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London Metropolitan Archives

INNS OF COURT AND CITY YEOMANRY


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/527

Held at: London Metropolitan Archives

Title: INNS OF COURT AND CITY YEOMANRY

Date(s): 1780-1978

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 364 production units.

Name of creator(s): Inns of Court and City Yeomanry
23rd Middlesex (Inns of Court) Rifle Volunteer Corps x 14th Middlesex (Inns of Court) Rifle Volunteer Corps
27th Battalion of the County of London Regiment (Inns of Court)
Inns of Court Officers Training Corps
City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders)

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

The modern history of the Regiment begins in 1859 with the formation of the 23rd Middlesex (Inns of Court) Rifle Volunteer Corps; it became the 14th Middlesex in 1889. The Regiment was attached, in its later years, to the Rifle Brigade and also formed part of the 2nd London Volunteer Brigade and the "Grey Brigade". In 1888 a mounted infantry detachment was formed and became known as "B" (M.I.) Company. A contingent of 30 mounted infantry, 19 cyclists and 1 signaller joined the City Imperial Volunteers for service in South Africa during the Boer War. In 1908 the Territorial Force was formed and the Regiment became a Territorial unit, the 27th Battalion of the County of London Regiment (Inns of Court), but almost immediately it was changed into an officer training unit under the designation Inns of Court Officers Training Corps. The Regiment had an establishment of one squadron of cavalry (I.C.O.T.C. Squadron, formerly "B" (M.I.) Company) and three companies of infantry. In 1914 the Inns of Court Reserve Corps was formed consisting of former members of the Inns of Court Rifle Volunteers, and in 1917 the 1st Cadet Battalion, Inns of Court, was formed to train boys under military age.

In 1920 the Regiment was reformed with an establishment of one squadron of cavalry and two companies of infantry and in 1932 its designation was changed to the Inns of Court Regiment. The two infantry companies were converted to light tank cavalry squadrons in 1937 and two years later formed the Royal Armoured Corps Wing, Sandhurst. In 1939 the mounted squadron joined a cavalry training regiment in Edinburgh, but was disbanded in 1940. Between 1940 and 1943 the Regiment was the Armoured Car Unit of the 9th Armoured Division and from 1943 it was under the direct command of 1 Corps, the assault formation of 21 Army Group and later led the advance of 11th Armoured Division. On 1 April 1947 the Regiment was again reformed, as the Armoured Car Regiment of the 56th (London) Armoured Division, T.A., later to become the Reconnaissance Regiment of the 54th East Anglian Division. In 1956 the Northamptonshire Yeomanry was reduced to one squadron and amalgamated with the Inns of Court Regiment as "the Northamptonshire Yeomanry "D" Squadron, the Inns of Court Regiment"; and in 1961 a further amalgamation occurred when the Regiment and the City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders) united under the title "Inns of Court and City Yeomanry".

The "Rough Riders" had been formed in 1901 as the 1st County of London (Rough Riders) Imperial Yeomanry, but its name was changed to the City of London (Rough Riders) Imperial Yeomanry in 1902. Thereafter the Regiment's name changed to City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders), then City of London Yeomanry Battery, R.H.A. and 11th (City of London Yeomanry) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, R.A. before reverting to City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders) prior to amalgamation. In April 1967 the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve replaced the old Territorial Army. The Inns of Court and City Yeomanry was reduced to one squadron and formed part of the "London Yeomanry and Territorials"; the regimental band was retained based at Lincoln's Inn and attached to the newly formed Royal Yeomanry Regiment.. In 1968 the London Yeomanry and Territorials was disbanded, but a cadre of the Regiment, consisting of 3 officers and 5 other ranks, was retained in the Royal Armoured Corps thus ensuring the continuation of the Regiment's name in the Army List and the retention of headquarters and mess at Lincoln's Inn. The cadre, however, was disbanded in March 1975. In 1969 71 Signal Regiment (Volunteers) was formed from disbanded yeomanry regiments and on 1 April No. 68 (Inns of Court and City Yeomanry) Signal Squadron was formed with an establishment of 8 officers and 85 other ranks and as such the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry still existed in 1977.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry including orders, attestations books, circulars, minutes, muster rolls, correspondence and other papers. Where an item or series continues for some years, it may well bear more than one of the Regiment's titles. Some miscellaneous papers relating to the Regiment's history as a whole are placed near the end of the second sequence (Mss 17799-804). A few incidental items relating to earlier volunteer regiments are placed at the beginning of the first and second sequences. Notes relating to the early origins and history of the Regiment can be found in Ms 17804.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Each sequence is arranged as far as possible in chronological order in accordance with the historical development described in the administrative history.

Conditions governing access:

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright to these records rests with the depositor.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The archives of the Regiment were deposited on various dates between 1972 and 1979 and have been catalogued by Guildhall Library staff from 1973 in four separate sequences (Mss 14489-532, 17628-815, 21606-6A and 30696-706) as a result.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Related material:

The National Archives hold individual records for private soldiers and non-commissioned officers of the Imperial Yeomanry in series WO 128, indexed by the registers in series WO 129. Please contact the National Archives directly or look at their website, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk, where there is a research guide about volunteer regiments.

DESCRIPTION NOTES Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: June to August 2010.


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Military administration | Administration | Organisation and management
Muster books | Primary documents | Documents | Information sources
Territorial army | Armed forces | State security
Volunteer forces | Armed forces | State security
Military organizations

Personal names

Corporate names
23rd Middlesex (Inns of Court) Rifle Volunteer Corps x 14th Middlesex (Inns of Court) Rifle Volunteer Corps
27th Battalion of the County of London Regiment (Inns of Court)
City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders)
Inns of Court and City Yeomanry
Inns of Court Officers Training Corps

Places
City of London | London | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe