On this page is what information I have on the dress, equipment and basic organisation of the yeomanry (volunteer) cavalry and association cavalry of Lancashire from the formation of the first corps at Liverpool in 1797 to the rationalisation of the surviving troops in 1828. Listed here are corps for Ashton, Atherton, Blackburn, Bolton, Bury, Furness (Ulverston), Liverpool, Manchester & Salford, Oldham, Preston and Wigan, with a short appended note on the unified Lancashire Yeomanry Cavalry of 1828. Coverage is patchy; some units are mysterious and ephemeral, others longer lived and better documented.
The forerunner of the amalgamation of 1828 was a scheme of 1817 to create a county-wide regiment; this did not succeed, but there does appear to have been a growing conformity of dress among surviving troops. At the other extreme, the Furness Cuirassiers are notable as the only yeomanry unit ever to have appeared in armour.
The 1983 booklet by Barlow and Smith is essential, but touches only on the three troops eventually amalgamated in 1828. For the Oldham formations, Iain Wilkinson’s excellent study provides almost all the information known to me, and has much useful historical context. Sources used in common are listed here, just below, and specific sources below each corps.
For infantry and artillery auxiliary forces of the county, see other Lancashire pages on this site.
Click to enlarge images.
[List of the Officers of the Several Regiments and Corps …, Fifth Edition, War Office, 22 June 1797; Sixth Edition, War Office 23 April 1799. Volunteers of the United Kingdom, 1803, House of Commons, December 1803. Returns Presented to the House of Commons of the Volunteer Corps of Cavalry, Infantry, and Artillery …, March 1806. A List of Officers of the Militia and of the Yeomanry Cavalry …, War Office, Eleventh Edition, October 1805. A List of Officers of the Militia and of the Yeomanry Cavalry …, War Office, 30 September 1820. James Willson, A View of the Volunteer Army of Great Britain in the Year 1806. J P Earwaker, Local Gleanings Relating to Lancashire and Cheshire, Vol 1, 1875-6. David J Knight, Directory of Yeomanry Cavalry 1794-1828, Military Historical Society, Special Number, 2013. L Barlow & R J Smith, The Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry, Robert Ogilby Trust, 1983.]
Loyal Ashton (Ashton-in-Makerfield) Cavalry Association / Ashton Light Horse / Ashton Yeomanry
Capt Comm Sir William Gerard (Gerrard). The earliest commissions are dated 2 June 1798. Formed as an Association of one troop, which in 1802 agreed to continue its service as the Loyal Ashton Yeomanry.
In 1803-05 recorded as one troop of 60, and still a single troop in 1820. Disbanded in 1825.
Willson’s chart of 1806 gives the uniform as blue faced red, with white legwear and officer’s silver lace.
Atherton Association
Capt Comm Dugdale Stratford Geast. Raised as an association in 1798. (Titled wrongly in the 1799 List as “Atherston”.) A single troop, disbanded presumably in 1802.
Blackburn Loyal (Loyal Blackburn) Association
Capt Comm William Feilden (Fielden). Raised as an armed association troop, alongside the infantry association (see this page). Commissions dated 6 June 1798. Disbanded presumably in 1802.
A “most superb Standard” was presented by Miss Clayton on 4 June 1799.
On 14 November 1810 a meeting was held at Whalley to consider raising a new corps from the Hundred of Blackburn, but the effort was not successful.
[Manchester Mercury, 11 June 1799, 12 October 1819. Lancaster Gazette, 9 October 1819.]
Bolton Light Horse Volunteers / Bolton-le-Moor Cavalry
First formation
Major John Pilkington. Earliest commission dated 19 April 1798. Raised as a single troop, but subsequently augmented to two. In June 1799, at the presentation of their standards, recorded as a single troop numbering 65 men. On inspection in 1806 the corps was noted as a single troop, but with only 29 rank and file under arms from an establishment of 100, though horses, arms and accoutrements and the state of the clothing were all noted as “good”.
photo Dixon Pickup
A flat gilt button, 15 mm in diameter, with the incised design of a crown over “LBLHV” in ornate script, has been attributed by its owner Dixon Pickup to this corps. If so, it may indicate that officer’s lace or metal were gold; as those of the later period were silver, the button is presumably earlier. However, a possible attribution to the Loyal Birmingham Light Horse Volunteers has also been made by Anthony Skelsey, partly in view of the initial “L” for “Loyal”, used by the Birmingham corps but apparently not by the Bolton.
An unidentified half ball button, 15 mm in diameter and inscribed “B / L • H / V”, has been offered on eBay. It appears to be in a yellow metal, and might conceivably be for this corps.
Two examples have been seen of an oval silvered belt plate with the incised design of a crown over “BLHV” in script, which might be for this corps, though, as for the button above, Birmingham has also been suggested. An example sold by Christie’s is apparently hallmarked for 1800.
On 20 June 1799 “a pair of elegant standards, the gift of the Ladies of Bolton and its neighbourhood” were presented by Mrs Pilkington.
In 1802 one troop renewed its service under Pilkington. In 1803 this numbered 116 men, and was still a single troop in 1805. Willson’s chart of 1806 gives the uniform as blue faced red, with white legwear and officer’s silver lace.
The corps was disbanded at its last parade on 5 April 1816, when its standards were deposited at the parish church. During his term as Mayor of Bolton (1861-63), James Rawsthorne Wolfenden renovated the standards of the corps, presumably those of this period.
Second formation
The revival of a single troop was proposed at meetings in August and September 1819, and it was accepted in January 1820, under Capt Comm James Kearsley. The earliest commission for the new troop was on 6 January 1820. Two troops existed by later that year. The corps was amalgamated into the Lancashire Yeomanry in 1828 (see below).
Barlow and Smith describe two watercolours of about 1905 by Richard Simkin that show an officer and private of this period, based on a surviving officer’s jacket and the reminiscences of former members. These were then (1983) at the Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry Museum, and may still be, though the museum is currently closed. The paintings are not reproduced in Barlow and Smith, but the cover illustration includes a version of the officer by Robert J Marrion, as shown here. Simkin’s details may not be completely secure, but should be reasonably accurate. The uniform is similar to that noted for the Manchester and Oldham troops of this period, and conforms to the proposal of 1817 (see below) for a county regiment dressed as light dragoons in blue with white facings.
The officer wears a dark blue light dragoon jacket with plain white facings and gilt buttons and gold epaulettes, the collar cut closed. The back seams are piped in white, possibly extending to the sleeve seam, and the tails lined in white. The black shako has gilt trim, including cap lines ending in flounders, hooked onto lion’s head holders at the top sides. The white over red plume was originally upright, but changed to a falling plume by 1825.
The overalls are bluish grey with double white seam stripes. The girdle or sash is gold with crimson lines, and the pouch belt laced gold with a central scarlet stripe and silver ornaments, the pouch scarlet faced, with gold lace edging with a central device of a gold crown over a rose in gold and crimson, over the letters “BYC” in gold. Smith also mentions a plain white pouch belt in use by officers. The sword belt and slings are of red leather edged and fitted in gold; likewise the three sabretache slings, the sabretache scarlet faced with gold lace edging and a central device as on the pouch. The light cavalry sword has a gold and crimson knot, while Smith mentions a curved Mameluke sword worn for formal occasions.
The officer’s horse furniture is a black sheepskin with white cloth edging and a dark blue shabraque with rounded corners, edged in gold lace, the device on the corners similar to that on pouch and sabretache.
The other ranks’ uniform is similar but with yellow lace in place of the officer’s gold, the jacket with white facings and rear seams but with brass buttons. The grey overalls, still worn in 1827, were presumably as for the officers. The girdle is yellow and scarlet, the sword belt (and presumably pouch belt) white, the sabretache plain black leather with white slings. The sheepskins of the horse furniture are white, the shabraque as the officers’ but with yellow lace and details, and the valise blue with the letters (in yellow?) “BYC”.
[Manchester Mercury, 23 June 1799, 16 April 1816, 11 January 1820. Anthony Skelsey, “The Loyal Birmingham Light Horse Volunteers”, Military Historical Society Bulletin, 271, February 2018.]
Bury Cavalry Association
Capt Edmund Yates. No dates of commissions are given in the 1799 List. A single troop was formed in 1798 as an association alongside the more substantial infantry association. In 1802 the troop declined to continue its service and was disbanded.
Furness Yeomanry Cavalry / Furness Cuirassiers
Capt Thomas Richmond (wrongly, Richard) Gale Braddyll. Raised at Ulverston, following a meeting on 31 July 1819. The earliest commissions are dated 22 September 1819. One troop of 47 rank and file, amalgamated into the Lancashire Yeomanry in 1828 (see below).
Photo Stuart Bates
Braddyll had been a Lieutenant Colonel in the Coldstream Guards, and was well connected, a circumstance that may have enabled his subsequent moves to equip his troop. A report of 17 March 1821 stated that he had “recently” given his men “their steel helmets and cuirasses”, which would be worn for the first time in late April. As Smith notes, the cuirasses were indeed worn, and later recalled by locals.
It is possible that these cuirasses were purchased by Braddyll from among the 230 provided new by the Ordnance that were worn briefly by four troops of the Royal Horse Guards (Blue) at the start of the 1794 Flanders campaign; these had soon been abandoned and returned to store, though that did not deter a Board of General Officers recommending in 1796 that cuirasses should be worn by the entire Heavy Cavalry. If the Furness cuirasses were indeed from this stock, they would probably have been of plain white steel. Interestingly, Braddyll’s introduction of them anticipated by just a few months their re-adoption for state occasions by the Household Cavalry at the coronation of George IV on 19 July 1821.
No cuirass attributed to this troop seems to have survived, but their helmets are known. In 1999 Bosley’s offered a complete example, which seems to have been that described in Crown Imperial of 1982 as quoted by Smith. It is of the 1812 to 1818 Heavy Dragoon pattern, with a blackened metal skull, gilt furniture and a black horsehair mane and short plume. The original front plate carries an oval plaque inscribed “Furness Yeomanry”, concealing the title of the original unit. (Smith describes the sides of the skull as decorated with metal leaves, but there is no sign of this in this photo, and this might be a reference in error to the laurel leaves ornamenting the edges of the front plate.) The helmet shown here is owned by Stuart Bates, and the image is used with his kind permission.
Smith notes two other helmets. One was once in the Barrow Museum in dilapidated condition, but has since disappeared; the steel body was coated in black, and the front bore a brass plate inscribed “G.R. Furness Yeomanry”. The other, also part missing and in a private collection, is of the 1812 Heavy Dragoon pattern; the front plate, comb, “GR” cypher and small oval plate inscribed “Furness Yeomanry” are all in brass or gilt, but the skull and peak, as on Mr Bates’ example, are in black leather. Evidently Braddyll acquired a mixed lot of these redundant helmets following their retirement from regular service in 1818. Presumably they superseded some form of cap or shako.
Braddyll’s proposal in 1828 that the amalgamated Lancashire Yeomanry should adopt a uniform of blue faced red suggests that these may have been the colours of his troop. The Gaunt collection at Birmingham Museum has a gilt convex button with the raised design of a coronet over rose and laurel sprays between “FURNESS” and “CURASSIERS”[sic] in Roman capitals. The mis-spelling is an oddity. Presumably this button was not worn until 1821, and would have replaced a pattern appropriate to the earlier title.
The troop carried straight swords with a closed half-basket hilt lined with leather.
Their standard was presented in April 1821.
[Lancaster Gazette, 17 March 1821.]
Liverpool Light Horse / Liverpool Corps of Yeomanry
Capt Edward Falkner (Faulkner, Fawkner). The earliest commissions are dated 23 March 1797. Apparently initially accepted as a single troop, subsequently two troops.
Reeves gives the uniform as “a Tarleton helmet, short coatee-jacket with bullion shoulder wings, white breeches and black knee-boots”. The source for this is not recorded, but it may derive ultimately from a portrait held at the Judges’ Lodgings, Lancaster by the County Museum Service, and identified as a Henry Hulton, though no officer of this name is traceable to the corps. (On the ArtUK site the painting is wrongly dated to 1807 and the uniform attributed to the Blackburn Local Militia.) However, the dress is clearly that of this corps, dating to the late 1790’s.
The dark blue open jacket has two rows of perhaps ten small silver buttons, but closes with a hook and eye. The collar, pointed cuffs and jacket edges are laced in what may be gold lace, though the metal here is silver. The shoulder scales are edged and fringed in silver, and the white or silver cords and tassels on the left shoulder and breast appear to be a sign of an officer, though no sash is worn. The matching waistcoat is single breasted, with three rows of buttons. The Tarleton helmet has a pale buff plume and a turban in a stronger shade of buff, with silver fittings and a silver badge of the Prince of Wales’ feathers. The white shoulder belt has an oval silver plate inscribed simply with “LLH” in Roman capitals. The breeches are pale buff, or perhaps white.
An oval silver belt plate sold by Spink has the incised design of a Liver bird crest above “LLH” in ornate script; this is presumably a later plate than the more basic pattern in the portrait.
A flat button in the Gaunt Collection at Birmingham Museum has a simpler version of the same design; it is presumably silvered, despite the yellowish cast of this photo.
In 1802 one troop renewed its service, and a second was raised in 1803. That year the two troops were 160 strong, still under Falkner, commissioned Major on 10 September 1803. On inspection in 1806 the corps was two troops strong, but with only 45 rank and file under arms from an establishment of 160; the horses were noted as “remarkably good”, the arms and accoutrements “old, but in good order” and
the state of the clothing “bad”.
Willson’s chart of 1806 gives the uniform as blue faced white, with silver officer’s lace and white legwear. The colour of facings had evidently changed since the earlier period.
In 1820 the corps still comprised two troops. It was disbanded in late May, 1825.
[Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 28 May 1825. Manchester Mercury, 31 May 1825. Dennis Reeves, “The Liverpool Volunteers”, MHS Bulletin 269, Aug 2017.]
Manchester & Salford Light Horse Volunteers / Volunteer Cavalry / Yeomanry Cavalry
First formation
Major Comm, later Lieut Col Comm John Ford, commissioned Major in 1797, and Lieut Col on 1 May 1798. The corps was accepted on 28 April 1797. The initial three troops increased in 1798 to four, then six. It was disbanded in 1802, still under Ford’s command.
The Regulating Code of the corps for 1797 prescribes dress, undress and off duty uniforms, as below. Modifications to these rules in the equivalent paragraphs of the 1798 edition are inserted in square brackets.
XI
Every Volunteer at his own expence to furnish himself with the following cloathing, arms & accoutrements, all made to pattern: a regimental bridle and saddle, [1798: black Portmanteau and Horse Collar] with cloak-pad, and straps; a cartouch box, containing four rounds, fixed on the outside of each holster; a sabre, a buff leather sword knot whited, a black spanish leather waist belt, a pistol, a regimental blue coat-cloak, with white collar and lining; a dress uniform agreeable to Rule XII and an undress according to Rule XIII; each Commissioned Officer to procure [1798: wear] a crimson silk sash.
XII
The Dress Uniform is a blue hussar Jacket, with silver lace [1798: and Chain Wings], white collar and cuffs; white quilted [1798: cotton (not “quilted”)] waistcoat, white leather breeches, long black topped boots, plated spurs with horizontal rowels, black velvet stock, with a narrow white turn-over; frilled shirt, hair well powdered, short sides, queue tied close to the head; silk rosette, white wash leather gloves, and helmet with long white feather.
XIII
The Undress is a plain blue jacket [1798: with scale wings], corresponding, with the exception of lace; pantaloons of blue cloth with white seams, lined with blue cloth, and half boots; other particulars as in Rule XII.
XIV
The dress of the Farrier Major [1798: Farriers] to be a blue jacket, three rows of buttons, black velvet collar and cuffs; and helmet. That of the Trumpeters, a white jacket, blue collar and cuffs, and corresponding shoulder knots, three rows of buttons, with blue cords and tassels and leather cap [1798: Hairy cap (not “leather”)], with white feathers. That of extraordinary Serjeants, if found necessary – the undress uniform jacket, and three bars upon the arm; white cloth waistcoat, mixed pantaloons, half-boots, and leather cap, with a white feather. [1798, rule for extraordinary Serjeants replaced by: That of Serjeants in pay a Dress Uniform corresponding to the full dress with worsted in lieu of silver lace; and the undress plain Uniform: – both to have three bars upon the arm.]
XV
Such gentlemen as chuse it, when not at drill, exercise or on duty, may wear, as an undress uniform, a blue coat with a black velvet collar & cuffs, two regimental buttons under the wrist, four on each side the lappels, and four on the skirts. – The regimental buttons to be flat and gilt, with the letters L.H.V. raised on the surface. [1798: this rule is omitted, the coat presumably now thought unnecessary.]
The dress uniform is shown in a portrait by John Russell, said to be from 1800, and listed online by Neil Jeffares in his Dictionary of pastellists before 1800. (Though a convincing provenance is offered, there seems to be some confusion, as the image is identified as Robert Keymer as Colonel of this corps. Though Keymer was later Colonel of the Newton & Failsworth Local Militia – see this page – he did not have that rank in the Light Horse, and does not wear a sash in this image. I’m told that the portrait, or perhaps a copy, is now at Turton Tower near Bolton.)
A sketch with notes made by Leslie Barlow, probably when the portrait passed through Sotheby’s in 1954, was in a yeomanry folder of the late R J Smith offered on eBay. Barlow observes that the jacket is Prussian blue without pockets. The silver lace is 3/8″ wide down the front of the jacket and round the bottom, and the braid for the looping about 1/8″ wide. The top loop is “plain”, i.e. without any decorative continuation, while the loops on button front of the jacket do not reach the edge. The collar and cuff are pale buff (actually white, by the Code above), edged in silver lace, then in blue lined with silver cord. There are two silver buttons and silver braid outside the cuff. The wings are steel link chain [silvered?] on blue cloth, edged with silver braid.
The black helmet has black fur, a red over white plume (not just white as per the Code), a dark crimson turban and silver metal. The ribbon reads “[M]&S LIGHT …” No sash or pouch belt are shown. The wide black belt has a white metal buckle and clasp and a steel swivel The breeches are either buff or discoloured white, and the gloves are white.
In 1802 the corps declined to continue its services and was disbanded. Axon states that on disbandment, which he dates wrongly to 1803, the standards of the corps were deposited “at Claremont”.
Second formation
The corps was re-formed in 1803, under Major Comm Shakespear (Shakspeare, Shakespere) Phillips (Philips), commissioned Major on 17 August 1803. (Phillips is said to have resigned the command in 1804 in order to fight an inconclusive duel with a private of the corps in July that year, but he continued to be listed as commander.)
The corps was first proposed at a meeting of 23 July 1803, to be 150 strong, and in 1803 comprised three troops totalling 180. At the review and presentation of standards on 12 April 1804 it was reported as 138 strong, apparently in two troops. On inspection in 1806 it was still two troops strong, with 96 rank and file under arms from an establishment of 120; the horses were noted as “in general very good”, the arms and accoutrements as “in tolerable order” and the state of the clothing “very good”, perhaps indicating a fairly recent re-clothing. Knight gives the point of disbandment as by 1812, Smith as in 1809.
Aston’s Guide of 1804 describes their appearance thus:
The gentlemen are mounted in general upon capital horses; and have for their uniform helmet caps, scarlet jackets, blue pantaloons, and hussar boots. Their arms are sabres and pistols.
A newspaper item of September 1803 further itemises the “appointments” of the corps:
l. s. d.
Helmet and feather 2 2 0
Drill cap and feather 0 16 6
Drill jacket and overalls 2 0 0
Dress jacket 3 6 0
Sabre and waist belt 2 15 0
Pistol 1 13 0
Saddle and horse furniture complete 8 14 0
Portmanteau and cloak bag 2 2 0
Cloak 2 0 0
The total outlay amounted to £25 8s 6d. The report adds:
As blue pantaloons, boots and spurs may be worn with coloured clothes, and are what Gentlemen are generally provided with, they are not included in the above estimate.
Willson’s chart of 1806 gives the uniform as red faced blue with no officer’s lace but with white legwear, so white breeches or pantaloons seem to have replaced or supplemented the blue. If the officers’ jackets were unlaced, those of the other ranks would have been also. Metal may have been white (see the description of standards below; a gilt ball button is shown under the next formation, below).
At the revival of the corps in the Autumn of 1803 Major Phillips proposed to raise an attached troop of “horse or flying artillery, consisting of Two Field Pieces, to be worked by mounted Dragoons”. His appeal for costs for this from the fund administered by the city’s defence committee was regretfully rejected at their meeting of 1 October, though the committee members did instead make personal donations towards the project. In November the corps was obliged to “beat up for recruits” for the Flying Artillery, although their efforts were reported as “crowned with success”. However, in early 1804 Phillips abandoned the scheme, and the donations by the committee members were refunded.
A pair of standards, the gift of Thomas Johnson, was presented at the review of Manchester volunteers by the Duke of Gloucester on 12 April 1804:
The regimental one: the Colonel’s arms in the centre, round which is the name of the regiment, and the whole incircled by a wreath of roses, thistles and the shamroc, emblematic of the Union. In the 1st and 4th compartments the white horse, and in the 2d and 3d, the rose, thistle and shamroc. The colour of this standard is blue, with silver bullion fringe, to answer the uniform of the regiment. – On the King’s standard is the Crown, and underneath the rose, thistle and shamroc, with the King’s motto, Dieu et mon Droit. In the 1st and 4th compartments the Hanoverian ensign, and in the 2d and 3d, the initials of the regiment.
The blue of the regimental standard would “answer” the facings of the uniform, and the silver fringe the metal and officer’s lace. The “Hanoverian ensign” was the white horse, and the King’s standard would, by regulation, have been crimson. The use of personal arms on the regimental standard (apparently those of Major Phillips, though not a “Colonel”?) is highly unusual at this date.
Third formation
Moves to form a new corps in June 1817 resulted in a revival in August of two troops under Major Comm Thomas Joseph Trafford, commissioned on 23 August 1817. On Trafford’s resignation, Capt Hugh Hornby Birley was commissioned Major Comm on 23 May 1820. Later there were possibly three troops. On 10 May 1824 all the NCO’s and some 30 privates wrote to Major Birley to note the ineffective and redundant state of the corps and to tender their resignations. The corps disbanded on 9 June that year.
Though the corps became well known for sabreing and trampling a considerable number of its fellow citizens at “Peterloo” in 1819, visual evidence of its appearance seems slight and largely unreliable, most images of the event being derivative or cartoons. The print produced by George Cruikshank under the direction of Richard Carlile, who was present at Peterloo on the speakers’ platform, is maybe the most reliable, though some details must be open to question. The men are dressed in dark blue light dragoon uniforms with white facings and yellow metal or gilt trim, white belts and gloves, and white cap feathers; a front cap ornament, which is perhaps inventive, is lettered “MYC”. Overalls are shown as light blue with seam stripes for which no colour is indicated. This seems broadly compatible with images of the Bolton and Oldham corps of the same period and conforms to the proposal of 1817 (see below) for a county regiment dressed as light dragoons in blue with white facings. An inspection report of June 1820 noted that the men were “particularly well mounted” and that “their clothing and equipments are remarkably good”.
Examples are well known of a gilt ball button probably dating to this formation, in diameters of 11 and 15 mm. The raised design shows a crown over “M & S.Y.C” in Roman capitals.
[Lancaster Gazette, 3 September 1803. Manchester Mercury, 26 July, 13 September, 11 October, 29 November 1803, 7 February, 17 April 1804, 4 July 1820, 1 June 1824. Regulating Code of Laws for the Manchester & Salford Light Horse Volunteers, 1797, 1798. Aston’s Manchester Guide, 1804, reprinted in Collectanea Relating to Manchester and its Neighbourhood at Various Periods … Published by the Chetham Society Vol LXXII, 1867. William E A Axon, ed, Annals of Manchester. A Chronological Record from the Earliest Times to the End of 1885.]
Oldham Horse Association / Oldham Troop of Yeomanry Cavalry
First formation
Capt Ralph Kershaw, subsequently Capt John Twemlow. Commissions are dated 27 June 1798. A single troop, originating from a meeting of 18 April 1798, and raised as an association alongside the Oldham Foot Association. In 1802 it declined to continue its service and was disbanded. A new cavalry corps was not raised in Oldham until 1817.
Second formation
Capt John Taylor. Commissions are dated 24 June 1817. A meeting of late March or early April 1817 proposed the formation of the new troop, which was accepted on 24 June. Unable to amalgamate with the Bolton, Wigan and Furness troops “in consequence of their not having been able to muster the troop to the standard number of men prescribed”, it disbanded in 1828.
The only evidence for the uniform of the troop uncovered by Wilkinson is an engraved image on a document associated with the corps. The mounted figure wears current light dragoon uniform with light facings, mid-tone overalls with a light seam stripe, and a standing plume. This may be entirely generic, but it is compatible with the little that is known of the dress of the Bolton and Manchester corps of this period, and conforms to the proposal of 1817 (see below) for a county regiment dressed as light dragoons in blue with white facings. An inspection report of June 1820 noted that the men were “particularly well mounted” and that “their clothing and equipments are remarkably good”.
In July 1817 government issued the troop with 46 swords, sword knots, sword belts and pistols, and one trumpet. The officers purchased blue and gilt 1796 pattern sabres from Thomas Gill of Birmingham.
A single standard was presented by the mother of Capt Taylor on 21 June 1819. On disbandment it was hung in St Mary’s Church, Oldham, and in the late 1980’s was given to the Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry Cavalry Museum, where it was renovated. The ground is crimson, with a gold fringe. The front shows the arms of Oldham – the shield black with a gold chief and chevron, the chief with three red(?) roses, the chevron separating three owls in natural colours. Above this is a large crown between sprigs with a white (and red?) rose, and a thistle and shamrocks. Below the shield are sprigs of oak, tied with a black ribbon edged and lettered in gold, inscribed “HAUD / FACILE / CAPTU” in Roman capitals. Above and below this design are black ribbons, edged and lettered in gold, their pointed ends gold or buff on the reverse, inscribed “OLDHAM TROOP OF” and “YEOMANRY CAVALRY.” in Roman capitals.
The reverse shows what seems to be the arms of the House of Lancaster, within a garter with the motto “HONI SOIT etc”, between a chained antelope and a spotted panther for supporters, all above the motto “DIEU ET MON DROIT”. An excellent painting of the front by Mandi Wilkinson is reproduced in Wilkinson.
[Liverpool Mercury, 25 April 1828. Iain Wilkinson, History of Oldham Volunteer Corps 1798-1908, Jagi Publishing, 2009.]
Preston (Preston & Chorley) Volunteer Cavalry / Preston (Preston & Chorley) Light Horse
Capt William Assheton (Ashton). Raised in 1803, and accepted in late August that year, as a single troop of 70 men, though in two “divisions”, that of Chorley under Lieut Thomas Cooper. At a review by Prince William of Gloucester on 20 September 1803, the troop paraded dismounted, presumably being not yet fully horsed. It is not listed in 1805, and had apparently been disbanded by that year.
[Lancaster Gazette, 24 September, 10, 24 December 1803. Manchester Mercury, 30 August 1803]
Wigan Volunteer Light Horse / Wigan Light Horse Volunteers
Capt John Hodson Kearsley. The earliest commissions are dated 20 October 1819, the date of the acceptance of the corps’ offer. One troop of 48 men, amalgamated into the Lancashire Yeomanry (see below) in 1828.
In 1828, during discussions on the amalgamated regiment (see below), the Wigan uniform was described as being “hussar … of a very superior kind”. It appears that the new regiment’s white facings had been worn by the Wigan troop, among others.
[Lancaster Gazette, 10 May 1828. Manchester Mercury 6 May 1828.]
Lancashire Yeomanry Cavalry 1828
As early as April 1817 the Manchester and Lancaster press reported whispers of a first proposal, from an unnamed quarter, to regimentalise the fragmented yeomanry troops of the county, adding optimistically that “We therefore anticipate in a very short period to have to boast of a regiment equal to any in the United Kingdom.”
The following month a plan was publicised for a regiment of ten troops, to be titled “The Royal Lancashire Yeomanry”, to be headquartered at Lancaster. The troops would be from Lancaster, Preston, Blackburn (or Burnley or Whalley), Rochdale, Bolton and Warrington (or Newton or Wigan), with two each from Manchester and Liverpool. “There is scarcely any county of importance without its regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry,” noted the proposal. “Few are so populous and require it more.” Nevertheless, the plan came to nothing, though the suggestion that the troops were “to be equipped as light dragoons, with carbine, sabre, and pistol, [and a] plain blue uniform with white facings” was clearly influential, as such a uniform was adopted by the new Manchester, Oldham and Bolton troops of 1817 and 1819, and possibly by the Wigan troop of 1819, if not others.
Over a decade later, in response to government’s requirement that county yeomanry forces should be rationalised, a meeting on 8 January 1828 of the officers of the Furness, Wigan and Bolton corps resolved to unite the three, and to give the command to Thomas R G Braddyll of the Furness Cuirassiers. A newspaper report of that month added that the regiment would include a troop “kept up” from Manchester – a curious suggestion, since that corps had been disbanded in 1824.
The proposal was accepted in early March, and on the 13th officers of the three corps met to organise the amalgamation. They proposed, as in 1817, that the new regiment should be called the “Royal Lancashire Yeomanry”, though no permission had been granted to adopt the Royal cachet. The uniform was to be blue with red facings, with “appointments … on a very liberal scale”. It was anticipated that a troop would also be formed in Lancaster, but this was not realised.
In mid April the proposed “Royal” title was denied by government. In May the papers reported that the move to red facings had been changed, and that:
… the hussar uniform of the Wigan troop has since been selected as the handsomest and most soldier-like. Indeed the equipments of this troop are of a very superior kind, and we have little doubt will be much admired.
The exact “hussar” character of the Wigan troop remains mysterious, but a portrait of Major Braddyll circa 1830, reproduced in Barlow and Smith, shows white facings to the uniform of the new Lancashire Yeomanry Cavalry, which must therefore have been the case for Wigan, as with other troops of this period as noted above.
[Lancaster Gazette, 5 April, 10 May 1817, 12, 19 January, 8 March, 10 May 1828. Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 22 March 1828. Manchester Mercury, 1 April 1817, 6 May 1828.]
This Re-illuminated School of Mars 