There are a lot of 14th Hussars officers’ and sergeants’ portraits squeezed onto this postcard; 70 to be precise. I bought this on eBay earlier this month and rarely has a single postcard provided me with so much research potential.
The 14th Hussars had left the UK on the 5th September 1906, heading for Bombay aboard the SS Assaye which it reached on the 27 September. The regiment would remain in India until 1915, then head for Mesopotamia before returning to the UK in April 1919. Many of the men in this photograph, which was compiled by Messrs Del Tufo and Co of Bangalore in 1907, had seen service in the Boer War, and many would go on to see service in the First World War. As a research document, this single card is a great piece of evidence, pin-pointing these men to a specific time and place.
For the most part, the portraits on this postcard just give the man’s abbreviated rank and last name. Where possible, I have expanded the ranks and then checked the names against various databases. As is usually the case with any reearch, the more uncommon the name, the more likely it is that you will be able to quickly identify the man. There are close to 12m searchable names on this website and so typing in “14th Hussars” and the man’s name in the search box here, brought up results if the man has a surviving service record or medal index card for the First World War. Some of the men also appear on the Anglo-Boer War Register roll – also largely replicated on this site – whilst others only have entries on Boer War medal rolls, which I checked on Ancestry.
So here is my expanded list from that 1907 postcard. Where possible I have expanded ranks, adding the man’s full name or forename initials and also his regimental number. I posted this image on my British Army Ancestors Facebook page and within an hour had a message from someone who had identified his great uncle, the first time that he had ever seen this man’s portrait. To me, that makes this project all worthwhile and is why I set up British Army Ancestors in the first place. Now my text task is to add as many of these portraits as possible to the relevant names on this site.
There are gaps below, as you will see, and I will be very pleased to hear from anyone who can help me fill in more of these details.
Sergeant Attaway
4121 Sergeant Thomas Butcher
5121 Sergeant George Edward Dobson
3796 Sergeant John Goddard
3177 Sergeant Arthur William Huxley
Sergeant Wright
3464 Squadron Quarter Master Sergeant A W Cherry
3100 Staff Sergeant Farrier Boaz Pelling
Colonel Edward Douglas Browne-Synge-Hutchinson
4176 Sergeant Sydney J Gardner
3655 Sergeant Howard Hampson
Sergeant Rennie
4234 Sergeant J C Thornley
3208 Sergeant Trumpeter William John Leigh
Staff Sergeant Farrier Sherry
3237 Squadron Sergeant Major Charles Carnegie
Squadron Sergeant Major Lokier
59 Sergeant R Allison
4323 Sergeant Robert Charles Dutch
3529 Sergeant Edward John Elkins
Sergeant Ward
Captain Hugh Edward Joicey
Lieutenant Alexander Fletcher Pridgeon
Sergeant Hancock
Sergeant Noonan
4425 Sergeant A Swift
Sergeant Torevell
Squadron Quarter Master Sergeant Ashton
3423 Squadron Quarter Master Sergeant Thomas Millgate
Sergeant Bassingthwaite
4089 Sergeant Percy Harmer
4395 Sergeant John Langabeer
Sergeant Nichols
2822 Squadron Sergeant Major Lewis Dove
15 Squadron Sergeant Major George Pentland
Bandmaster H Hemsley
2920 Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant Ernest Austen
4047 Sergeant Harry Ecott
Sergeant Edgar
Sergeant Hill
4305 Sergeant J Mayhew
2794 Regimental Sergeant Major George William Sutherland
Sergeant Duncan
Sergeant Hesketh
4170 Sergeant F W Leaver
3208 Sergeant William John Leigh
3829 Sergeant George W Mason
4394 Sergeant E H Silcock
Orderly Quarter Master Sergeant Andrews
40 Sergeant Cosgrove
Sergeant Dobson
3988 Sergeant E J Hale
3814 Sergeant J T Weeks
4219 Squadron Quarter Master Sergeant John Walter Brown
3254 Squadron Sergeant Major Frederick Battson
3093 Squadron Sergeant Major Ernest Hubbard
3194 Sergeant Farrier J H E Chipchase
4899 Sergeant Farrier Arthur E Cooper
4511 Sergeant Bernard Ivers
5136 Sergeant Alfred Gordon Piper
Sergeant Saunders
2932 Sergeant George Welch
3259 Squadron Quarter Master Sergeant T Kenyon
3044 Shoeing Smith Sergeant J Spring
3861 Fred Bethell
Sergeant Braham
4132 Sergeant W Denby
3654 Sergeant Frank R Hadley
3000 Sergeant Frederick William Rogers
Sergeant White
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SSM Battson in the photo is actually Frederick. His brother Charles (Corporal CE Battson) died in the Boer war. Thanks – Nigel Battson.
Many thanks for pointing this out, Nigel, now corrected.
I believe that Sergeant Mason in the photo is my great uncle George W Mason born 1878 in Durham. I have another photo of him if I can post it somewhere.
Thanks for this, KScallon. I have added the portrait photo for this man to his record here: https://www.britisharmyancestors.co.uk/search-result/?q=george+william+mason+hus*. By all means please do add any more photos you have or email me at paul@britisharmyancestors.co.uk and I will add for you.