Stuart Bates

Thomas Strong Seccombe, the illustrator of Benny's caricatures, was an officer in the Royal Artillery - commissioned as Lieutenant 21st June 1856 promoted Captain 3rd April 1867 promoted Major 21st August 1875 Not a very distinguished career apparently so just as well he had his drawing ability to fall back on. I have just followed Mikes' link and there are several copies of the book available, as indeed, are individual prints but the latter at £85 are a tad pricey. The individual prints are all dated 1873. As Mike says there are 26 prints in the series and I doubt that any/many were directed at a given individual and I say this just by looking at them. Stuart

Benny, beautiful caricatures, especially the 2nd Dragoons but I pity that poor Scots Grey. You neglected to say that the other was an Argyll & Sutherland Highlander but I guess I flagged that in an earlier post. Stuart

Mervyn, now that clears up a lot of things, well done. I spoke to Benny yesterday and he has a wonderful caricature of an Argyll & Sutherland Highlander soldier but I see he hasn't posted it as yet. I have quite a few more of these social commmentaries of the early 19th Century, some by Cruicshank, but they are not military so don't belong here. Stuart

Here is another etching featuring the Duke of Wellington and George IV. It is titled THE TH___NE in DANGER which I take to be THE THRONE IN DANGER. Published by J McLean of Haymarket but undated. Stuart

Mervyn, well spotted. It could very well be George IV as not only was he a dandy, hence the title, but in later years became an obese glutton and drunkard. The nose doesn't indicate the Duke of Wellington but the angle is not good enough to be definitive. I do wonder what the reference to the Farmer's BOY means. Stuart

This one is also unattributed but by the same publishers R W Fores and is dated 1819. Note the spelling of planning as planing and that Hungary is spelt Hungry. A Goose is of course an iron and written on the cloth used to hold the iron is The Farmer's BOY - too topical for me. Stuart

This is an 1818 etching by an unknown artist and published by R W Fores, 50 Picadilli & Oxford Street. I originally thought that the left hand figure was the Duke of Wellington but the title is A Russian Dandy a Scene at Aix la Chappelle which is the city of Aachen in Germany. The Treaty of Aix la Chappelle was held in that city in 1748 to end the war of Austrian Succession. Ahh! Whilst mowing the lawn I was troubled by this one being titled A Russian Dandy and being produced in 1818. When I had finished I looked at a couple of books and indeed the Congress of Aix la Chappelle was the one held in 1818 after Waterloo. I was thinking of the Congress of Vienna which was, of course, held in 1814 after the surrender of the French forces at that time. So perhaps the figure is the Duke after all. Stuart

Mervyn, what would be nice is to remove the helmet plate to illustrate its components. Stuart

The plume is actually black over white but the white has obviously turned to a grey over the years. The 1855 Dress Regulations introduced coloured plumes and the 7th were allotted black over white. I believe these helmets are still worn by musicians of the remaining regiments of heavy cavalry although the plumes of the 4th/7th Dragoon Guards band are now plain white. Stuart

Another Rowlandson print this time of the Loyal Islington Volunteer Cavalry. They received their standard in the Spring of 1799 so were presumably raised in this year.

Here is a Thomas Rowlandson (1756 – 1827) print of a London & Westminster Light Horse Volunteer. This unit was raised in 1780 and consisted of 6 Troops. I have a Tarleton helmet to this unit and the print accompanied that acquisition Stuart

A narrative of the above print. Note that he was commander of the 4th Brigade when the photo was taken. Stuart

Sir Neville Lyttleton commander of the 4th Division in the 2nd Boer War Stuart

And here is a Vanity Fair print dated 1874 of General Sir Garnet Wolseley. Stuart

Here is a Vanity Fair print of 1901 showing General Sir Ian Hamilton of Gallipoli fame. Unfortunately the print is too large for my scanner. Stuart

Brian, gotcha! The painting by Lady Butler shows the 2nd (Royal North British) Regiment of Dragoons which was their designation from 1751 to 1866 in which year they became the 2nd (Royal North British) Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys). Being heavy cavalry they were not part of the Charge of the Light Brigade and although the heavies were supposed to support the light cavalry they were not thrown away. At last, something of substance I can add. I used to own several horses and they are big dumb brutes. Get kicked by one or thrown and you will agree Stuart

I am not sure that I would like to have a horse named "S"tuart or be named after such a beast!

Brian, I've already said it but what a terrific find. Now you need one with a King's crown You said earlier that all police horses had a name beginning with the letter "S" but PC Roberts is riding Peel. Do you know when the change was made? I presume that the "S" is because it was Staffordshire. Stuart

Cathey, you are setting the standard for displaying items within a post. This one is a cracker. Stuart

And I am jealous because I can't think of a good enough comeback Stuart

Clive, give me a break. I am still trying to think up a reply to your last jibe on my collection thread Stuart

Nick, that straw helmet must be vary rare indeed. What date do you put on it? BTW: I have the only two straw Wolseleys known to still exist and dated 1917. Stuart

The helmet plate which is of the General Pattern and has a laurel spray in place of UBIQUE on the scroll above the cannon. Stuart

I also received this week a Royal Artillery Volunteers blue cloth with spike rather than cup and ball. The spike was worn from 1878 to 1881. Neither the tin nor the helmet have a name attributed. Stuart

The helmet plate showing the King's Crown and the Prince of Wales' plumes. Stuart