Stuart Bates

Graham, you have just cleared up some confusion and contradictions for me as in the 1863 list there is no mention of the 6th Buxton RVC in any Admin Battalion. That list is the earliest applicable that I have. I have the book Riflemen Form by Ian Beckett and he doesn't mention the 6th Buxton at all. He does however mention the 6th High Peak Rifles, formed 1860, for Derbyshire. Stuart

This is an interesting site and gives a short bio of William Housley http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~brett/photos/whousley.html He may have started photography as early as 1861 but was listed as a photographer in the trade directory of 1870. Stuart

The facings for the 2nd (Bakewell) Volunteer battalion of the Derbyshire changed to white by 1887 (I don't have the 1886 list). Stuart

According to the 1883 Army List the 1st Derby Volunteer battalion of the Derbyshire Regiment wore a scarlet tunic with white facings. The 2nd Bakewell Volunteer battalion wore scarlet with blue facings. Stuart

The side view.

My latest acquisition is another Wolseley. I know that I said I was finished with Wolseleys but this is to the Suffolk Regiment and features the puggaree flipped at three points (12, 4 and 8 o'clock) and has red and yellow piping. Frankly I much prefer the more normal front and rear flip. The front view.

Kev, this is an Other Rank's helmet to the Life Guards assuming that the top of the plume holder is gilding metal and that the finial to the top of the plume is white metal. The interior should feature 8 leather leaves with a drawstring. The King's Crown dates it from 1902 - 1953. The 1st and 2nd Life Guards amalgamated in 1922 but I do not know what the differences in the helmets were, if any. As to a price I would say around £850 but you must realise that these prices are what I think a dealer would realise and not necessarily what you would in a private sale. eBay would be your best bet. Stuart

OK, I have done some more checking through a friend who belonged to the Scottish Military Society when it was operating. I finally have to admit that I am wrong and the helmet is correct, even to the spelling of Airshire. My apologies for making a mess of this. Stuart

Hang on! On closer inspection it appears that the helmet may be made of leather, with an elongated front peak and without any trimming? The chinchain is not obvious either. Check out both photos as the blow-up is rather pixellated. Any comments? Stuart

Well Joe I did pursue it and I find that I now have to eat some humble pie. I decided to check further into the Ayrshire Yeomanry and finally came up with a book titled A History of the Ayrshire Yeomanry, William Samuel Cooper, 1881. It contains a photo showing the CO Lt Col C.V. Hamilton with this helmet beside him (see attachment). I downloaded the book as a PDF and apart from a reference to the uniform in 1804 nothing of the period in question i.e. 1878 - 1893. However, the spelling of Airshire remains in question, and without a description of the helmet so do some of my other points. However, I do not know when this helmet was replaced by the black leather one that I mentioned. I will not dig the hole that I have made for myself deeper but take this as a salutary lesson. Stuart

Well I got a response which said if I Googled I would find Airshire. I had already done this and Google asked me if I meant "Ayrshire." There was one entry for Airshire, Scotland but when I brought up the page it had Ayrshire all over it - another typo. I see they have some further helmets but I won't go into detail about what is wrong with them. It is interesting to note that theyseem to be re-gilding everything, even parts of the metal furniture that should not be. End of rant Stuart

Just can't help myself, so asked why Airshire and not the correct spelling of Ayrshire. Pushing the envelope but I hate these guys. Stuart

Kev, one easy way to shrink pictures is to select them by clicking on the first and Ctrl+click on the rest. Then right click, select "send to...mail recepient" and select "make all pictures smaller" and then click OK. This will invoke your email client and you can send the pictures to yourself. Save the attachments and you will have much smaller photos. I am assuming Windows XP here. I am assuming that you have no software that will enable you to resize images. Stuart

Clive and Mervyn, how come I always seem to be part of a coconut shie? The wrong part at that Stuart BTW: I think the fourth fixing probably holds the backstrap in place.

Kev, it certainly looks like a Life Guards but some more photos would help i.e. Victorian or King's crown etc. Stuart

Mervyn, maybe it is this book - The Regiment: A History and the Uniforms of the British South Africa Police by Richard Hamley. Stuart

Just had another look and note the four fixings to the inside crown around the spike's four spoke collet. Three seem to be some pop-rivet arrangement and the fourth perhaps a nut and bolt? Notice how one of the "pop-rivets" overlaps the collet. The acanthus leaf base was held in place by the spike's thread as it screwed into the collet and not by any screw threads or whatever attached to the base itself. Stuart

I was alerted to this helmet by Patrick - http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item33623c1c94 and was moved to say something. This is purported to be a helmet of the 1st Airshire Yeomanry - they cannot even get the spelling correct! My points are - 1. the regiment wore a black leather helmet with black plume until about 1893 and were dressed along the lines of the line Heavy Cavalry 2. in 1893 the regiment converted to a Hussar uniform, Busby with scarlet bag and white over red plume 3. the badge of the Ayrshire's was a lion's head with wings either side 4. The metal furniture would appear to be lifted from an 1871 pattern metal cavalry helmet 5. the spike base is from a cavalry,or Staff, Foreign Service Helmet 6. The lions' head bosses were for the Lancer regiments, although Yeomanry did what they liked but generally followed regular army units 7. the metal strip goes all the way around the helmet brim not just the front half as was the norm 8. What worries me is the pristine quality of the helmet, even, and especially, including the Hawkes stamp. This looks like a repro Home Service Helmet and a very well made one at that. Stuart

Mervyn, perhaps you were thinking of Princess Charlotte of Wales (7 January 1796 – 6 November 1817), daughter of George, Prince of Wales later George IV. She gave her name to the 5th Dragoon Guards and the following link gives the former titles of the regiments which amalgamated to form the Royal Dragoon Guards. http://www.rdgmuseum.org.uk/titles.htm Two sources that I checked have Lord Cavendish as the founder or the Earl of Devonshire. From reading further it would seem that it was the 4th Earl of Devonshire (1640 - 1707), later 1st Duke of Devonshire, who was our man. The family name was, of course, Cavendish as you pointed out. Stuart

Hi Mervyn, yours is an officer's 1871 pattern helmet and in very good condition. As I said this would fetch much more than an OR's version but you already know that. Stuart

I forgot to add that this is an Other Ranks' helmet and that an officer's version would attract considerably more money. Stuart

Kev, there is not much to add to what Mervyn has said other than that this style was introduced in 1871 and lasted until the outbreak of WWI. Many Yeomanry units adopted this pattern. The 7th were formed in 1688 and known as Lord Cavendish's Regiment of Horse and renamed the 7th (Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards in 1788. The princess referred to is Charlotte the Princess Royal, the daughter of George III. They amalgamated with the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards in 1922 to form the 4th/7th Dragoon Guards. Mervyn, you say you have an earlier version so I presume that that is the 1847 pattern? They fetch more money than the 1871 which seem to go for £1100+. It is difficult to assess the value of this one from one photo but it does seem to be in good condition. BTW: welcome to the forum Kev. Stuart

Shams, the link you gave to the London Scottish was most informative. I never knew that the Hodden Grey was chosen partly to avoid interclan difficulties with the different tartans. Stuart

Dear Shams, truly a labour of love. Well done and where to from here? Regards, Stuart

Here are the three sun or "pith" helmets from the 1900 DRs with "C" simply captioned "Pith Hat."