|
|
|
 |
Review of the
Queen's Own Worcestershire Yeomanry Cavalry Regiment on Kempsey
Ham, 1838
by W. J. Pringle |
The Worcestershire Yeomanry Cavalry was raised in 1794 when
the Napoleonic Wars broke out as a part-time cavalry unit, to
be used in time of civil unrest or invasion (for example, in
1818 was called out to Pitchcroft to subdue a riot, but the
rioters turned on them and chased them until the Yeomanry took
refuge in the courtyard of the Star In (now the Whitehouse),
Foregate Street.). They were disbanded in 1827 because of defence
cuts, but were re-raised in 1831 due to civil unrest and were
called out to subdue riots in Dudley, along the Severn and in
Upton.
In 1832 the Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria visited Worcestershire
and were escorted across the County by Yeomanry. The different
Troops took turns to escort them through their particular area,
until the Tardebigge Troop escorted them in to Hewell Grange,
where they stayed for a few days with Lord Plymouth (Colonel
of the Yeomanry).
In December 1837, after Victoria had become Queen, she showed
her thanks by making the Yeomanry a 'Royal' Regiment, to be
called the Queen's Own Worcestershire Yeomanry Cavalry (QOWYC).
As a Royal Regiment, the QOWYC was entitled to wear Royal Blue
facings (cuffs and colours) on their uniforms as a distinction.
These were immediately applied. |
| Every
year the Yeomanry mustered for two weeks for drills and
parades, including a 'Review' on either Pitchcroft or
Kempsey Ham. For these a local high-ranking regular Army
officer would inspect the men, and people from all over
the County would gather to watch. These inspections were
usually in September or October, and so it was until September
1838 that the Regiment could show off it's new Royal status.
To mark the occasion, they commissioned the Birmingham-based
artist W. J. Pringle to paint the review on Kempsey Ham.
|
 |
|
| The detail on the
painting is superb. The uniforms are near-perfect, and the details
of the fashions in the crowd are fantastic. It is a very active
picture, with all of the different Troops, the artillery detachment
firing (causing one lady in the crowd to cover her ears), the
Surgeons (with their black plumes) watching, children climbing
the tree to the left, someone's horse bolting in the background,
the sail of a barge going up the Severn, and the band playing
in the only record or depiction that we have of them before
the 1890's. As a Regimental and Social History document, it
is unsurpassable. |
|
|
Traditionally this
painting was believed to have been painted in 1842.
This date has been queried several times in the last
10 years, and only in the last month have we been able
to confirm that it is indeed wrong. Extensive research
has produced much new information and enabled us to
say with 100% assurance that the review was that of
the 29th September, 1838, and that this work was created
over the following months and completed in the spring
of 1839.
|
|
| This painting now
hangs in Room 1 of the new Worcestershire Soldier Exhibition
which opens to the public on 21st July 2003 - Click
here for a location plan. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
