IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 ACC/0685
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: MIDDLESEX AND WESTMINSTER ROYAL VOLUNTEER CORPS
Date(s): 1779-1780
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 0.01 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Middlesex Royal Volunteer Company
Westminster Royal Volunteer Company
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
A militia force was raised from the civilian population of a county, in order to supplement the regular army in cases of emergency. In Middlesex they were called out at times of unrest. They came to be supplemented by volunteer forces, such as those raised by the 1794 Bill for "encouraging and disciplining such corps and companies of men as shall voluntarily enrol for the defence of their counties, towns and coasts or for the general defence of the Kingdom during the Present War [with France]".
There were around 300 militiamen in Middlesex in 1802. During the Napoleonic Wars this number rose to over 2000 by 1808 and 12,000 by 1812. More volunteer corps were raised in 1859, again in response to threat of French invasion. In 1881 the Army was organised into territorial regiments formed of regular, militia and volunteer battalions. Middlesex militia and volunteer battalions came under the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own).
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers relating to the Middlesex Royal Volunteer Company and the Westminster Royal Volunteer Company, including letters and memoranda relating to recruitment and provision of equipment, and lists of men who wished to serve as commissioned officers.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
ACC/0685/001-003: Memoranda and letters; ACC/0685/004-005: Lists of possible officers.
Conditions governing access:
Available for general access.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright to these records rests with the City of London.
Physical characteristics:
Fit
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Documents deposited in December 1958.
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: June to August 2010.