9th Australian Infantry Regiment - Full Dress Tunic - circa 1900s

[slick_mick]

Worn by Major T B Robinson, 9th Australian Infantry Regiment.

Worn by Lieutenant Colonel Sir Thomas Bilbe Robinson as a major, possibly from around 1903 to about 1919. The tunic, although made c 1903-1910, has undergone later alterations to seams and also to accommodate his awards and decorations.These alterations may have been undertaken from about 1910 and he may have continued to wear this tunic until his promotion to lieutenant colonel in 1919. Sir Thomas was born in England in 1853 and was sent to Rockhampton, Queensland, in 1881 as a shipping manager. He soon joined the Queensland Volunteer Force and was commissioned as an acting lieutenant in 1883, a captain in the Moreton Regiment in 1885, and a major in 1886. He moved to the unattached list in 1888 and retired in 1893. Sir Thomas had successful widespread shipping and commercial interests. He was appointed agent-general for Queensland in London in 1910. By 1914 he had such wide ranging influence in the world wide trade in frozen meat that he was appointed Director of Meat Supply for the Allied armies. He was appointed a Knight of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1913, a Knight of the Order of the British Empire in 1917 and a Knight Grand Cross of the same order in 1920. He was also made honorary lieutenant-colonel in the British Army in 1919. His other decorations include a chevalier of the French Legion d'Honneur awarded in 1917, a commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy in 1918, and a commander of the Order of the Crown of Belgium in 1919. He died in England in 1939.



Enjoy!

Mick