Essex Yeomanry uniform (Badjez request)

[badjez]

Pat,

I think we have all learned something from this thread, thanks for starting it.
As to donating the uniform, the Chelmsford museum has recently taken a retrograde step by letting their professional curator, Ian Hook go. They appear to be commercialising their operation, lead by the council's head of car parking!

Stephen

PS- those who know Ian won't be surprised to hear that the IWM snapped him up.

[Expat Yeoman]

Pat, as Stephen and Peter have commented Keith is a long time collector who specialises in the Yeomanry (but seems to have an encyclopaedic memory for pretty much any unit you care to ask him about). I have been fortunate to have known him for the last 35 odd years and he has been very generous with his time and knowledge to the cadet unit I started out in and to me as I began my odyssey with collecting all things EY related, and I know to many other collectors too.

As to the museum, the bulk of the EY items in fact belong to the Essex Yeomanry Association and are on loan from them. I was very sorry to hear that Ian had moved on although that is certainly to the IWM's gain.

[Expat Yeoman]

As Stephen mentioned Westlake was off on his count, Keith has multiple variations on the EY title - I've attached the photo I was able to take.

for the Y/ESSEX title I have this down for 1921 only. The IWM pattern card that Stephen referred to has many dates quoted on it and my interpretation of those is it was authorised in 1921 and made obsolete in 1922. I had not heard of the EY wearing this as a two part title and if you have photos I would be very interested to see them (Keith does not have an example in his collection so I would be inclined to say they were not worn).

On the T/Y/ESSEX I have four variations with the limbs of the Y either separate or joined, and with two sizes of the T. The example on the IWM pattern card 'to guide the Y/ESSEX badge' has separate limbs so for me that was the original intent and I believe the others are simply manufacturer variation rather than distinct patterns in their own right.

I had seen Keith's converted title and think it is an "I" rather than a "1", my speculative theory being an unofficial conversion by someone who had served in the IY period (and agree with you Pat done for pride. But let's hope the RSM didn't catch him ) Keith's example is the only one I have seen.

There's a T/Y/ESSEX on eBay at the moment from badgeman2005 which I don't like the look of, the lugs look more copper than brass to me.

Michael

[Longdog]

Michael / Stephen,

Thank you both so much for the information and photos you have shared.
I have learned a lot and my EY records have grown considerably.

Y Essex: I only have the 2 patterns shown in the earlier post.
Apologies for any confusion: my comment about 4 different types of Y / "title" related to general Yeomanry titles of this period, not specifically Essex.

Interesting to read the about the various manufacturer variations of the T Y Essex title and of the "I" or "1" thoughts.

Michael,
Thank you for posting the photo of the EY titles, great to see. There are a couple of significant different patterns shown I have not seen before.
The item that immediately stands out to me is the example on the top row, second in from right hand.
The style /cut is very similar to titles I have or have seen for other Yeomanry regiments attributed to an earlier period, often Boer War, albeit the other titles are usually a larger pattern.
Grateful to you for sharing, interesting to see.

Museum: The reason it came to my mind was after the earlier comment: I remembered when on holidays with our boys we would visit castles, museums, etc and really enjoy them.
I thought if nobody gave items to form their collections / displays, they wouldn't be there for the enjoyment of all with an interest.

I have really enjoyed learning from you both and sharing photos. Very much appreciated.

All the best,

Pat