|
Background to the book.
The journey started in 2002 when my mother-in-law showed me a sword that had
been in the family for some years. It was a magnificent 1796 light cavalry sword
which still retained some 95% of its original blue and guilt finish. On this
sword was a cartouche with the letters OTYC and the name
of the owner R Clegg. This intrigued me and set me off on a
journey to find out who it had belonged too. The sword belonged
to Lieutenant Richard Clegg of the Oldham Troop of Yeomanry
Cavalry and so began my research into this corps, which
mushroomed out into all the other volunteer corps in the Oldham
area. Seven years later the research is finished and the book is
published.
About the book
During the Napoleonic wars a wave of
enthusiastic volunteers around Great Britain volunteered to form
corps, with the aim of protecting the country from the French
threat of invasion. These were the first volunteer corps to form
in Oldham.
After the Napoleonic wars a period of
civil unrest prevailed prompting the formation of Yeomanry corps
around the country, including Oldham.
A renewed threat of invasion from France
in 1859 prompted a new wave of volunteer corps to be formed,
known as the Rifle Volunteers; Oldham had its own corps
originally known as the 31st Lancashire Rifle
Volunteers, which eventually became the 6th Volunteer
Battalion Manchester Regiment. Some of these volunteers saw
service in the South African War at the turn of the 19th
century.
This book draws on original sources to
detail the history of these Oldham Volunteer Corps over a 110
year period.
Oldham Horse and Foot Associations 1798 -
1802
Oldham Loyal Volunteers 1799 - 1808
Oldham Local Militia 1808 - 1816
Oldham Troop of Yeomanry Cavalry 1817 -
1828
Oldham Rifle Volunteers 1859 - 1888
6th Volunteer Battalion
Manchester Regiment 1888 - 1908
Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry – Oldham
Troop 1873 - 1908 |
