Key Objects from the Collection

The Derby branch of the Royal Lancers Museum
has been based at Derby Museum and Art
Gallery since 1973 when the 9th/12th Royal
Lancers Museum opened to the public.
In 2019 the Royal Lancers Museum Trust was
formed. The collections of the 9th/12th Royal
Lancers Museum and Queen’s Royal Lancers
Museum were merged to form one collection to
tell the story of The Royal Lancers (Queen
Elizabeths’ Own).
Click through to find out more about some of
the key items of the collection on display at
Derby.
Royal Lancers Museum (Derby)

This trumpet, known as the Barton trumpet, takes its name from Captain
Alexander Barton who commanded a squadron of 12th Light Dragoons at the
Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815. His trumpeter’s name was Joseph
Marriott.
Bugles, drums, and other loud musical instruments such as trumpets were
used for clear communication in the noise and confusion of a battlefield. The
trumpet was made by William Sandbach (d 1832), a brass instrument maker
who opened a workshop in London in 1809, he was known for being an
`esteemed trumpet maker and furnishing ironmonger.’
Barton was born in 1786 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire. The family were reputedly
descendants of Booth de Barton who came over from Normandy with
William the Conqueror and settled in Lancashire.
Barton joined the Regiment on 1 August 1805. He served for nearly 40 years,
first with the 12th Light Dragoons and then from 1816 with the 12th Royal
Lancers. The Duke of Wellington recommended his promotion to Brevet-
Major on 21 January 1819 for his distinguished service in the Peninsula
Campaign and at Waterloo. Barton was promoted to Major by purchase on
19 February 1824 and brevet Lieutenant-Colonel on 10 January 1837.
Barton married Sarah Devison of Sandwich, Kent on 23 April 1817 at St
Laurence in Thanet Church, Ramsgate, Kent. He died aged 77 on 20 January
1864 at Kirkhill Castle, Colmonell, Ayrshire.
912L : 187
reproduced with permission from the Royal Lancers Museum Trustees

This souvenir from the Lucknow Gate was collected during the Indian Uprising of
1857-59 by Captain Richard Leal Shaw, the 9th Lancers Riding Master. Shaw was
born at Portsmouth during the Napoleonic Wars in 1802. He enlisted into the
17th Lancers in 1823 and was rapidly promoted through the ranks, achieving the
rank of Troop Sergeant Major in 1842. Richard was promoted to Cornet (the
lowest rank of officer in the British Cavalry at the time) in 1842 and was
appointed Riding Master with the 9th Lancers, who at the time were about to
deploy to India. The appointment of Riding Master, like Quartermaster was often
given to officers who had been commissioned directly from the ranks. Shaw
served during the Indian Uprising and was awarded an Indian Mutiny campaign
medal with no clasps. Lucknow was an important administrative hub for the
state of Oudh (Uttar Pradesh) and was the center of military activity during the
campaign.
When the 9th Lancers returned to England in 1860 Shaw exchanged to the 7th
Light Dragoons. Transferring or exchanging between regiments was a common
practice in the 1800s. Shaw was made a Military Knight of Windsor, a position
reserved for retired military officers with pensions, and lived in the grounds of
Windsor Castle until his death in 1872.
Richard Shaw married Helen Callahan in Dublin on 6 June 1830. They had three
sons born 1831, 1833 and 1836.
912L : 93

This pair of bespoke silver earrings were worn by Mrs Frances Anne
Hancox (née Burton), wife of Sergeant James Hancox who served in the
12th Lancers and 5th Lancers between 1886 and 1907. Depicting the
12th Royal Lancers badge in relief, these earrings are a more unusual
example of a love token. The most common are sweetheart brooches
which were produced in their 1000s between the late 1800s and the
present day. The earrings are hallmarked and were made in
Birmingham in 1889.
They illustrate that regimental wives and sweethearts were also proud
of the Regiment they were connected to through their partners.
Frances and James were married in Canterbury in 1890. They had two
sons, Francis Percy and James Wilfred. As newly-weds they lodged in
the Leopards Head public House near the barracks in Canterbury.
Frances was a skilled sewing machinist. Like many women past and
present she worked from home to earn money. Frances is recorded as
an `apron, shirt and pinafore machinist’ on the 1901 and 1911 census
records.
912L : 2057

Khaki field service cap worn by Colonel G H Grosvenor DSO 9th
Queen’s Royal Lancers. Gerald Grosvenor joined the 9th Lancers
in 1926 when the Regiment was stationed in Cairo, Egypt. He was
serving with the Sherwood Rangers on the outbreak of War but
returned to the 9th Lancers as Second-in-Command in July 1942,
taking over as Commanding Officer two months later. He
commanded the Regiment at the Second Battle of El Alamein
where he was awarded the DSO. Gerald Grosvenor was
commanding the 22nd Dragoons in North-West Europe when he
was severely wounded in July 1944. In April 1961 he became
Colonel of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers.
The field service cap was first introduced in 1890s. It was initially
made from distinctive regimental colours. During the Second
World War the khaki field service cap was worn by tank and
armoured car crews. The cap offered some protection under the
hottest desert sun and could be folded and tucked in belts and
shoulder tabs.
912L : 144
reproduced with permission from the Royal Lancers Museum
Trustees

This customised `Mad Hatter’ stowage bin cover from a Spartan
Armoured Car was brought back from the Gulf War of 1990-91 by the
9th/12th Lancers support troop led by Captain Rupert Maitland-
Titterton. In 1990 Iraq invaded its neighbour Kuwait after talks on oil
production and debt repayment collapsed. A coalition of 35 nations led
by the United States was formed to liberate Kuwait.
Operation Granby was the name given to the British military operations
in the Gulf War. The support troop was attached to a squadron of the
16th/5th Lancers and formed part of the Divisional reconnaissance.
Around a quarter of the 9th/12th Lancers were deployed to the Gulf,
with the same number providing logistical support from Germany.
However most closely involved in fighting were the 9th/12th Royal
Lancers support troop. They arrived in Saudi Arabia on 30 December
1990 and shortly afterwards deployed into the desert to familiarise
themselves with conditions and equipment. There was concern that
Iraqi forces might use chemical weapons, so the Troop learned to live
and sleep in NBC suits.
The Spartan Armoured Car is a small, armoured personnel carrier. It can
carry four men in addition to the crew of three. It is used to carry small,
specialised groups such as reconnaissance teams.
912L : 1406

B Squadron identification flag flown on the Scimitars of B
Squadron, 9th/12th Royal Lancers during their deployment to
Bosnia in 1992 as part of a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping
mission. B Squadron, together with the Cheshire Regiment
were the first British troops to serve in Bosnia as part of the
UN’s humanitarian support operations. The Squadron’s
primary tasks included escorting humanitarian aid convoys.
Although the UN force was crucial in distributing
humanitarian aid to the impoverished population of Bosnia, it
was unable to stop the fighting between ethnic groups.
The traditional symbols for all Royal Armoured Corps
regiments (painted on the turrets of armoured vehicles and
the doors of land-rovers etc) are A Sqn triangle, B Sqn square,
C Sqn circle and a diamond shape for HQ Sqn).
Accession number 912L : 1558
reproduced with permission from the Royal Lancers Museum
Trustees

Further information on the Royal Lancers Museum
(Derby) can be found on our website:
www.royallancersmuseum.co.uk and
www.derbymuseums.org
Information on the Royal Lancers Museum
(Thoresby) can be found on this website:
www.rlnymuseum.co.uk

Key Objects from the Collection

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Key Objects from the Collection

Similar to Key Objects from the Collection (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Key Objects from the Collection