Royal Lancashire Volunteers
| During the late 18th century the Earl of Wilton was
instrumental in raising the Royal Lancashire Volunteer Regiment.
Recruits were sent to Danbury in the south of England. As far as we can
tell Danbury is in Essex and while most of the men in the regiment came
from Lancashire, there are indications that they recruited as they
traveled south. So there are examples of recruits who came from
Middlesex, Essex and Staffordshire. Some men originated in Ireland and
Scotland, there is even one person from Germany. Occupations represented
included (as expected) weavers and carpenters. More unusual trades are
rope makers, cordwainers and hairdressers
We are grateful to Lt. Col J. A. Every-Clayton of Baltimore, USA for informing us that this regiment was not a militia, it was a fencible regiment, ie. a full time regular army unit raised specifically for the duration of hostilities and had equal standing with regular infantry regiments. The Royal Lancashire Volunteers was first raised in 1779 during the American Revolution and again during the troubles with France in the late 1790s. The following list (by no means complete) details 661 men, the town from which they came, their trade, age and the date on which they were recruited. The remarks column notes any details such as deaths, punishments and when they were discharged. The original spellings of words have been retained so inconsistency can be seen even on the same page. Our thanks to Malcolm Sheppard for inputting the information into Dbase IV |
Load Index