New album NSW St George Regiment

[kingsley]

I have never done an album before but the NSW St George Regiment, with its spectacular badges, is a good place to start. Not all of the badges are mine and I am very grateful to various Forum members for their help with my research.
I still cannot determine the exact origin of many of the badges and would appreciate comments. The AWM collection was by far the most helpful source of information.

[Wmr-RHB]

For those who want to see this album: NSW St George Regiment

[Tinto]

Originally Posted by kingsley

I have never done an album before but the NSW St George Regiment, with its spectacular badges, is a good place to start. Not all of the badges are mine and I am very grateful to various Forum members for their help with my research.
I still cannot determine the exact origin of many of the badges and would appreciate comments. The AWM collection was by far the most helpful source of information.

Hi Colin,
Thank you for showing your NSW St George Regiment album. A very good reference for the future. Well done.
Regards, John

[Buttonman]

Originally Posted by kingsley

I have never done an album before but the NSW St George Regiment, with its spectacular badges, is a good place to start. Not all of the badges are mine and I am very grateful to various Forum members for their help with my research.
I still cannot determine the exact origin of many of the badges and would appreciate comments. The AWM collection was by far the most helpful source of information.

Hi kingsley,

Attached are pics of a button which has been identified as Australian army by Gary Gray of Australia in one of the newsletters of the International Uniform Button Collectors Cub.
He has identified it as being the St. Georges English Rifle Regiment [the line drawing of the button in the newsletter has a Victorian crown & the scroll is plain on both sides]. I would appreciate your opinion on this.

David.

[kingsley]

Dear David,
A really interesting conversation piece but I very much doubt if it is actually Australian.
Here are a few comments as requested:
1. With king's crown it can't be pre 1901 but the style of St Geo (arm down) is like the pre-1901 badge design.
2. It can't be 1903-12. Australian infantry wore EdV11 cypher buttons.
3. IF it is Australian, it could only be 1901-03 in the period of Lt Col Neild. It is certainly possible that he bought a sample or two from Firmin but he did not wear them on his surviving uniforms.
I have never seen it before and I think we would have seen more of them if the regiment had actually adopted them for general use. I think they would have worn the old QVC buttons, or perhaps the rare King's crown standard NSW button (same design as the QVC ones on the AWM red uniform) which match the KC helmet plate in my album.

My first line of inquiry would be to research the post-1901 use of this button by British regiments or civilian organisations. I don't know enough about British buttons to know how to do this. There are so many organisations that used the St Geo design and it really is not good enough to say it must be Australian by default if you can't find a British connection.
I will do some more asking around and get back to you.

[badgecollector]

Originally Posted by Buttonman

Hi kingsley,

Attached are pics of a button which has been identified as Australian army by Gary Gray of Australia in one of the newsletters of the International Uniform Button Collectors Cub.
He has identified it as being the St. Georges English Rifle Regiment [the line drawing of the button in the newsletter has a Victorian crown & the scroll is plain on both sides]. I would appreciate your opinion on this.

David.

hi David
as kingsley has previously said, highly doubt this is Australian.
doesn't really fit the time line and never seen one before.
bc

[Buttonman]

Hi kingsley & badge collector,

Thanks very much for your replies. So it isn't Australian, I've had this button for a long time & tried to find a British unit connected to it but no luck so far. Thanks kingsley for your trouble, I look forward to any help with this.

Regards,

David.

[badgecollector]

Originally Posted by Buttonman

Hi kingsley & badge collector,

Thanks very much for your replies. So it isn't Australian, I've had this button for a long time & tried to find a British unit connected to it but no luck so far. Thanks kingsley for your trouble, I look forward to any help with this.

Regards,

David.

have you looked at non military organisations? i dont know who but maybe not military
bc

[Buttonman]

Originally Posted by badgecollector

have you looked at non military organisations? i dont know who but maybe not military
bc

Thanks for the suggestion bc. I did look into the St George's Channel Steam Packet Co., but they were taken over in the mid-19th century.
The crown makes it something connected to royalty or the government and the black button used by Queen Victoria's Rifles pre-1961 features St George below a crown but no scroll. One of the predecessor units of Queen Victoria's Rifles was the 11th Middlesex [St. George's] Rifle Volunteer Corps but is obviously too early for my button.
According to Wikipedia there was an Australian 7th Infantry Militia Regiment [St. George's English Rifle Regiment] in being in 1927 for a couple of years?

David.

[kingsley]

In the 1930-42 period there were two Australian St George militia 'successor' battalions, the 36th and the 45th, both of which wore variations of the St Geo & dragon design. I considered including them in the album but had to stop somewhere.
There is no possibility that either could have worn this button as all battalions wore the standard map of Australia button. The AWM staff has told me that they also do not believe the button is Australian.

[Buttonman]

Originally Posted by kingsley

In the 1930-42 period there were two Australian St George militia 'successor' battalions, the 36th and the 45th, both of which wore variations of the St Geo & dragon design. I considered including them in the album but had to stop somewhere.
There is no possibility that either could have worn this button as all battalions wore the standard map of Australia button. The AWM staff has told me that they also do not believe the button is Australian.

Thanks for your trouble kingsley. Hopefully one day I might find out who wore it.

David.