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| Before |
Unfortunately we see none of the colours as the picture is in black and white. It got me wondering if, with my rudimentary Photoshop knowledge and some Googling, I could correctly colourise it. So armed with information from members of the present day South Notts Hussars Association and various online historical uniform sources, the colourised version is below.
I've tried not to make it too colourful so as to retain a little of the period feel. The yellow decoration on his jacket is gold braid and his riding breeches have a gold stripe down the side. His busby (hat) in his right hand has a white plume and red trim. His medals have the correct ribbon colours and metallic colouring (see below for details). The main uniform is a very dark blue with white gloves and black leather boots.
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| After |
His face was the trickiest thing to get right. My first attempt had him looking like a Russian Doll! He is quite rosy-cheeked in many pictures so I tried to recreate that without making him look like he'd been too long in the tanning salon. Click on the picture to make it bigger.
Medals...
In the picture of the Colonel here, his medals and their stories are, from left to right :
DSO – He was created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order [London Gazette, 26 June 1902]: "Lancelot Rolleston, Lieutenant Colonel, Imperial Yeomanry. For services during operations in South Africa". It is a military decoration awarded for meritorious or distinguished service during actual combat in wartime. In 1900 during the Boer War campaign, he was seriously wounded in action at Lindley, leading a charge to relieve Colonel Spragge’s beleaguered regiment. As reward for bravely saving his life that day, Lancelot made Trooper Joe Haywood permanent landlord of the Queens Head pub in Watnall. You can read more about Joe's story by clicking here. Read more about the DSO here wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinguished_Service_Order
Territorial Decoration (TD) – awarded to him by King Edward VII for his long service in the Yeomanry. He served from 1868 to 1912, 44 years. wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_Decoration1902 King Edward VII Coronation Medal – a ceremonial medal awarded for his participation in the coronation ceremony of the King. Due to the king falling ill with appendicitis, the coronation, planned for 26 June 1902, had to be postponed while the monarch recovered from surgery, and the coronation was actually held on 9 August 1902. This change happened too late to be reflected on the medals, which bear the earlier. date. wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Edward_VII_Coronation_Medal
1911 King George V Coronation Medal – a ceremonial medal for when he was in command of the Yeomanry Brigade at the Coronation of King George V. wikipedia.org/wiki/King_George_V_Coronation_Medal
Queen Victoria's South Africa Medal (QSA) with four clasps (South Africa 1902, Transvaal, Orange Free State, Cape Colony). This is a campaign medal awarded for his service during the Boer War. He was also mentioned in Despatches by Field Marshal Roberts for his actions in South Africa [London Gazette, 17 June 1902]. His rank at the time was Major, 12 Company, 3rd Imperial Yeomanry. wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_South_Africa_Medal
KCB – in 1911 he was knighted Sir Lancelot Rolleston with
a KCB (Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath). His large KCB star is
prominent under his medals and hanging around his neck is the matching gold KCB
neck badge with red ribbon. wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Bath
A close up of the medals is shown below, on display at the South Notts Hussars Museum at Thoresby Hall, located near Clumber Park in north Nottinghamshire. They are in a different order than the picture, the official ordering having changed in 1918. The TD and QSA have swapped places.
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| Left to right: DSO, QSA, 1902, 1911, 1935, TD, CBE, KCB. Click to zoom in... |
Also shown is the ornate, purple-ribboned CBE awarded to his wife, Lady Maud Rolleston in 1919 for her charity work and public service. The eagle-eyed will also spot an additional red-ribboned commemorative medal awarded for the 1935 Silver Jubilee.
Uniform...This watercolour from 1908 by Richard Simkin, shows Nottinghamshire’s two yeomanry regiments and the differences in their uniforms at the time. The South Notts Hussars on the left are in dark blue and the Sherwood Rangers on the right are in green. They are grouped together as the 17th Yeomanry Brigade. The black and white photograph shown afterwards is also from 1908.
Outtakes...
For your general amusement, this is my first attempt at colourising Col. Rolleston!
Mentioned in Despatches...
Thanks to Alan Slater, NMA Shush and Chris Houghton at the SNH Association for their help. This is Alan's comprehensive description of Col. Rolleston's dress uniform in the original picture.
"His tunic (jacket) would have quite a bit of gold wire amongst the fancy bits. The cross belt or pooch belt round his neck and under his left epaulette, would be gold wire and would have a small leather despatch case attached on his back, which would undoubtedly have a SNH metal cypher on it and would be used for carrying written messages. The lines (strings) around his neck would be attached to his tunic and at the other end, clipped to his busby in case it came off whilst he was riding. His breeches are known as overalls and would be held up by braces and would have leather straps and buckles under his boots, which would be black leather (either knee high Wellington boots or ankle length George boots). His spurs would be held in place by leather straps and might even be silver. His hat is a busby (often bearskin) with a hackle made of some sort of animal hair and a metal (brass) linked chin strap of metal links (brass). His sword would be an officers' cavalry pattern and the scabarb would be attached to a webbing sword belt worn around his waist. The medals will no doubt be mostly from the Boer War, with possibly a Territorial Decoration among them. The far left one (white cross) is definitely his DSO. I guess the large cross on his left breast is his knighthood."
Finally...
For more "Tales from Watnall Hall" and anecdotes from Colonel Rolleston's life, visit the "Tales from Watnall Hall" website by clicking here https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/
Here are some of the tales to give you an idea...
Lancelot Rolleston, the schoolboy squire - his formative years…
The Watnall Hall graves - who is buried there?
The Grounds and Garden of Watnall Hall
The Oldest Boy Scout in the World...
Life of Lady Maud, the “delinquent” cyclist and other tales…
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