I am certainly no expert but all the men in the photograph appear to be of the same rank. They all appear to have chevrons on their sleeves. I am not sure if this is important. Are they perhaps non commissioned officers?
Allan Cole says:
An addition to my earlier speculation. The seated officer and another of the men fourth from the left appear to have medals. If these were recently presented and as I suspect they are of the Sudan contingent members then the photograph dates after 13th February 1886 when the medals were presented.
Allan Cole says:
As there are infantry officers of the New South Wales Infantry 1885 ( according to Australian Military Uniforms 1800-1862) I think my previous post is probably correct and that the date is about 1885 to 1890.
Allan Cole says:
I would like to correct part of my last post. “1862” should read “1982”. Sorry.
Allan Cole says:
The seated soldier to the right of the officer appears to have the crossed muskets on his left sleeve an indication of the 1st Sydney Battalion similar to the photograph submitted by Mr Waterhouse. The picture seems to be a mixture of infantry and artillery or commissariat soldiers. The officer present may be Colonel Spalding who was in command of the artillery in the Soudan. Alternatively it may be the overall commander Colonel Richardson.
Allan Cole says:
Based on information from the book “Australian Uniforms in Australia” by Monty Wedd the soldiers appear to be from the First New South Wales Rifle Volunteers also known as the Sydney Battalion. I suspect this because they are wearing forage caps with what is probably a bugle on the front of the cap and some of the men have the crossed muskets on their left sleeves.The officers are wearing the uniform of 1885 so perhaps the photograph was taken about 1885 and some of the soldiers are wearing medals which would probably have been the Egypt Medal and Khedive Star. If Colonel Richardson in command of the Soudan contingent then the medal for the Crimea could be present.
Allan Cole says:
An apology to the soldier second from the right seated in the front row. I had earlier included this officer with the infantry officers but on close inspection I think he is probably an artillery officer wearing either a ball instead of a spike finial on his helmet, he has the white cuffs of an artillery officer and is wearing two medals so presumably served overseas. I don’t understand his lack of a dark puggaree around his helmet though Mr Patton said in one of his posts that the puggaree was awarded in the Sudan.
Allan Cole says:
With regard to crossed muskets on the sleeve of the uniform. I would like to make an addition. Apparently these were earned , at least in the 1860’s period, for being a more than average shot. I have also found that most volunteer soldiers had both a forage cap and a helmet.
Geoff Rowell says:
I bel;ieve these men to be of a Scottish Regiment serving in the Infantry Artillery. They sport the NSW badge on their helmets and/or Forage Caps. All appear to be Sergeants and/or Master Sergeants with an Officer of import seated in the mid front row.
Location – somewhere out bush.
These are members of one of the four infantry regiments of the NSW Volunteer Force, circa 1885 or slightly earlier. It is possible they are members of the Sudan contingent but this seems unlikely given the number of non-commissioned officers present and the smaller number who deployed to Egypt. The Kilmarnock cap and the rank devices on the right sleeve only indicates the date. The spiked helmet with colonial badge attached but no puggaree is an indication of infantry.
Jenny says:
Thank you, Sean, for these comments which confirm what we had begun to suspect – that these are officers of the NSW Volunteer Infantry at an Easter Encampment at Windsor, in either March 1883 or April 1884. It is one of 40 images that we have grouped together on our flickr account. I am not sure if you came to these images via our Easter 2014 blog http://archivesoutside.records.nsw.gov.au/what-are-your-easter-memories-church-show-bags-and-chocolate-eggs-easter-encampments/
You can find a link to all forty of the images throught this article.
Allan Cole says:
I am certainly no expert but all the men in the photograph appear to be of the same rank. They all appear to have chevrons on their sleeves. I am not sure if this is important. Are they perhaps non commissioned officers?
Allan Cole says:
An addition to my earlier speculation. The seated officer and another of the men fourth from the left appear to have medals. If these were recently presented and as I suspect they are of the Sudan contingent members then the photograph dates after 13th February 1886 when the medals were presented.
Allan Cole says:
As there are infantry officers of the New South Wales Infantry 1885 ( according to Australian Military Uniforms 1800-1862) I think my previous post is probably correct and that the date is about 1885 to 1890.
Allan Cole says:
I would like to correct part of my last post. “1862” should read “1982”. Sorry.
Allan Cole says:
The seated soldier to the right of the officer appears to have the crossed muskets on his left sleeve an indication of the 1st Sydney Battalion similar to the photograph submitted by Mr Waterhouse. The picture seems to be a mixture of infantry and artillery or commissariat soldiers. The officer present may be Colonel Spalding who was in command of the artillery in the Soudan. Alternatively it may be the overall commander Colonel Richardson.
Allan Cole says:
Based on information from the book “Australian Uniforms in Australia” by Monty Wedd the soldiers appear to be from the First New South Wales Rifle Volunteers also known as the Sydney Battalion. I suspect this because they are wearing forage caps with what is probably a bugle on the front of the cap and some of the men have the crossed muskets on their left sleeves.The officers are wearing the uniform of 1885 so perhaps the photograph was taken about 1885 and some of the soldiers are wearing medals which would probably have been the Egypt Medal and Khedive Star. If Colonel Richardson in command of the Soudan contingent then the medal for the Crimea could be present.
Allan Cole says:
An apology to the soldier second from the right seated in the front row. I had earlier included this officer with the infantry officers but on close inspection I think he is probably an artillery officer wearing either a ball instead of a spike finial on his helmet, he has the white cuffs of an artillery officer and is wearing two medals so presumably served overseas. I don’t understand his lack of a dark puggaree around his helmet though Mr Patton said in one of his posts that the puggaree was awarded in the Sudan.
Allan Cole says:
With regard to crossed muskets on the sleeve of the uniform. I would like to make an addition. Apparently these were earned , at least in the 1860’s period, for being a more than average shot. I have also found that most volunteer soldiers had both a forage cap and a helmet.
Geoff Rowell says:
I bel;ieve these men to be of a Scottish Regiment serving in the Infantry Artillery. They sport the NSW badge on their helmets and/or Forage Caps. All appear to be Sergeants and/or Master Sergeants with an Officer of import seated in the mid front row.
Location – somewhere out bush.
Sean Ryan says:
These are members of one of the four infantry regiments of the NSW Volunteer Force, circa 1885 or slightly earlier. It is possible they are members of the Sudan contingent but this seems unlikely given the number of non-commissioned officers present and the smaller number who deployed to Egypt. The Kilmarnock cap and the rank devices on the right sleeve only indicates the date. The spiked helmet with colonial badge attached but no puggaree is an indication of infantry.
Jenny says:
Thank you, Sean, for these comments which confirm what we had begun to suspect – that these are officers of the NSW Volunteer Infantry at an Easter Encampment at Windsor, in either March 1883 or April 1884. It is one of 40 images that we have grouped together on our flickr account. I am not sure if you came to these images via our Easter 2014 blog http://archivesoutside.records.nsw.gov.au/what-are-your-easter-memories-church-show-bags-and-chocolate-eggs-easter-encampments/
You can find a link to all forty of the images throught this article.
Jenny