Quartermaster Sergeant, The Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry, 1893

Description

The unit has its origins in the various troops of light horse raised in the eighteenth century in the county of Lancaster, the earliest of which was the Bolton Light Horse formed in 1798. The regiment was incorporated from existing troops of yeomanry in 1819 and in June 1828 the Lancashire Corps of Yeomanry Cavalry assembled and by special act King William IV, granted the title Duke of Lancaster’s Corps of Yeomanry Cavalry in 1834. The Sovereign, as the Duke of Lancaster, has traditionally continued to serve as Colonel-in-Chief. During the Second World War it fought as two regiments of medium artillery, the 77th and 78th, but after the war became mechanised, cavalry. The regiment disbanded on 1 November 1992 and its units amalgamated with those of The Queen’s Own Mercian Yeomanry to form The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry. Following the disbanding of the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry in 2014, the regiment’s lineage is maintained by B (Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry) Squadron, the Queen’s Own Yeomanry. Here a stable jacket, used for duties and parades in barracks and generally abandoned by the regular army in 1897. Many yeomanry regiments, whose N.C.O.s were accustomed to providing their own uniforms, retained the stable jacket long after that date. The Duchy of Lancaster is, of course, a royal dukedom, and it will be noted that this N.C.O. wears a ducal coronet above his chevron instead of a crown, as part of his badge of rank.

Source: Regimental photographs.