The history of the 1st Batt. Wilts Volunteers, from 1861 to 1885Gibney, R. D. (Robert Dwarris)
History
The history of the 1st Batt. Wilts Volunteers, from 1861 to 1885
Gibney, R. D. (Robert Dwarris)
Great Britain. Army. Wiltshire Regiment. Battalion, 1st -- History
Not improbably, then, it was from want of an initiative being shewn by
this house that the delay arose in the formation of a rifle company at
Wilton, and that the one ultimately raised became No. 14 Corps in the
1st Administrative Battalion Wilts Rifle Volunteers.
On the 23rd March, 1860, a public meeting was called at Wilton, at
which Charles Penruddocke, Esq., of Compton Park, Geo. Lapworth, Esq.,
J. Woodcock, Esq., W.J. French, Esq., with Messrs. Chipperdale, Wm.
Allen, G. Young, D. Dodds, W. Naish, E. Rawlence, &c., present, and
from whom a committee of management was formed; ultimately causing
a body of riflemen being raised at Wilton and from the surrounding
neighbourhood, termed the Wilton Rifle Volunteer Corps, with a strength
of one captain, one lieutenant, one ensign, and 100 of all ranks. The
officers recommended for commissions were Charles Penruddocke, Esq., of
Compton Park, as captain; Mr. Geo. Lapworth as lieutenant; and Mr. J.
Woodcock as ensign: Mr. W.J. French as assistant surgeon, and the Rev.
B.S. Chermside as chaplain; Mr. Chipperdale undertaking the post of
secretary; Messrs. Barnes, Eyres, Dodds, Miedenhall, Wm. Allen, and G.
Rawlence being appointed non-commissioned officers.
As with other corps composing the battalion, the first great difficulty
showing itself was in arranging so that drills should be numerous,
practical, and easily and inexpensively attended by the corps; but with
its members scattered from Wilton to the borders of Dorsetshire and
many miles apart, the conveying to drill, whether at first for squad
and company, and later on for battalion and camps, was ever a source of
difficulty and great expense. Nevertheless, the attendances, both at
battalion drills and in camps and at autumn manœuvres, with reviews,
and less grand assemblies, have been uniformly good, as the following
numbers will show.
Before the creation of the battalion this corps attended the Review
held in Clarendon Park to the number of 72; at Bath, 60; at Salisbury,
70; at Wilton Park, 72; at the Autumn Manœuvres, 68; at the Grand
Review in Windsor Park, 2 officers and 72 men; and the average
attendance at the annual regimental camps has been 2 officers and 60
men. Recently, indeed, at the Jubilee Review at Portsmouth, it showed 3
officers and 64 men. This represents a heavy expenditure for travelling
and incidental expenses, which cannot be met by the men themselves,
and usually falls upon the officers. A company of 60 volunteers is
not taken from the wilds of Wiltshire and placed down on a hillside
overlooking the sea at Portsmouth for a small travelling allowance, or
at their own expense.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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