royal marine yes or no

[rockape560]

hi all,

i got this yesterday from ebay.

i got it as it was an early photograph by a local man,richard ward & co belfast,and the young man may be local

the young man was described as royal marine, private, c1890.

i am happy with it,however i cant see any collar dogs and the belt buckle is unclear,even through a magnifying glass

sorry my pics are not the best as i dont have a scanner

what are your thoughts

philip

[Graham Stewart]

Not a RMLI cuff, which were distictive.

[Toby Purcell]

Originally Posted by rockape560

hi all,

i got this yesterday from ebay.

i got it as it was an early photograph by a local man,richard ward & co belfast,and the young man may be local

the young man was described as royal marine, private, c1890.

i am happy with it,however i cant see any collar dogs and the belt buckle is unclear,even through a magnifying glass

sorry my pics are not the best as i dont have a scanner

what are your thoughts

philip

He is a young infantryman in an 1868 pattern line infantry full dress tunic. At that time collar badges were not worn (until 1874, by which time the tunic pattern had changed). He would have had his regimental number on his shoulder strap and regimental buttons too. The seemingly dark facings might indicate that he was likely in a Royal Regiment amongst the garrison in Ireland at that time, although in 1869 the regiment garrisoning Belfast was the 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot. At that time the 54th had green facings. In 1868 it had been the 28th Foot (yellow facings) and in 1870 the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment, who had the dark blue facings mentioned previously. There is a reasonable chance therefore that your photo shows a man of the 18th Foot circa 1870.

[rockape560]

hi toby,

many thanks for a very full and interesting reply.ill be keeping this one safe,especally with the possible royal irish regt angle.

philip

[grumpy]

and/but the dreaded orthochromatic film might be rendering yellow as very dark ........ these pre-1920 photos provide a minefield regarding facing colours.

For those who have not heard of it, pre-1920 film usually renders the red/orange/yellow end of the spectrum as very dark, and the green/blue/indigo end as paler. However, it is suggested that the pastel shades [ie with white as a component] of yellow can be pale, and the greyer [with black as a component] shades of green blue can show as dark.

A minefield, not fully understood, and inconsistent from one processing method to the next.

A very difficult problem for tartan recognition, I might add.

AVOID!

[Toby Purcell]

Originally Posted by rockape560

hi toby,

many thanks for a very full and interesting reply.ill be keeping this one safe,especally with the possible royal irish regt angle.

philip

He appears to have his right hand on head dress laid upon his knee. Knowing what that head dress is would help to date the photo. It is most likely a glengarry. Can you post a larger photo or at least focus in on the head dress?

I agree with Grumpy about the problems with colour definition, although I imagine that the colour contrast with the white piping on the cuff is in our favour in this case.