Colour Sergeant Henry James Ballard Paish of the 19th (St. Giles & St. George) Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps. Paish seems to have been something of a good shot if you take into consideration the number of marksmanship competition badges and medals on his sleeve.

Sergeant Paish is identified by an inscription on the reverse of the photograph.

Henry J. B. Paish was born in 1851 in Marylebone, London the son of Henry and Harriet Paish. In 1871 the senior Henry was listed as a coachman while Henry James was by this time a 19-year-old general clerk. On 18 October 1880, he married Miss Caroline Robinson at St. Mary the Boltons, West Brompton. In 1881 he was working as a solicitors clerk. By 1901 the couple had two children, Henry M. R. Paish and Doris G. Paish.

The only references to Paish's career with the Volunteers are mentions in publications such as The Army & Navy Calendar and Proceedings of the National Rifle Association which record his standings in numerous shooting matches.

Henry James Ballard Paish died in 1930 in Battersea.

Cabinet Photograph
Lock & Whitfield - Photographer
178 Regent Street, W., and Ealing, England
1890s