Antique Images of Her Majesty's Armed Forces Brought to You Through Great Peril From the Far Corners of the British Empire
Listen to the 16 July, 1902 recording of Soldiers of the Queen as performed by The Kilties Band of Belleville, Ontario, Canada. The Kilties were formed by members of Canada's 48th Highlanders. The recording is courtesy of The Virtual Gramophone of Canada.
Lt. John Rouse Merriot Chard, R.E. who was commanding at Rorke's Drift, January 22-23, 1879.
While several muster rolls for Rorke's Drift exist, and exhibit some variations, this one in Chard's own hand is can be considered as authoritative as any.
Questions & Comments can be Directed to the Museum Curator at:
Taken from the April 1935 issue of The Journal of the South Wales Borderers, this image is an exact facsimile of the muster roll that was drawn up by hand for Col. Glyn, 24th Foot on 3 February, 1879 by
Billy Fish: "He wants to know if you are gods." Peachy Carnehan: "Not gods - Englishmen. The next best thing." from John Huston's film of the Rudyard Kipling story The Man Who Would Be King.
This site was conceived as a general survey of Victorian-era military photographs - basically putting a face on history - and as such it has been necessary to limit its scope. You will not find extensive accounts of Victoria's wars or campaigns, regimental histories, or biographies of noted personalities. These topics are best left to other excellent sites that specialize in those areas of study. Links to many of them are include on this site's links page. As the ongoing research into many of this museum's photographs reveals new finds the information that comes to light will be added - especially when it deals with an otherwise forgotten officer, anonymous ranker or NCO. Additionally I have decided to include images of selected autographs and other artifacts that relate to specific photographs in the collection and enhance the overall presentation. Also please note that the original photographs in the museum's main galleries are not for sale. Please feel free to contact me regarding their reproduction in publications and other uses. I am more than willing to answer any questions you might have regarding them.
Please note. I have had to remove the active link to the above email address due to the overwhelming volume of spam that the Soldiers of the Queen email account has been receiving. The address is still correct but will have to be entered by hand for each email sent. I thank you for your understanding in this matter.
Unidentified Mounted Infantryman - 58th Regiment of Foot.
Carte de Visite Natal, South Africa c. 1880
Private James Osborne - 58th Regiment of Foot - 2nd Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment.
c. 1882
Above left is a carte de visite photograph from the soldiersofthequeen.com collection showing an unidentified mounted infantry private of the 58th Regiment of Foot taken in Natal, South Africa shortly after the end of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. On the right is a photograph c. 1882 of Private James Osborne VC of the 58th Foot / 2nd Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment.
When closely compared both these photos appear to depict the same individual. If this is the case then the carte de visite would be a relatively rare image of an other rank taken prior to being invested with the Victoria Cross.
James Osborne was born on 13 April, 1857. He served with the 58th Regiment of Foot as a mounted infantryman during the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879 and remained in South Africa after the end of that conflict.
He saw additional action during the Transvaal War of 1880-81
Sergeant Thomas Connelly DCM Royal Irish Regiment
c. 1903
Signed "Yours Truly", this photograph of 5689 Sergeant Thomas Connelly of the Royal Irish Regiment shows him sometime after the end of the Anglo-Boer War. He wears his Queen's South Africa Medal with six clasps and the King's South Africa Medal with its usual two. He also wears his Distinguished Conduct Medal which he was awarded in 1901.
Connelly received a Mention in Despatches for the his actions from General Roberts in the September 10, 1901 edition of The London Gazette. This was upgraded to the Distinguished Conduct Medal in the September 27, 1901 issue of the Gazette.
Connelly was serving with the 1st Battalion of the Mounted Infantry at the time of his actions for which he was awarded the DCM but I have been unable to uncover mush else about this soldier.
An extensive search of the records at the National Archives at Kew have turned up nothing. No service records from either the Boer War or World War One time period records where found under the spelling of Connelly or Connolly (it appears both ways in the Gazette).
Also the very common nature of his name has precluded finding him or his family though normal genealogical methods.
At this point I have also been unable to find a citation mentioning the action that resulted in him being presented the DCM. Unlike awards of the Victoria Cross, the London Gazette does not cite the actions relating to the award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal. I am currently looking for Boer War-era regimental histories of the Royal Irish Regiment with the hope that some information regarding Connelly may be uncovered there.
Family Trees - The Small World of Military Families (coming soon)
Lieutenant Charles Gordon Creyk 2nd Battalion, 24th Foot 2nd Battalion, West India Reg.
Carte de Viste Dover, England 1876
This recently acquired CDV photograph shows Charles Gordon Creyk and he was identified as being a member of the 2nd West India Regiment. As usual I began to do some preliminary research prior to posting the image here and I soon found out that Creyk and been a member of the 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot prior to transferring to the 2/West India. Never having heard of a Lt. Creyk serving with the 24th during the Anglo-Zulu War I began to look a bit further through my sources and found the following:
Born about 1856 in Banffshire, Scotland the son of Alexander and Sarah Creyk.
Sub-Lieutenant, Unattached – 13 June, 1874
Lieutenant, 2/24th Foot – 13 June, 1875
Exchanges to 2/West India Regt – 24 November, 1877
Resigns - 14 June, 1882
Creyk seems to have left the 2/24th just prior to the battalion shipping out from England at the beginning of the 9th Cape Frontier War. What I found interesting was the fact that the officer of the 2/West India that he exchanged with was Frederick Godwin-Austin who as a member of Charlie Pope’s “G” company would be killed at Isandlwana a bit more than a year later on 22 January, 1879 during the opening stages of the Anglo-Zulu War. I am guessing at this point since I do not have Creyk’s service papers in hand yet, that Creyk may have been in Pope’s company prior to the exchange with Godwin-Austin.
When I looked at the 1877 Army List and saw Creyk’s name
Ongoing research is being conducted on images throughout this website with new information being uncovered and identifications being made on a regular basis. In other cases valuable information has been provided by visitors to this online museum. In all such cases their contributions are always noted.
2nd Lt. Hylbert John Birkbeck 1st Battalion West India Regiment & Border Scouts 1899
Frederic William Piggin South Nottinghamshire Hussars c. 1900
Jelinger Symons ex. Royal Marine Light Infantry c. 1900's
Horace P. K. Skipton Indian Police Service 1889
Captain George Henry Holbeche Couchman DSO
2nd Battalion, The Somerset Light Infantry
Cabinet Photograph Belgaum, India
c. 1887
This photograph is a somewhat unusual case in that the sitter is unidentified but research has been able to put a name to the face. Based upon the apparent rank (captain) of this soldier, his regiment (The Somerset Light Infantry), the location of the photograph (Belgaum, India) and the fact that he is wearing the India General Service Medal as well as the Distinguished Service Order, I have narrowed down the possibilities to one man - Captain (and future general) George Henry Holbeche Couchman of the Somerset Light Infantry.