census. Officers of Militia and regular army permanent training staff of militia units were the ones that recorded their militia service in census.
He would only show in census if he serving at Home.
** True, it was only those on RN ships at sea or in a foreign port that were recorded in the England & Wales census of interest to you, members of the army were recorded in census in the country where they were serving and home service included the whole of the UK that would include Scotland, Ireland, Channel Islands, and all Commonwealth and British Protectorates that had held an “approved” census.
I'm wondering if you could be in the army and not show up on any record?
Would the majority of soldiers from that period not show up on a record, unless they won a medal, then they would?
** By any record, I’m assuming you mean online records.
Prior to 1883 records were only preserved for soldiers who were discharged to pension, all others will only be recorded in the Muster Rolls and Pay books of the regiment[s] they served with or if they qualified for one in one the many medal rolls for a campaign, bravery or long service medal, but some soldiers weren’t entitled to any.
After 1883, except for soldiers who died in service, records were preserved for all soldiers who served in the British Army as regular soldiers. For most soldiers who went on to serve in the army during WW1 in any capacity, their pre-war records were placed with the WWI ones, most of which were destroyed in the WW2 bombing. If he changed service to the RN (including its reserves) or the merchant service, any pre-WWI record should be available.
Many militia attestation papers (sometimes more) are also preserved, most are at the National Archives but some are held in regimental archives or country archives (records offices).
Would he more likely have been a fulltime soldier abroad or part time in the reserves at home, at a guess? Or maybe it's just impossible to say!
** Cannot tell, generally, (there will be exceptions, before anyone shouts) the only differences with the uniform of a regular soldier and a militia/reserve soldier would shoulder titles, minor changes to cap badge, collar badges and belt buckle; all details usually too small to pick out even in a high quality picture.
Can't find anything about his army life sadly.
**Where have you looked?
For Muster Rolls and Pay Lists you need to know his regiment, and most are only available at the National Archives, Kew. At present with the exception of some very early ones, filmed by the LDS, and some units from the Anglo Boer War, imaged and transcribed by volunteers and placed on Kevin Asplins web site and/or
http://angloboerwar.com/ none are online.
All surviving pre-1883 pensioners’ files, 1883-1913 soldiers’ documents and militia attestations are available at the National Archives, Kew or online via their partner for those records, Findmypast.
As I said earlier, records for anyone who served in the army during WWI will have been merged with their WWI files and all those surviving records are on Ancestry.
There are several records for regular army and militia soldiers named George W or George William Thornton and plain George Thornton; this one may be of interest.
George Thornton, born parish Sculcoates, Hull, attested into the East Yorkshire Regiment August 1894, claiming to be 18yrs 7 months old and was serving with the East Yorkshire Militia before joining the regular army. He gave his next of kin as his father William of 11 Chatham Place, Adelaide Street, Hull.
George was discharged medically unfit in April 1897 after being found to have valvular disease of the heart.
Ref WO 97/4020 Royal Hospital Chelsea: Soldiers Service Documents; 1883-1900: discharge papers arranged by range of surname; Thornton A. - Thornton W.
The record and others available on Findmypast.