Named Rifle Volunteer Captain?

[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by cbuehler

But when was the first photo taken? It shows a middle aged bald man as a Captain the the RHR, looking to be from the 1880s.

Could it be a studio photo , in his old uniform , take later in his life ?


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[High Wood]

Originally Posted by mike_vee

Could it be a studio photo , in his old uniform , take later in his life ?


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This is what I now think that this photograph is. He is the only Dalbiac with a Robin Hood Rifles connection and a provable connection to London that I can find.

I would imagine that his expensive uniform was packed away in a trunk after he left military service and was brought out for a photograph many years later, possibly to record an aspect of his career or for a publication regarding the Robin Hood Rifles. We will probably never know.

[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by High Wood

This is what I now think that this photograph is. He is the only Dalbiac with a Robin Hood Rifles connection and a provable connection to London that I can find.

I would imagine that his expensive uniform was packed away in a trunk after he left military service and was brought out for a photograph many years later, possibly to record an aspect of his career or for a publication regarding the Robin Hood Rifles. We will probably never know.

That seems like a very plausible explanation , another thought is that the photo/sitting was taken in preperation for a portrait/painting ?

The photo with dark hair was taken in 1897 , when he was in his early 40's , while in the one in uniform he looks 20-30 years older.

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[Toby Purcell]

Originally Posted by cbuehler

But when was the first photo taken? It shows a middle aged bald man as a Captain the the RHR, looking to be from the 1880s.
The second photo in civies shows an apparently younger man in 1897. Both photos show the same man however. Did he acquire a toupee along the line?
As a commentary on the uniform, I find it somewhat odd in design and tailoring as so many volunteer and yeomanry were at the time. Basically an Hussar tunic with modifications, and baggy sleeves which were more common to uniforms of the 70s and 80s.
CB

It’s not an odd uniform for a rifle volunteer corps at all really. From the point that they were raised as an entirely defensive force commencing 1859, with the singular focus on accurate rifle shooting (they were not expected to manoeuvre), the uniform style of all units was to be as a minimum based on that of British rifle regiments. These latter had from their outset, as a form of light infantry, mimicked the ‘Light’ Dragoons uniform that later evolved to be Hussars, with particular focus on the frogged jacket and cartouche belt. The principal uniform colour was the dark green made famous by Germanic foresters, but other colours like Elcho grey also vied for adoption as another suitably subdued shade for men wishing to blend into their background. The enclosed images show various uniforms of the Robin Hood Rifles, aka 1st Nottinghamshire Rifle Volunteers.

The badge of rank comprising 3-rank stars and overall style of uniform suggests a date after late 1902 when the badge of rank for captain was altered from two-stars to 3-stars. It was usual in rifle regiments for the officers and ranks above colour sergeant, i.e. essentially the SNCOs of the ‘battalion [HQ] staff’ to wear frogged jackets, whereas those below wore tunics.