This photograph has proved something of a puzzlement. Identified by a period ink inscription on the reverse as "Mr. Coulthard", it is virtually identical in every respect to the photo of Trumpeter Henry Hollington Sawyer and very similar to the photo of Gunner Ernest Charleton both of which appears in this section of soldiersofthequeen.com. All three photographs were taken by the same photographer at the same location at about the same time and all three men wear the exact same uniform.

 

Trumpeter Sawyer and Gunner Charleton both served with the Honourable Artillery Company prior to the Anglo-Boer and with the City Imperial Volunteers during the war. Oddly I have not been able to find any mention of someone named Coulthard serving with the Honourable Artillery Company or the City Imperial Volunteers prior to or during the war. I suppose it is possible that whoever inscribed the photograph made a mistake in the identification of the subject. I plan on continuing the investigation into this little mystery.

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Cabinet Photograph

Arthur Weston - Photographer

52 & 53 New Gate Street, London, E.C., England

c. 1900