Attendance Gallery

The Artists Rifles in Camp, 1884

The Artists Rifles in Camp, 1884.Oil on canvas, signed and dated lower left Godfrey Merry 1884, by Godfrey Pitney Merry, (fl 1883-1915), 1884.In August 1884 the 20th Middlesex (Artists') Rifle Volunteers held their camp at Aldershot. Attendance at these summer camps was voluntary and usually not very well attended, while the long Easter weekend camp was much more popular. Here the volunteers are shown preparing for drill. Some are almost ready, equipped with blanket rolls and Snider rifles, while the soldier buying fish still needs to change his fashionable, but non-regulation, two-tone shoes.Following the formation in 1859 of the Volunteer Force for national defence, the regiment was raised in 1860 as the 38th Middlesex (Artists) Rifle Volunteers. It was so-named as it was mainly composed of painters, sculptors, engravers, musicians, architects and actors. One of the first officers was Frederick (later Lord) Leighton, who was subsequently both Honorary Colonel of the regiment and President of the Royal Academy of Arts. Other famous volunteers include John Everett Millais, William Morris and Holman Hunt.In 1880 the regiment was renumbered the 20th Middlesex (Artists') Rifle Volunteers. The following year it became a volunteer battalion of the Rifle Brigade. In 1908 it changed to the 28th (County of London) Battalion, the London Regiment (Artists? Rifles). Following a number of redesignations, in 1950 the unit became 21st Regiment Special Air Service (TA), the territorial unit of the SAS. Date: 1884

© The National Army Museum / Mary Evans Picture Library

Opening Ceremony of the Tate Gallery, London, 1897

Illustration showing the Prince of Wales making a speech at the opening of the National Gallery of British Art, later known as the Tate Gallery and now Tate Britain, London, 1897. Those in attendance were the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of York, the Duke and Duchess of Fife, Mr. and Mrs. Tate and the Trustees of the Museum (Lord Lansdowne, the Earl of Carlisle, Lord Brownlow, Alfred Rothschild, Sir Charles Tennant, J.P. Heseltine and Murray Scott)

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Dancing on the deck of the ship Randolph, 1850

Engraving showing British emigrants dancing on the main deck of the ship Randolph during a banquet held prior to its departure for New Zealand, 1850. In September of that year, 250 middle-class emigrants set sail for Canterbury, New Zealand. Before departure a banquet took place, with bishops, aristocrats and notables of the day in attendance

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans