One blog closes

I'm rationalising my blogs. I have too many to keep them all active and so I'm going to cease posting on some of them. In any event, it's been a while since I posted anything here. I'll still keep the blog open but I just won't post any more content here. In the meantime though, do visit my my blogs at:

Army Service Numbers 1881-1918 and Army Ancestry Research

Paul Nixon 
31st July 2018

26th Regiment of Foot - The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)

1688
The Cameronian Guard.
19th April 1689The Earl of Angus's Regiment.
Entered British service under King William III. Also known as The Cameronians and by the names of six other colonels until 1751.
1st July 1751
26th Regiment of Foot. 
16th February 1786
26th (The Cameronian) Regiment of Foot. 1881
Together with the 90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) (Light Infantry) becomes The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). This regiment - and the Highland Light Infantry - are organised as the county regiments for Lanarkshire
14th May 1968
Cameronians are disbanded and the King's Own Scottish Borderers absorbs the south Lanarkshire recruiting area.

25th Regiment of Foot - King's Own Scottish Borderers

19th March 1689
The Earl of Leven's, or Edinburgh, Regiment of Foot.
Until 1751 it was also known by the names of eight other colonels.
1st July 1751
25th (Edinburgh) Regiment of Foot 
31st August 1782
25th (the Sussex) Regiment of Foot 
7th May 1805
25th (The King's Own Borderers) Regiment of Foot 
Named for King George III and the Sussex title passed to the 35th regiment of Foot.
1870
25th (The York) Regiment of Foot (King's Own Borderers)
1st July 1881
The York Regiment of Foot (King's Own Borderers)
Re-organised with HQ at Berwick-on-Tweed.
1881
The King's Own Borderers
1st May 1887
The King's Own Scottish Borderers
Re-organised as the county regiment of Berwickshire (transferred from the Royal Scots), Dumfries-shire, Roxburghshire, and Selkirkshire (all formerly Royal Scots Fusiliers)
1899
Galloway (Kirkudbright and Wigtown) recruiting area transferred from Royal Scots Fusiliers
1968
Cameronians are disbanded and the KOSB absorbs the south Lanarkshire recruiting area.
28th March 2006
Amalgamated with the Royal Scots, The Royal Highland Fusiliers, The Black Watch, The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) and The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

24th Regiment of Foot - South Wales Borderers

8th March 1689
Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot.
Until 1751 it was also known by the names of other colonels.
1747
Ranked as 24th Foot.
1st July 1751
24th (the 2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot 
1st July 1881
The South Wales Borderers
Re-organised as the county regiment of Brecknockshire, Cardiganshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, and Radnor
11th June 1969
Amalgamated with the Welsh Regiment to form the Royal Regiment of Wales (24th/41st Foot).
1st March 2006
Amalgamated with the Royal Welch Fusiliers to form the Royal Welsh. It becomes the 2nd Battalion, Royal Welsh whilst the Royal Welch Fusiliers became the 1st Battalion.

The image on this post, courtesy of the Historum, shows 24th Foot veterans of Rorke's Drift in 1934.

23rd Regiment of Foot - Royal Welch Fusiliers

16th March 1689
Lord Herbert's Regiment of Foot.
Until 1751 it was also known by the names of twelve other colonels. 5th Earl of Mar pictured above.
1702
The Welsh Regiment of Fuzileers
Converted to fusiliers for the protection of artillery
1713
The Royal Regiment of Welch Fuzileers
The "Royal" accolade was granted in recognition of the regiment's service in the war of the Spanish Succession.
1714
The Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Welch Fuzileers
Named for the future King George II
April 1723
The Royal Regiment of Welch Fuzileers
1747
Ranked as 23rd Foot.
1st July 1751
23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fuzileers)
1st July 1881
The Royal Welsh Fusiliers
Re-organised as the county regiment for Cheshire.
1st January 1921
The Royal Welch Fusiliers
1st March 2006
Amalgamated with the Royal Regiment of Wales to form the Royal Welsh. It becomes the 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh. whilst the Royal Regiment of Wales becomes the 2nd Battalion.

22nd Regiment of Foot - The Cheshire Regiment

8th March 1688
Duke of Norfolk's Regiment of Foot.
Until 1751 it was also known by the names of twelve other colonels. 5th Earl of Mar pictured above.
1747
Ranked as 22nd Foot.
1st July 1751
22nd (The Cheshire) Regiment of Foot
3rd April 1877
21st (Royal Scots Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot
1st July 1881
The Cheshire Regiment
Re-organised as the county regiment for Cheshire.
1st September 2007
Merged with Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment and The Staffordshire Regiment to form The Mercian Regiment.

21st Regiment of Foot - Royal Scots Fusiliers

23rd September 1678
Earl of Mar's Regiment of Foot.
Until 1751 it was also known by the names of twelve other colonels. 5th Earl of Mar pictured above.
1685
Scots Fuzileers
1st March 1688
Placed on the English Establishment and ranked as the 21st Foot
1707
North British Fuzileers
1713
Royal North British Fuzileers
1st July 1751
21st Regiment of Foot (Royal North British Fuzileers)
3rd April 1877
21st (Royal Scots Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot
1st July 1881
The Royal Scots Fusiliers
Re-organised as the county regiment for Dumfries-shire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire and Wigtownshire.
1st May 1887
King's Own Scottish Borderers takes over responsibility for recruiting in Dumfries-shire, Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire
1899
King's Own Scottish Borderers takes over responsibility for recruiting in Kirkcudbright and Wigtown
20th January 1959
Merged with The Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form The  Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow & Ayrshire Regiment).
28th March 2006
Became 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland

20th Regiment of Foot - Lancashire Fusiliers

20th November 1688
Sir Richard Peyton's Regiment of Foot.
The regiment was raised in Devonshire. Until 1751 it was also known by the names of ten other colonels.
1st July 1751
20th Regiment of Foot
31st August 1782
20th (The East Devonshire) Regiment of Foot.
1st July 1881
The Lancashire Fusiliers
23rd April 1968
Merged with The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, The Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers and The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) to form The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

The image on this post shows Archibald Arnott M.D. (1771-1855). Surgeon to the 20th Regiment of Foot. I've borrowed this image from John Tyrell's excellent, Reflections on A Journey to St Helena.

19th Regiment of Foot - Yorkshire Regiment

20th November 1688
Francis Lutterell's Regiment of Foot.
The regiment was raised from independent companies in Devonshire. Until 1751 it was also known by the names of seven other colonels.
8th March 1689
Thomas Erle raised a regiment and later became colonel of the 19th Foot (1691-1712). He thus claimed the distinction of  owning two regiments. The junior one (also referred to as the 2nd Battalion) was disbanded 1698)
1st July 1751
19th Regiment of Foot
31st August 1782
19th (The 1st Yorkshire North Riding) Regiment of Foot.
29th October 1875
19th (The 1st Yorkshire North Riding - Princess of Wales's Own) Regiment of Foot.
Named for Princess Alexandra, Princess of Wales.
1st July 1881
The Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment)
1902
Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment)
1st January 1921
The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment)
2006
Merged with The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and The Duke of Wellington's Regiment, to form The Yorkshire Regiment.

18th Regiment of Foot - Royal Irish Regiment

1st April 1684
Earl of Granard's Regiment of Foot.
The regiment was formed in Ireland from independent garrison companies. Until 1751 it was also known by the names of other colonels.
1689
Placed on the English establishment
1695
Royal Regiment of Ireland
1747
Ranked as the 18th Foot
1st July 1751
18th (or Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot
31st August 1782
18th (The Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot.1st July 1881
The Royal Irish Regiment.
Reorganised as the county regiment for Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford, also encompassing militia infantry.
31st July 1922
Disbanded

The painting is by Michael Angelo Hay and depicts The 18th (The Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot at the storming of the Fortress of Amoy (Xiamen), China on the 26th August 1841.

17th Regiment of Foot - Leicestershire Regiment

27th September 1688
Solomon Richard's Regiment of Foot. The regiment was raised at London. Until 1751 it was also known by the names of other colonels.
1st July 1751
17th Regiment of Foot
31st August 1782
17th (the Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot.1st July 1881
The Leicestershire Regiment. Designated as the county regiment for Leicestershire, also encompassing militia and volunteer infantry.
28th November 1946
The Royal Leicestershire Regiment
1st September 1964
Merges with the 1st East Anglian Regiment, 2nd East Anglian Regiment and 3rd East Anglian Regiment to form the Royal Anglian Regiment.

16th Regiment of Foot

 

9th October 1688
Archibald Douglas’s Regiment of Foot. The regiment was raised at Reading from southern counties. Until 1751 it was also known by the names of other colonels.

1747
Ranked as the 16th Foot
1st July 1751
16th Regiment of Foot
31st August 1782
16th (the Buckinghamshire) Regiment of Foot.
May 1809
Exchanged county titles with the 14th Foot
1st July 1881
The Bedfordshire Regiment. Designated as the county regiment for Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire, also encompassing militia and volunteer infantry.
29th July 1919
The Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment  
2nd June 1958
Amalgamated with the Essex Regiment to form the 3rd East Anglian Regiment
1st September 1964
3rd East Anglian Regiment merges with the 1st East Anglian Regiment, 2nd East Anglian Regiment and The Royal Leicestershire Regiment to form the Royal Anglian Regiment.

Image courtesy of The Military Gentleman.

15th Regiment of Foot - East Yorkshire Regiment

22nd June 1685
Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot. The regiment was raised at Nottingham. Until 1751 it was also known by the names of other colonels.
1st July 1751
15th Regiment of Foot
31st August 1782
15th (the Yorkshire East Riding) Regiment of Foot.
1st July 1881
The East Yorkshire Regiment. Designated as the county regiment for the East Riding, also encompassing militia and volunteer infantry.
6th May 1935
The East Yorkshire Regiment (The Duke of York's Own).
25th April 1958
Amalgamated with the West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own) to form the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire.
6th June 2006
Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire. merges with the Green Howards and The Duke Of Wellington's Regiment to form The Yorkshire Regiment. The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire becomes the 1st Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment.

The image, courtesy of Wikipedia, shows John Theophilus Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd son of the 1st Earl of Moira, in the uniform of the 15th Regiment of Foot (1776) with a flintlock gun (and two adoring dogs).

14th Regiment of Foot - The West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own)

22nd June 1685
Sir Edward Hales's Regiment of Foot. The regiment was raised at Canterbury. Until 1751 it was also known by the names of other colonels.
1st July 1751
14th Regiment of Foot
31st August 1782
14th (the Bedfordshire) Regiment of Foot. Exchanged county titles with the 16th Regiment of Foot.
6th June 1876
14th (Buckinghamshire - The Prince of Wales's Own) Regiment of Foot
1st July 1881
The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment). Designated as the county regiment for West Yorkshire, also encompassing militia and volunteer infantry.
1st January 1921
The West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own).
25th April 1958
Amalgamated with the East Yorkshire Regiment (The Duke of York's Own) to form the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire.
6th June 2006
Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire. merges with the Green Howards and The Duke Of Wellington's Regiment to form The Yorkshire Regiment. The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire becomes the 1st Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment.

The image on this post is taken from The BBC's Your Paintings website and depicts an officer of the 3rd Battalion, the 14th Regiment of Foot, Army of Occupation, Paris, 1816. Painted by Jean-Pierre-Frédéric Barrois.

13th Regiment of Foot - Somerset Light Infantry

20th June 1685
Earl of Huntingdon's Regiment of Foot. Until 1751 it was also known by the names of other colonels.
1st July 1751
13th Regiment of Foot
31st August 1782
13th (1st Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot
25th December 1822
13th (1st Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry)
26th August 1842
13th (1st Somersetshire) (Prince Albert's Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 
1st July 1881
Prince Albert's Light Infantry (Somersetshire Regiment). Designated as the county regiment for Suffolk, also encompassing militia and volunteer infantry.
13th December 1881
Prince Albert's (Somersetshire Light Infantry)
1912
Prince Albert's (Somerset Light Infantry)
1st January 1921
The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's)
29th August 1959
Amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry
10th July 1968
The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry amalgamates with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, King's Shropshire Light Infantry and Durham Light Infantry to form The Light Infantry.
1st February 2007
The Light Infantry, along with the Devon & Dorset Regiment,  the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment and the Royal Green Jackets, are amalgamated to create a new regiment, The Rifles.

12th Regiment of Foot - The Suffolk Regiment

20th June 1685
The Duke of Norfolk's Regiment of Foot. The regiment was raised at Norwich from local men living in Norfolk and Suffolk. It also incorporated a detachment, raised in 1660, which had been sent to Virginia in 1667. Until 1751 it was also known by the names of ten other colonels.
1747
Ranked as 12th Foot
1st July 1751
12th Regiment of Foot
31st August 1782
12th (the East Suffolk) Regiment of Foot
1st July 1881
The Suffolk Regiment. Designated as the county regiment for Suffolk, also encompassing militia and volunteer infantry.
29th August 1959
Amalgamated with the Royal Norfolk Regiment to form the 1st East Anglian Regiment, (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk).
1st September 1964
1st East Anglian Regiment merges with the 2nd East Anglian Regiment, 3rd East Anglian Regiment and The Royal Leicestershire Regiment to form the Royal Anglian Regiment.

Pictured, Major General Sir Thomas Picton who joined the regiment in 1773 and was killed at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

11th Regiment of Foot - The Devonshire Regiment

13th June 1667
Marquess of Worcester's Regiment of Foot.
1667
Disbanded
24th January 1673
Marquess of Worcester's Regiment of Foot.
1673
Disbanded
20th June 1685
The Duke of Beaufort's Regiment of Foot. Known until 1751 by the names of ten subsequent colonels.
1st July 1751
11th Regiment of Foot
31st August 1782
11th (the North Devonshire) Regiment of Foot
1st July 1881
The Devonshire Regiment. Designated as the county regiment for Lincolnshire, also encompassing militia and volunteer infantry.
17th May 1958
Amalgamated with the Dorset Regiment to form the Devonshire & Dorset Regiment
2007
The Devonshire & Dorset Regiment merged with The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment to form the 1st Battalion, The Rifles.

The image on this post, courtesy Wikipedia, is a portrait by John Hoppner (1758-1810) of an unknown British officer circa 1800, probably from the North Devonshire Regiment of Foot.

10th Regiment of Foot - The Lincolnshire Regiment

20th June 1685
Earl of Bath's Regiment. Raised from eleven independent companies in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire and the garrison at Plymouth. Known until 1751 by the names of eight subsequent colonels.
1747
Ranked as the 10th Foot
1st July 1751
10th Regiment of Foot
31st August 1782
10th (the North Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot
1st July 1881
The Lincolnshire Regiment. Designated as the county regiment for Lincolnshire, also encompassing militia and volunteer infantry.
29th November 1946
The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment
1st June 1960
Amalgamated with the Northamptonshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire)
1st September 1964
2nd East Anglian Regiment merges with the 1st East Anglian Regiment, 3rd East Anglian Regiment and The Royal Leicestershire Regiment to form the Royal Anglian Regiment.

9th Regiment of Foot - The Norfolk Regiment

19th June 1685
Henry Cornewall's Regiment of Foot. Raised at Gloucester and known until 1751 by the names of twelve subsequent colonels.
1st July 1751
9th Regiment of Foot
31st August 1782
9th (the East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot
1st July 1881
The Norfolk Regiment. Designated as the county regiment for Norfolk, also encompassing militia and volunteer infantry.
3rd June 1935
The Royal Norfolk Regiment
29th August 1959
Amalgamated with the Suffolk Regiment to form the 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk)
1st September 1964
1st East Anglian Regiment merges with the 2nd East Anglian Regiment, 3rd East Anglian Regiment and The Royal Leicestershire Regiment to form the Royal Anglian Regiment.

8th Regiment of Foot - The King's (Liverpool Regiment)

19th June 1685The Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment of Foot. Raised in Derbyshire & Hertfordshire and named for the future Queen Anne.
1702
The Queen's Regiment of Foot. Re-designated to recognise Princess Anne becoming Queen Anne.
1716
The King's Regiment of Foot. Re-named to recognise King George I
1st July 1751
8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot
1st July 1881
The King's (Liverpool Regiment). Designated as the city regiment of Liverpool, also encompassing militia and volunteer infantry.
1st January 1921
The King's Regiment (Liverpool)
1958
Amalgamated with the Manchester Regiment to form the King's Regiment (Manchester & Liverpool)
1st July 2006
Amalgamates with the Queen's Lancashire Regiment and King's Own Royal Border Regiment to form the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.