MIDDLESEX RIFLE VOLUNTEERS

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 ACC/0534
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: MIDDLESEX RIFLE VOLUNTEERS
Date(s)	: 1854-1889
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 0.3 linear metres
Name of creator(s)	: Cruikshank | George | 1792-1878 | graphic artist

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

48th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers was a Temperance Corps, composed of men who had pledged not to drink any alcohol. The 48th Middlesex were originally the 24th Surrey Rifle Volunteers, but were refounded as a Middlesex battalion in 1862.

George Cruikshank was a graphic artist well known for his political and social caricatures and his collaboration with Charles Dickens on Sketches by Boz. From around 1847 Cruikshank was a supporter of the temperance movement, producing propaganda for this cause, speaking at meetings and sitting on the boards of organisations such as the London Temperance League. In 1859 the threat of a French invasion let to the formation of volunteer corps. Cruikshank supported these corps in a pamphlet published in 1860 entitled A Pop-Gun. He joined the 48th Middlesex corps and rose to become their lieutenant-colonel and commanding officer. However the corps encountered many problems, primarily from lack of money, discipline and motivation; and Cruikshank resigned in September 1868.

For more information on Cruikshank see Robert L. Patten, 'Cruikshank, George (1792-1878)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

This collection consists mainly of letters written to George Cruikshank and drafts of letters, memoranda and speeches by him, with a few rough drawings. Most of the papers relate to Cruikshank's activities as Lieutenant Colonel of the 48th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers, and concern recruitment, muster rolls, discipline, drills, inspections, uniforms and arms.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

ACC/0534/001-012: Correspondence; ACC/0534/013-014: Personal Papers.

Conditions governing access:

Available for general access.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright to these records rests with the City of London.

Finding aids:

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

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Records deposited in July 1954.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

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.