Wednesday 6 January 2010

Precedence - the 1694 Royal Warrant

For those interested, here is the full text of the Royal Warrant of 10 June 1694 laying down rules for establishing rank and seniority. Besides the rules, which clearly state that English regiments (i.e., regiments on the English establishment) take precedence over Scots and Irish, there is a list of regiments in Flanders.



(Page comes from the National Archives, reference WO 71/2 p.106 (and was dug up and copied by mr Mike Shingleton).)

5 comments:

Paul Nixon said...

Wienand, that's a great document you've posted there. National Archives presumably?

Am I correct in thinking then that this laid down the rules of precedency for British regiments and that "the three English Regiments that have lately served in Holland" which took their rank "immediately after the Queen's Regiment" would later (1881) become The Buffs, King's Own (Roayla Lancaster) and Northumberland Fusiliers?

Motorway said...

Ja, dat is mooi zeg! Zelf gevonden of uit een boek?

Wienand Drenth said...

Paul,

You are correct that this laid down the rules for later precedency. However, the influence of the colonels on the board's decisions mattered as well...

However, the context of the three English Regiments from Holland seems to give rise to confusion. In 1694, the Queen's Regiment was what would later become the King's Own Royal Regiment (4th Foot) and was, in 1694, named for Mary II, consort of William III; the later Queens' Royal Regiment (2nd Foot) was known as the Queen's Dowager's Regiment and was named after the widow of Charles II. It would later indeed become the Queen's Regiment.

The three Holland regiments were the future Northumberland Fusiliers, Warwickshire Regiment, and William Seymour's Regiment that was disbanded in 1699. There is a post on that last regiment as well.

Given your question I will devote some attention to these three English regiments and their pre-1688 existence.

The page comes from the National Archives of course, copied by Mike Shingleton. I see I need to add some reference indeed.

Paul Nixon said...

Great, thanks very much Wienand. I have to say that my knowledge of the British Army pre 1881 and post 1918 is pretty much non-existent, and so your excellent blog helps to fill a large knowledge gap for me.

Keep up the good work; I am a regular reader.

Paul

Wienand Drenth said...

Edwin,
Ik heb de referentie toegevoegd aan de post. Het komt dus uit de nationale archieven. De referentie, deze en voor andere rangorde gerelateerde zaken, heb ik ooit eens van iemand gekregen.

Deze informatie staat trouwens ook gereproduceerd in het boekje van Sapherson over het Britse leger van Willem III.