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A Virtual Museum of Victorian-Era British Military Photographs & Associated Research
Unnamed CDV Identified
This carte de visite has been part of the Soldiers of the Queen collection for years and had spent that time unidentified. Even the man's rank and regiment were unknown.
I had posted the image some time ago on the Soldiers of the Queen Facebook page and was recently contacted by group member Gary Hynard who realized that this man was in fact the same officer he had been conducting research on - Captain Booth Hay Metcalfe of the 83rd Regiment of Foot. He was kind enough to provide his research to this website and it follows here in part.
Booth Hay Metcalfe was born in the small village of Muker, North Yorkshire, on 17th February 1843.
Eldest son of Lister Washington Metcalfe 1777-1846, a Cheese Factor (Wolesaler), and Margaret Metcalfe (nee Williamson) 1803-1886.
Booth Hay Metcalfe was one of six children born to his parents between 1834 and 1846. His siblings were Lister Washington Metcalfe 1834-1867, James Simm Metcalfe 1834-1878, Mary Isabella Victoria Metcalfe 1838-1839, William Pitt Metcalfe 1840-1876, and Mary Isabella Victoria Metcalfe 1846-1855.
Booth attended Dasselling House in Whorlton County Durham, a small private school having only 6
male pupils. He then attended Richmond Grammar School, Yorkshire, before entering Trinity College,
Cambridge, in October 1861. During his time at...
Captain Booth Hay Metclafe
British India
c. 1875
Alexander Brett Onslow
Born on 29 March 1841 in Madras, British India, Arthur Brett Onslow was one of at least nine children of Thomas Onslow of the Madras Civil Service and Elizabeth Sarah Roberts. His paternal grandfather was Sir Henry Onslow, 2nd Baronet of Althain.
Educated at Brighton College and the Royal Military College, Onslow was commissioned ensign without purchase in the 98th Foot on 30 December 1859. He was promoted lieutenant by purchase in the 43rd Foot on 11 February 1862. Promoted captain by purchase in the 49th on 30 September1868.
Onslow would see active service with the 43rd Foot in the New Zealand War of 1864-65 (2nd Taranaki War), taking part in the action at Te Poro for which he would receive a Mention in Despatches. Onslow was entitled to the New Zealand Medal for his service in the war.
Captain Onslow’s military career was cut short at the age of 30 when he died in London on 27 November 1871. He was never married.
Captain Arthur Brett Onslow
43rd Regiment (Light Infantry) of Foot
c. 1870
George Couchman DSO
Sometimes it is possible to attach an identity to a face even when no name is present on the photograph. Based
upon the apparent rank (captain) of this soldier, his regiment (The Somerset Light Infantry), the location
of the photograph (Belgaum, India)and the fact that he is wearing the India General Service Medal as well as
the Distinguished Service Order, I have narrowed down the possibilities to one man - Captain (and future general) George Henry Holbeche Couchman of the Somerset Light Infantry.
George Henry Holbeche Couchman was born on the 7th
December 1859, the son of Colonel E. H. Couchman of the Royal Artillery a daughter of Sir George Cornish Whitlock.
Couchman married Miss Helen Mary Chattock in 1899. I have been unable to any record of children resulting from their union.
An outline of his service career follows here:
2nd Lieutenant, 2/ 13th Regiment of Foot - 11 May 1878
Lieutenant, 2/13th Regiment of Foot - 26 February 1880
Captain George H. H. Couchman, D.S.O.
Belgaum, India
c. 1887
Table of Contents
Home Service
The British Isles
India
The Jewel in the Crown
Southern Africa
Land of the Bantu & the Boer
Land of the Pharaohs
The Nile Valley, & the Mediterranean
Canada
The Empire's Wild West
The Southern Cross
Australia & New Zealand
The Far East
China, Hong Kong & Singapore
Mountains of the Moon
East, West & Central Africa
A Quiet Backwater
Bermuda & The West Indies
The Back of Beyond
The Furthest Corners of the Empire
Old Soldiers Never Die
Life After the Colours
By the Level & the Square
The Lure of Fraternal Brotherhoods
Sons of the Regiment
Children in Uniform
The Limelight
Victorian Soldiers Depicted on Stage
The Hollywood Raj
Victorian Soldiers in Motion Pictures
Oddities
The Strange, Unusual & Just Plain Odd
Through a Glass, Darkly
Original Glass Plate Negatives
The Great Game
Britain's Imperial Rivals
Rogue's March
Victorian Military Themed Sheet Music
Some Interesting Diversions
A Night at the Opera
Wagnerian Operatic Photographs
The Streets of Laredo
Denizens of America's Western Frontier
Quartermaster & Commissariat Department.
Merchandise for the Regimental Mess & Barracks
First in a multi-volume series, Soldiers of the Queen, Volume 1, Home Service features high resolution reproductions of Victorian-era British military photographic portraits. Selected from the extensive soldiersofthequeen.com collection, each portrait is accompanied by a detailed newly researched biography of the subject. Volume 1 showcases photographs taken in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Each 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch volume will contain fifty pages with 40 photographic plates and illustrations.
The second volume in the print version of Soldiers of the Queen, Volume 2, India: The Jewel in the Crown features high resolution reproductions of Victorian-era British military photographic portraits. Selected from the extensive soldiersofthequeen.com collection, each portrait or atifact is accompanied by a detailed newly researched biography of the associated soldier. Volume 2 showcases photographs taken in what was then British India and encompasses modern-day India, Pakistan. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Measuring 8 1/2 by 11 inches, Volume 2 contains seventy-two pages and 47 photographic plates and illustrations.
Rudyard Kipling's classic 1890 poem Gunga Din supplemented with a selection
of rare photographic portraits of British and Indian soldiers who served in Queen
Victoria's Indian realm. Each photograph is accompanied by a detailed
biographical sketch of the pictured soldier or description of the subject. 60 pages8 1/2 by 11 inches with more than 30 illustrations.