Pre 1900

Lt.Col. Frederick Gordon Blair

Commandant 1895-1905

The annual routine of the Regiment was interrupted in 1902 when a party was sent to London to represent the regiment at the coronation of Edward VII. On this occasion, Colonel Blair, riding abreast with other officers of the Militia and Volunteers, had the honour of representing the entire yeomanry force in the King's procession from Buckingham palace. In 1906, he became the regiments third Honorary Colonel after the death of Colonel Baillie. The Colonel was Aide de Camp to King George V from 1914 to 1920.

Lt. FW Martin can be seen seated on the floor furthest left in the officer group and possibly Captain de Lisle on his second left.

Captain de Lisle

LYC C Squadron

Garendon Hall, Leicestershire.

Owned by the de Lisle family and the setting for many an annual camp for the PAOLYC. Sadly this great house was demolished in 1964 because of death duties, War time neglect and urban growth.

Lt.Col. James W Baillie

Commandant 1882-1895. Illston Grange, formerly called Illston New Grange and later Illston Hall, was built for Col. J. W. Baillie From: 'Illston on the Hill', A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 5: Gartree Hundred (1964), pp. 163-166. He was the regiments second Honorary Colonel. Illston Grange, formerly called Illston New Grange and later Illston Hall, was built for Col. J. W. Baillie, who, until 1895, was Colonel Commanding the Leicestershire Yeomanry. The house, which was of red brick, was demolished in 1927 after the death of his heir, Lt.-Col. F. D. M. Baillie. There had originally been a small farm on the site and the property is once more a farm. The large stable block with its central clock tower has been left standing and is now used as a riding stables.

The Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry parading through Humberstone Gate in Leicester c1890s

Two mounted Leicestershire Yeoman in front of Oakham
Castle, Rutland c1890s

All of the Officers of the LYC in 1885 (with and without hats), on the visit of the Duke of Cambridge.

LYC NCOs c1895

Major and Hon Lt.Col. TA Henry

Resigned 1895

Captain Viscount G R P Curzon

c1895

Thomas Kane McClintock Bunbury, 2nd Baron Rathdonnell (1848 - 1929)
Friday February 26th 1891: On his 18th wedding anniversary, TK resigns his commission as a Captain in Prince Albert's Own Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry.

Henry Nicholson  junior (b.1825- d.1907)
Pictured above c1895, made his first public appearance in 1836, when he took his place with
his father’s Duke of Rutland’s Band for a concert held
on the Wharf Street Cricket Ground. From an early age Henry showed his musical talent both as a player and a composer, writing, in celebration
of the Queen’s visit to the town in 1843, a march
that was later to be adapted as the
Regimental March of the Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry.

Prince Albert's Own Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry Band (by permission of Colonel the Right Hon, the Earl Howe) was engaged for the occasion, and directed by Mr. Nicholson, the bandmaster. The members of this band played with great spirit and skill the following selection of music:

Wedding March - Mendelssohn. .
Valse, "Garendon" - Mrs. A. de Lisle.
Overture, "Zauberflote" - Mozart.
Grand Selection, "Robert le Diable" - Meyerbeer.
Polka, "Eclipse" - Koenig (Cornet Obligato, Mr. W. Seal.)
Grand March, composed for the opening of the International
Exhibition, 1862 - Auber.
Galop, "Early Morn - J. P. Clarke
Overture, "Bohemian Girl" - Balfe.
Operatic Selection. "Un Ballo in Maschera" - Verdi.
Quintett, "Blow Gentle Gales" - Bishop

Henry Clarke.
Henry Clarke's shop at 37 1/2 Gallowtree Gate in about 1883, probably run by one of his sons. At this time the firm were armourers to Prince Albert's Own Leicester Yeomanry Cavalry.

Known as "Prince Albert's Yeomanry Cavalry" (Robert Read's, "Modern Leicester", 1881)

Major The Hon. W. H. Curzon
  Major, the Hon. William Henry Curzon, late of the 17th Light Dragoons, died yesterday (Tuesday, Jan 6, 1914) at his residence, 17 Eccleston Square, S.W., in his 87th year.
  He was the fifth son of the first Earl Howe, and served in the Crimea, receiving the medal and clasp and the Turkish medal, and in Central India.   At one time he held a commission (Lt.Colonel) in the Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry.
  He married first, in 1870, Beatrice Louisa Margaret (who died in 1873), second daughter of Mr. Alexander Page, and secondly, in 1874, Emily, youngest daughter of Mr. Frederick Cowper, of Carlton Hall, Penrith.

Sergeant W.I. Iliffe
D. Troop, Leicester Yeomanry Cavalry Sword Prize 1877-8

19th Century Presentation Sword with engraved blade, inscribed, “Sergeant W.I. Iliffe D. Troop, Leicester Yeomanry Cavalry Sword Prize 1877-8”.

Colonel Palmer

The Hon. Charles Powys

Lt.Col Commandant 1876-1878

Earl. Howe

Commandant 1860

George Terry (Charge of the Light Brigade Veteran)

Formerly of the 17th Lancers  and then Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry.

Yorkshire man by birth, Burton resident for large periods of his life and until his death - he is one of a select band to have taken part in one of the most notorious military operations in history. The Charge of the Light Brigade, during the Crimean War, has attained almost mythical status in the 154 years since it took place - a tale of heroic British cavalrymen sent on an almost suicidal assault into the teeth of the heavy guns of the opposing Russian army.

However, the part played in the charge by George Terry has remained largely unknown until now, with the publication of Balaclava Heroes: Midlands Survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade, by Christopher Poole, an author based in Hamstall Ridware, near Abbots Bromley. The book tells the stories of 21 Midlands-based veterans of the charge, among them Terry and another Midlands veteran Reilly, both of the 17th Lancers. As Mr Poole explains, the charge is remembered as much for the heroism of the troops taking part in it as for the bungling of their commanders, men such as the Earl of Cardigan. "It was a terrible blunder," he says. "The commanders gave the order to charge and the very impetuous chap who carried the message and pointed which way they should charge - Louis Edward Nolan - pointed in the wrong direction. "The idea was to go and get some of the redoubts (forts) that were under attack, but instead they charged right into the oncoming guns. "The men would have been facing great heavy cannonballs flying along the valley floor, smashing into the horses, and some of the men literally lost their heads. There were mortars flying and they were being fired at by musket and rifle from both sides of the valley." Of the 673 cavalrymen taking part in the charge, 118 were killed and a similar number were taken prisoner, with the majority of the horses killed or wounded. The reckless nature of the charge prompted the French general Pierre Bosquet to exclaim: "C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre - c'est de la folie." ("It's magnificent, but it isn't war - it's madness.")

After the war, George Terry continued to have distinguished military career. He received the Crimea Medal for the part he played in the campaign. After serving with the Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry, Terry, along with wife Harriet, ran the Saracen's Head pub, in Bridge Street, Burton, which today forms part of the Three Queens Hotel site. After he died, on April 4, 1881, Burton people showed the regard they held for the hero of Balaclava by lining the streets all the way from the town centre to his final resting place at Stapenhill Cemetery, to pay their respects.

Balaclava Heroes: Midlands Survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade, by Christopher Poole, priced at £10 including postage and packing, is available from JWB, 280 Liverpool Road, Eccles, M30 0RZ or by telephoning 0161 7076455.

LYC Commissions 1861

Prince Albert's Own Leicestershire Yeomanry
Cavalry.
MEMORANDUM c1860.
Her Majesty has been pleased to accept the
resignations of Cornet George Warwick Hunt
and Cornet Thomas Henry Farquhar of the Commissions
they hold in the above Regiment.

Major. John Bainbrigge Story of Lockington, J.P., D.L.

 Prince Albert's Own Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry, a noted fox hunter, and some time Master of the Quorn Hunt. He was born at Woodborough on the 29th July, baptized at Lockington on the 18th November, 1812, educated at Eton and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He died on the 7th January, 1872, and was buried on the 11th at Lockington. M.I. to be seen there. After his decease the manor and estate were offered for sale. On the 20th June, 1872, the same were sold to Nathaniel Charles Curzon, Esq., of Derby.

Coronet The Right Hon. E B Wilbraham, Lord Skelmersdale to be Captain PAOLYC (Aug. 8th 1859).

LYC Commissions 1859

LYC Commissions 1857

Coronet Willam Unwin Heygate

He was born on 12 March 1825 and christened on 06 June 1825 at North Mimms. Commissioned a Cornet of Prince Albert's Own Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry on 14 May 1852. On 6 May 1852 he married Constance Mary Beaumont. Justice of the Peace. Treasurer of the Billesdon, Blaby, Hinkley and Barrow upon Soar Union Workhouses in 1899. Unsuccessful Conservative candidate for Parliament for Bridport, 1857. MP for Leicestershire, 1861-1865. Purchased the manor of Brent Pelham, Brent Pelham Hall, in 1859.

Lt. C Packe
Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry c 1859

Colonel Swinfen, of the Leicestershire Yeomanry,

From an Auction in the UK in 1997: A painting of Colonel Swinfen holding a saddled charger in the grounds of a barracks signed and dated 'C.L. Ferneley/Melton Mowbray 1852' (lower right) oil on canvas 20 x 26 in. (50.8 x 66 cm.).

Captain William Henry Curzon

1853

Major Edward Basil Farnham

c1837-59, JP for Leicestershire and MP for North Leicestershire.

Commissions signed by the Lord Lieutenant of the County of Leicester.

Prince Albert's Own Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry—Captain Edward Basil Farnham to be Major, vice Packe, resigned; March 6. Lieutenant Hampden Clement to be Captain, vice

Farnham, promoted; March 6. Cornet Sir George Howland Beaumont, Bart. to be Lieut., vice Clement, promoted; March 6. The Hon, Gerald James Noel to be Cornet, vice Russell, promoted; March 6. George Henry Littledale, Gent. to be Cornet, vice Heygate, promoted; April 12. Cornet the Hon. William Henry Curzon to be Lieutenant, vice Arkwright, resigned; May 14. William Unwin Heygate, Gent. to be Cornet, vice Beaumont, promoted; May 14.

LYC Commissions 1852

Coronet Hon. Edward Southwell

1844

From the London Gazette

Mayor of Hinckley

William Bradley was born in Leicester in 1835 and his early life and education took place in that city. During a period of 33 years he was also a member of the Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry and became Quarter-Master Sergeant of the local troop. His expertise regarding horseflesh was matched by his knowledge of railway timetables.

Colin Campbell Macaulny, esq
Oct. 20. At Knighton Lodge, Leicester, in his 54th year, Colin Campbell Macaulny, esq. This gentleman was the second son of the late Rev. Aulay Macaulay, Vicar of Rothley, and was born at that vicarage Nov. 19th, 1799. He received his earlj education from his accomplished father, and was subsequently placed at Rugby, under Dr. Wooll, where he was distinguished for his rapid advance in all the studies of the school, and uniformly beloved for his amiability and kindness of disposition. On quitting Rugby, in 1815 (after some hesitation whether he should not go to the University and qualify for Holy Orders), he was placed with Thomas Burbidgc, esq. then town clerk of Leicester, and a solicitor in extensive practice. He continued in Mr. Burbidge's office till 1828, when, on some symptoms of delicate health, he was recommended to abstain from professional employment, and try the effects of relaxation and a warmer climate. He spent the winters of 1829, 1830, and talion in railway matters scarcely second to any in the kingdom. For fourteen years Mr. Colin Macaulay filled the responsible office of clerk to the county magistrates for the Leicester district with acknowledged ability. Ever ready to render himself useful to his native county in any way in his poner,Mr. Macaulny accepted! a commission in the Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1823. He was gazetted Lieutenant Aug. 8, 1829 ; and partly owing to ill-health,and partly to his twice waiving his claim in favour of the Marquess of Hastings,
and his friend E. B. Hartopp, esq., he did not obtain his Captaincy until Aug. 12,
1850. One who well knew him in his troop says, " he was as eminent as a soldier as a civilian. He was beloved by the whole carpi, and his social good qualities will be long and affectionately remembered." Literary tastes are so hereditary in the Babinigtons and Macaulays, that it would have been strange not to find them in Colin. Frequent intercourse with his near relatives, the gifted and amiable family at the Temple, and the refined and excellent Gisborne, greatly tended to foster and cultivate these tastes. He was a very early member of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society, and he rendered that now eminent society very essential service.


Quartermaster J Kirk 1841, he served for 46 years in the LYC.

Sir Willoughby Wolstan
Sir Wolstan was sheriff of Leicestershire 1843; and became Deputy-Lt in the same year; he is a Captain in the Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry. Seat. Bosworth Park, Leics.



Lt.Col. G. A. LEGH KECK, ESQ. LYC 1803.11.01-1860
Sept. 4. At his seat, Bank-hall, Lancashire,
aged 86, Geo. Anthony Legh Keck, Esq., Col. of Prince Albert's Own Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry (Named 1844.02.20). The deceased, born in 1784, at Stoughton, was the third son of Anthony James Keck, Esq., and Elizabeth his wife, the sister of Peter Legh, Esq., of Lyme—the grandson of Anthony Keck, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, by Ann, daughter of William Busby, Esq., and Catherine his wife, born a Beaumont. In 1797, when only 23, he was elected one of the Knights of the shire for Leicestershire, and this post he maintained until 1818, when he was ousted by Mr. Chas. March Phillipps. In 1820 he was re-elected, as also in 1826 and in 1830, but having strongly opposed the Reform Bill, he was, at the first election under that measure, again supplanted by Mr. Phillipps. He then retired from public life, and employed himself either in attending to his very large estates, or in maintaining the efficiency of his yeomanry corps, of which he was Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant from the year 1803 to the time of his death. Mr. Keck married, in 1802, Elizabeth, the second of the three daughters of Robert Vernon Atherton, esq., of Atherton, Lancaster. She died in 1837, leaving no issue. Mr. Keek's mother being the sister of Mrs. Atherton (his wife's mother), he and his wife were first cousins; and both being grandchildren of Peter Legh, esq., of Lyme,—their mothers at the same time being co-heiresses,—there was a dispute in relation to the succession of the Legh property. Mr. Keek, by his marriage, united his own and his wife's claims, and thus adjusted the difference. The eldest sister of the late Mrs. Keck was married to Thomas, the second Lord Lilford. The large property of Mr. Keck descends to Lord Lilford and the Hon. Colonel Powys (better known as Major Powys), who are the sons of this nobleman and lady.

The Leicestershire Yeomanry were formed at the Three Crowns Inn, Leicester on 10 April 1794 to meet the threat of a French invasion. As with most Yeomanry regiments, they were supported by local subscription. In June 1794 records state that: 'Maj Sir W S Skeffingham and Capt Curzon of the Leicester Independent Cavalry kissed the King's hand on Wednesday on having completed their complement of men.' In 1803 the Regiment appeared in the Militia List as 'The Royal Leicestershire Regiment of Gentlemen and Yeomanry Cavalry,' the only time the Royal title was used. They were awarded the 'Prince Albert's Own' title in 1844 after providing an escort for the Queen and the Prince Consort to Belvoir Castle. They did not see action until the Boer War IN 1899.