11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own)

 

 

Sergeant, 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own)

Walking Out Dress, c. 1914

The regiment was formed in 1715 as Honeywood's Regiment of Dragoons, one of sixteen raised in response to the Jacobite uprising. It was then numbered as the 11th Regiment of Dragoons in 1751. The regiment saw action during the Seven Years' War, winning its first battle honour at Warburg. The regiment was re-designated as light cavalry in 1783, becoming the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons.

The regiment was sent to Portugal in 1811 to join the Peninsular War. It saw action in the Battles of Badajoz, Salamanca, Quatre Bras, and Waterloo. In 1819, the regiment moved to India, where it remained until 1836 and there participated in the Siege of Bharatpur. Shortly before returning to Britain, the Earl of Cardigan became lieutenant-colonel of the regiment.

In 1840, the 11th Light Dragoons served as escort to Prince Albert on his arrival in England to marry Queen Victoria. She appointed Prince Albert colonel of the regiment and granted them the title 11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars. Prince Albert's interests included military tactics and equipment and he helped design the regiment's new uniforms.

The regiment served in the Crimean War, as part of the Light Brigade commanded by Cardigan, now a Major General. It  fought at the Battle of Alma and was also involved in the Charge of the Light Brigade in October of 1854. The regiment was renamed the 11th (or Prince Albert's Own) Hussars in 1861.

The regiment landed in France as part of the 1st Cavalry Brigade in the 1st Cavalry Division in 1914 for service on the Western Front with the British Expeditionary Force. The regiment was renamed the 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) in 1921 and later amalgamated with the 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own), to form the Royal Hussars in 1969.

 

Corporal, 11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars, c. 1900

By Percy William Reynolds

1st The Royal Dragoons

1st The Royal Dragoons

Field Service Cap, c. 1921

 

The regiment was raised in 1661 as the Tangier Horse, taking the name from their service in the Garrison of Tangier. The regiment was ranked as the 1st Dragoons, the oldest cavalry regiment of the line, in 1674. It was then renamed in 1690 simply as The Royal Regiment of Dragoons. 

The regiment was formally titled as the 1st (Royal) Regiment of Dragoons in 1751 and served on the continent during the Seven Years' War. It also took part in the charge of the Union Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo in June of 1815. Having been re-titled the 1st (Royal) Dragoons in 1877, the regiment later participated in the Mahdist War.

After the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October of 1899, the regiment was sent to South Africa and took part in the relief of Ladysmith. The regiment had been serving in South Africa at the outbreak of the Great War, but returned to the United Kingdom and landed in Belgium in October of 1914. The regiment was re-titled as the 1st The Royal Dragoons in 1921. It was then posted to Egypt in 1927, India in 1929, and Palestine in 1938.

During the Second World War, the regiment participated in Second Battle of El Alamein, the Allied invasion of Sicily, and the Normandy landings. In 1961 the regiment was re-titled as The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons). It amalgamated with the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues), to form The Blues and Royals in 1969.

 

Yeomanry cavalry officers in Mounted Drill Order with field service caps, c. 1901.

Captain Geoffrey W. I. Bairstow

 

Captain Geoffrey W. I. Bairstow

 1891-1941

 Full Dress Uniform, c. 1911

 

 A member of the Colchester Polo Club, Bairstow joined with the 20th Hussars on February 4, 1911. His father Walter Bairstow was the High Sheriff of Northamptonshire County. Bairstow became a lieutenant in 1913. He landed in France with the regiment in August of 1914 and was wounded in the shoulder during the retreat from Mons that September, paralyzing his right arm. Bairstow was placed on the Half-pay List in 1916, owing to ill-health. He received his captaincy on November 28, 1917.

 

Captain Alexander Evan Frederick Maconochie

 

 

Captain Alexander Evan Frederick Maconochie

1898-1933

Mess Dress, c. 1919

Maconochie graduated from the Cadet College at Quetta in 1916 and was gazetted to the 12th Cavalry of the Indian Army on the 5th of July. The regiment had been raised at Lahore in 1857 by Captain P.R. Hockin as the 2nd Regiment of Sikh Irregular Cavalry, becoming the 12th Bengal Cavalry in 1901, and simply the 12th Cavalry in 1903. Maconochie was made lieutenant in 1917 and acting captain in 1919 whilst commanding a squadron. During the Great War, he participated in operations in Mesopotamia (Iraq) from September of 1917 to October of 1918. Maconochie was seconded to the Madras Governor’s Body-Guard as adjutant in 1919 and advanced to captain in 1920. The 12th Cavalry was amalgamated in 1921 with the 11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse) to form the 5th King Edward's Own Probyn's Horse. Maconochie left the service in 1923 and later joined the stock brokerage firm of Croft, Forbes, and Chard as senior partner. Upon the departure of Mr. Chard, the name of the firm was changed to Maconochie & Co.

Captain Francis Orlando Henry Bridgeman

  

 

Captain Francis Orlando Henry Bridgeman

1819-1895

P1821 Light Cavalry Saber

Bridgeman was the eldest son of Hon. Orlando Henry Bridgeman, the third son of Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Earl of Bradford. After being educated at the Harrow School, he purchased an ensign’s commission in the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales’s Volunteers) on the 28th of October, 1836. Bridgeman purchased a lieutenancy in that regiment in 1839. During this period, the regiment was posted to Gibraltar in 1837 and the West Indies in 1839. Bridgeman secured a captaincy by purchase in the 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot on the 30th of September, 1842. He exchanged into the 10th (The Prince of Wales's Own) Royal Regiment of Light Dragoons (Hussars) as a captain on the 29th of September, 1843. Bridgeman then retired from the regiment in December of 1844.

Lieutenant Celadon Charles Sutherland Brownlow

 

Lieutenant Celadon Charles Sutherland Brownlow

 1885-1948

 Dress Tunic, c. 1908

 

 Brownlow was the son of Colonel Celadon Charles Brownlow, CB, late of the Bengal Staff Corps and first cousin once removed to Field Marshal Sir Charles Henry Brownlow, GCB. Brownlow was gazetted to the Indian Army on the 24th of January in 1906. He was attached to the 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry (Brownlow's Punjabis) in March of 1907. The regiment was raised by Sir Charles Henry Brownlow as the 8th Regiment of Punjab Infantry in 1857, when then a lieutenant. In 1904 the regiment was designated as the 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry and Sir Charles Henry Brownlow was made Colonel of the Regiment. Brownlow was advanced to lieutenant on the 24th of April in 1908. He was placed on the Half-pay List in 1912 and left the service on the 1st of September 1914. Brownlow married Mary Ellen Lowes Dickinson, the granddaughter of the Victorian portrait painter Lowes Cato Dickinson in 1926. Brownlow then attended the Academie Julien in Paris in 1927 where he studied painting, emerging as a sporting and equestrian painter. He showed 141 pieces at a solo exhibition hosted by the Arlington Gallery in 1937 and exhibited at the Royal Cambrian Academy in 1942. Several of Brownlow's works are in the collections of the National Trust.

 

British and Native Officers, 1909

20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry (Brownlow's Punjabis)

 

Lieut. Brownlow
 (center back row)

 

 

Charles Sutherland Brownlow

Footwork

Oil on board