The Inns of Court Regiment.

[leigh kitchen]

Miltary bodies associated with the four Inns of Court (Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, Inner Temple Inn, Middle Temple Inn) trace their history back to Elizabethan times - Trained Bands associated with the Inns of Court in London were raised in 1584 to defend the country aganst threatened invasion by the Spanish, soldiers were provided for the Royalist army in 1644, to resist the Jacobite invasion of England in 1745 & to restore order during the Gordon Rots of 1780.

From then until 1859 the four Inns of Court raised bodies of men for defence in times of national crisis but as each crisis subsided they were disbanded.

During the Napoleonic wars all of the Inns raised Companies of troops.

In 1803 at a royal review of the soldiers of The Law Association in Hyde Park, King George III, upon being told of their civil occupations christened them "The Devil's Own”.

The continuous history of the regiment dates from 1859, when The Inns of Court Volunteers were formed as a unit for producing officers, in 1881 it became a battalion of The Rifle Brigade.

In 1908 with the formation of The Territorial Force it was to be the 27th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Inns of Court), but resisted taking up the number.

The Inns of Court provided a detachment to serve in South Africa 1900-01, during WWI as an officer training unit it trained 11,000 officers, & continued in this role between the world wars.

In 1932 the Inns of Court Regiment was reorganised as one squadron of cavalry & two companies of infantry.

At the outbreak of WWII the regiment formed the staff of two Officer Cadet Training Units, in 1940 it was reformed as an armoured car regiment & transferred to the newly formed Royal Armoured Corps as were many other regiments (including the mechanized regular cavalry regiments & The Royal Tank Corps which was renamed The Royal Tank Regiment).

1941 - 43, the regiment was based in Britain as part of The 9th Armoured Division, from 1943 it was part of I Corps which was the assault formation of 21 Army Group.

Its "C" Squadron landed with The 3rd Canadian Division on Juno Beach on D-Day, the remainder of the regiment followed soon after & a month later joined The 11th Armoured Division. Equipped with armoured cars it formed the recconnaissance element of I Corps during the campaign in North West Europe.

In May 1947, the Inns of Court joined 56 (London) Armoured Division), & converted to a Reconnaissance Regiment when the division became an infantry division n 1956.

In 1961 it amalgamated with the City of London Yeomanry to form the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry, in 1969 it became 68 (Inns of Court & City Yeomanry) Signal Squadron of the 71 (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment.

[leigh kitchen]

A member of The Inns of Court Volunter Rifle Corps, pre 1908.

His cap badge shows the shields of the four Inns of Court, bottom tips to the cetre3, so that the whole resembles a cross in shape, with laurel wreath around & a scroll "INNS OF COURT VRC", later a King's Crown was added to the design after the unit became part of The TF.

The basic design continued albeit with changes of scrolls & crowns through the unit's changes of name & role.

Buttons are of black horn, bearing the Victorian Crown over a stringed bugle.

He appears to be wearing the wheelrght Trade badge on his upper rght arm - or perhaps the Stretcher Bearer skill at arms badge (intertwined embroidered "SB" in a crcle)?

It looks as if he's wearing the farrier's trade badge on his lower left sleeve, but this should be worn on the upper right.

What are the medals?

Edited April 15, 2010 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

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[coldstream]

Leigh

A very 'under photographed' Unit in my experience which makes your image all the more interesting. thanks for posting.

Just thought I'd add that in Ray Westlake's book 'The British Army of August 1914' he lists the 'Inns of Court Officers Training Corps' as forming part of the Territorial Force with its headquarters at 10 Stone Buildings, Lincolns Inn, Holborn, London with three Companies (A, B & C) and a Cavalry Squadron.

Simon

[coldstream]

A line drawing showing both the badge of the Regiment and the design of the Regimental button.

The 4 shields on the badge show the arms of Lincoln Inn at top, Inner Temple on the right, Grays Inn at the bottom and Middle Temple on the left.

Simon

[coldstream]

Ladies and Gentlemen

Having recently purchased a number of copies of 'The Navy and Army illustrated' magazines from the Victorian era I came across the following information and photographs of this unit.

Dated 16th July 1897 the magazine states 'The Battalion as st present constituted, was raised in 1859-60 and until two years ago was intially recruited from members of the Inns of Court. Now, however the rule has been relaxed amd members of Universities or Public Schools have become eligible for enrolment if approved by the Commitee of selection. The Headquarters are in Lincoln's Inn where there are, a drill hall, a mess, an armoury, a Morris tube gallery and a school of musketry and gymnasium.'

I'm assuming that a Morris tube gallery is some form of pipe range for zeroing weapons? Any thoughts anyone?

The uniform is described as grey with scarlet facings.

The first photo is captioned 'Officers, Inns of Court' and displays a fine array of uniform and headress detail.

[coldstream]

The second photograph is captioned 'Group of all ranks, Inns of Court.'

[coldstream]

The last photograph refers to a new section within the unit and states

'The cyclist section, only recently formed, is shown in force in this illustration. Major Lloyd, of the Grenadier Guards, who assisted in its formation, appears on the right. The section, which is commanded by Sergeant Hole, is exceptionally smart and well mounted'

Best regards

Simon

[coldstream]

After an internet search I have discovered that the Morris tube Gallery referred to in post 6 was indeed an indoor range where a sub calibre device was fitted to the standard rifle to allow marksmanship training to take place away from the normal 1000 yards range. Obviously the forerunner of our modern sub calibre rifle training. Clever people these Victorians! :cheers:

[leigh kitchen]

Nice photos & interesting info, the photo I posted is still the only one I have of the Inns of Court.

[Mervyn Mitton]

I have enjoyed this post - they are a famous unit. The extra photos show so much detail - thankyou Simon.

Now, family history has-it that my Uncle George Mitton served with one of the Bns. - probably the 2nd - in WW1 . He would only have been about 17 or 18. His Daughter - she is a Dr. and lives in Capetown - remembers that he was bayonetted in the stomach , she has , obviously seen the scar and said it was massive. However, we all know how stories are changed over the years - does anyone perhaps have any paperwork available. I don't want to draw his papers - it would be like an invasion of privacy.....

[pjac]

Back in the '60's and 70's (when I were a lad) I used to go to a dentist in Manchester named Alan Hilton. He was quite elderly and told me he'd been at the battle of Loos, and, I think, involved in some way with gas. He'd been in the Inns of Court and when he discovered I collected capbadges asked me if I could find him one fo the unit. I eventually tracked one down in a curio shop in Doncaster, and I'd never seen him so pleased about anything. If anybody has the knowledge to do any research on him, I'd be pleased to hear what is known about him.

Patrick

[leigh kitchen]

The problem re. The Inns of Court is that they trained officers who were then sent to other units, they did'nt take part in The Battle of Loos as a unit.

A quick check of Medal Index Cards shows about 9 or 10 Allan/Allen / A Hiltons, one of whom is an officer, Allan Howard Hilton, 2nd Lt in The Royal Engineers. His card does'nt have an entry for the 1914-15 Star being awarded, which you would expect for a man who served at Loos.

[leigh kitchen]

Have'nt got anywhere with a check re, George Mitton either Merv, there are a few listed but more detail's needed really, & officer's records are'nt to be found easily online.

[pjac]

Leigh

I think you're spot on , thanks very much. I'm sure his initials were A.H, and I remembered this morning that the Inns would have fed other units and that he had also mentioned the Royal Engineers.

Thanks for coming back so quickly.

Regards

Patrick

Patrick

The problem re. The Inns of Court is that they trained officers who were then sent to other units, they did'nt take part in The Battle of Loos as a unit.

A quick check of Medal Index Cards shows about 9 or 10 Allan/Allen / A Hiltons, one of whom is an officer, Allan Howard Hilton, 2nd Lt in The Royal Engineers. His card does'nt have an entry for the 1914-15 Star being awarded, which you would expect for a man who served at Loos.