69-536: The North Midland Brigade was an infantry formation of Britain's Volunteer Force from 1888 to 1908. The North Midland Brigade had its origin in the Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888. This proposed a Mobilisation Scheme for units of the Volunteer Force , which would assemble by brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime the brigades provided a structure for collective training. Under this scheme
138-542: A royal commission chaired by Viscount Eversley was appointed "to inquire into the condition of the volunteer force in Great Britain and into the probability of its continuance at its existing strength". According to the report, as of 1 April 1862, the Volunteer Force had a strength of 162,681 consisting of: Their report made a number of recommendations and observations on funding and training: To carry into effect
207-474: A County". On acceptance, the corps would be deemed lawfully formed. Existing corps were to continue under the new Act, although the power was given to the Crown to disband any corps. The constitution of a permanent staff consisting of an adjutant and serjeant instructors was permitted for each corps. The grouping of two or more corps into administrative regiments was recognised, and a permanent staff could be provided for
276-595: A Staff Sergeant" from the Royal Navy , British Army , Royal Air Force , or Royal Marines ; must have earned the Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct (or the Naval or RAF equivalent ); and must have served for 22 years in the regular armed services. Until 2009, sailors were ineligible to become Yeomen Warders. This was because sailors of the Royal Navy —unlike soldiers, marines, and airmen—swear an oath of allegiance to
345-535: A Yeoman Warder but taking on other duties. To prevent the ravens flying away, their flight feathers have traditionally been trimmed so that they are unable to fly in a straight line for any appreciable distance. The ravens are free, however, to roam the Tower grounds. More recently, the Ravenmaster has been clipping less of the wings and feathers, to allow them to fly, instead of merely hopping or gliding, and they can reach
414-547: A break from their work environment. The Yeoman Warders Club is a pub exclusively for the Warders and for their invited guests. They must own a home outside the fortress to occupy when they retire. Some of the accommodation dates back to the 13th century. The community of the Tower of London is made up of Yeoman Warders and their families, the Resident Governor and officers, a chaplain and a doctor. Yeomen Warders participate in
483-568: A miniature of the White Tower. The Yeoman Gaoler is the Chief Yeoman Warder's second-in-command. When wearing State dress, he is armed with a Dane axe , a long-handed battle-axe that had originated with the Vikings. In State dress, all Yeoman Warders are armed with saber-hilted swords, with the ordinary Warders and Serjeants also armed with partisans . Yeoman Warder Ravenmaster (also known as
552-638: A new North Midland Division . It was once again split into two brigades of four battalions each: the Lincoln and Leicester Brigade , based at Grantham and the Nottingham and Derby Brigade (later the Sherwood Foresters Brigade ) at Nottingham . These brigades, and their 2nd Line duplicates, fought on the Western Front during World War I Volunteer Force (Great Britain) The Volunteer Force
621-406: A royal red tunic with purple facings and stripes and gold lace ornaments, red knee-breeches and red stockings, flat hat, and black shoes with red, white and blue rosettes. The gold-embroidered emblems on the back and front of the coats consist of the crowned Tudor Rose , the shamrock and the thistle , the motto Dieu et mon droit , and the royal cypher of the reigning sovereign. The State Dress
690-654: A separate entity. The name Beefeater is of uncertain origin, with various proposed derivations. The term was common as early as the 17th century as a slang term for the English in general. The earliest connection to the Royal Household came as a reference to the Yeomen of the Guard by Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany , who visited the Court in 1669. In referring to the Yeomen of
759-557: A sideboard) are often mentioned, since one role of Beefeaters was to attend the king at meals. However, Skeat in An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (published 1879–1882), concludes that there is "not the faintest tittle of evidence" for this conjecture. Other reliable sources also indicate that buffetier is unlikely to have been the source of the word. The Yeomen Warders were formed in 1485 by
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#1732859587496828-662: A state occasion, they wear red and gold uniforms similar to those of the Yeomen of the Guard. These uniforms are referred to by the Yeoman Warders as the Tudor State Dress . The Yeomen Warders are often confused with the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard , the original "Beefeaters", a similar but distinct body. On ceremonial occasions, the Yeoman Warders wear the Yeomen of the Guard's distinctive uniform, that consists of
897-509: A wider European conflict. On 12 May 1859, the Secretary of State for War , Jonathan Peel issued a circular letter to lieutenants of counties in England, Wales and Scotland, authorising the formation of volunteer rifle corps (VRC, a.k.a. corps of rifle volunteers and rifle volunteer corps), and of artillery corps in defended coastal towns. Volunteer corps were to be raised under the provisions of
966-463: Is composed of Arms to which their use is not appropriate". The large number of small independent corps proved difficult to administer, and, by 1861, most had been formed into battalion-sized units, either by "consolidation": increasing an existing corps to battalion size (usually in large urban areas), or by forming administrative battalions or brigades by the grouping of smaller corps (in rural areas). An official book of drill and rifle instructions for
1035-463: Is former Royal Navy serviceman Rob Fuller and the Yeoman Gaoler is Clive Towell a former British Army Sergeant Major. The Yeomen Warders normally wear an "undress" uniform of dark blue with red trimmings. For senior warders from serjeant up, the upper edges of the "undress" uniform's red collar and cuffs are trimmed with gold braid. When the sovereign visits the Tower, or the warders are on duty at
1104-478: Is often worn without a ruff , which is reserved for highly official occasions. The item of uniform that distinguishes The Yeomen of the Guard from the Tower Warders is the red cross-belt or baldric , worn from the left shoulder. This is a relic from the time when the Guard, and not the Warders, carried the h arquebus . Paradoxically, the Yeoman Warders wear like the Yeomen of the Guard a black shoulder strap on
1173-526: The Admiralty rather than the monarch personally. In 2009, sailors became eligible to join the Yeoman Warders after Queen Elizabeth II consented to a petition from the Governor of the Tower to allow Royal Navy senior ratings to serve. The Yeomen Warders and their families live in tied accommodation inside the fortress, paying council taxes and rent. Most also have a home outside the grounds in order to have
1242-638: The British Armed Forces and must be former warrant officers with at least 22 years of service. They must also hold the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal . The garrison consists of 32 (formerly 37) Yeomen Warders and one Chief Warder. Although the Yeomen Warders are often referred to as Yeomen of the Guard , a distinct corps of Royal Bodyguards of the British monarch, the Yeomen Warders are in fact
1311-567: The Ceremony of the Keys each night. On 1 July 2007, Moira Cameron became the first female Yeoman Warder. In 2009, three male warders were suspended, accused of bullying Cameron; two were dismissed and one was re-instated following the month-long investigation. In December 2018, the yeomen, members of the GMB union , staged walkouts of several hours in protest of planned changes to their pension benefit scheme,
1380-752: The Crimean War , it was painfully clear to the War Office that, with half of the British Army dispositioned around the Empire on garrison duty, it had insufficient forces available to quickly compose and despatch an effective expeditionary force to a new area of conflict, unless it was to reduce the British Isles' own defences. During the Crimean War , the War Office had been forced to send militia and yeomanry to make up
1449-882: The Crimean War , the British military (i.e., land forces ) was made up of multiple separate forces, with a basic division into the Regular Forces (including the British Army , composed primarily of cavalry and infantry, and the Ordnance Military Corps of the Board of Ordnance , made up of the Royal Artillery , Royal Engineers , and the Royal Sappers and Miners though not including the originally civilian Commissariat Department , stores and supply departments, all of which, with barracks and other departments, were absorbed into
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#17328595874961518-539: The Isle of Man , and consequently the 7th (Isle of Man) Volunteer Battalion of The King's (Liverpool Regiment) continued to serve as the only remaining unit of the Volunteer Force until disbandment in 1922. (1868–1922) According to the Territorial Year Book 1909 , the Volunteer Force had the following strength over its existence: Yeomen Warders The Yeomen Warders of His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress
1587-467: The Napoleonic Wars compared with the linear tactics of the standing army. Many units initially favoured green and grey (colours until then used by British and German rifle units in the army) rifleman uniforms as opposed to the red coats of the infantry and engineers of the army and militia. In turn, the army was glad not to have amateur volunteers wear the scarlet of the regulars . The provisions of
1656-497: The Ravenmaster for short) is an appointment, not a rank, of that Yeomen Warder responsible for the welfare of the Tower of London ravens . The official title has been in use since the 1960s. It is not known how long the ravens have been living in the Tower of London, but they were resident by the time of King Charles II . Legend maintains that should the ravens ever leave the Tower, the White Tower will fall and disaster will befall
1725-696: The Reserve Forces , most of these had been allowed to lapse after the Napoleonic Wars, although the Yeomanry was maintained to potentially support the civil authorities against civil unrest, as at the 1819 Peterloo massacre , the Militia remained as a paper tiger , and rifle clubs were encouraged as the backbone against which the Volunteer force might be re-raised. The Militia and Volunteer Force were both re-organised in
1794-556: The Second Boer War , when the prolonged campaign necessitated an increase in the size of British forces in South Africa. Volunteer Battalions formed Volunteer Active Service Companies that joined the regular battalions of their county regiments. Following the war, the battle honour "South Africa 1900–02" was awarded to the volunteer units that provided detachments for the campaign. By 1907, when its civilian administration teetered on
1863-531: The Volunteer Act 1804 ( 44 Geo. 3 . c. 54), which had been used to form local defence forces during the Napoleonic Wars . Alfred Tennyson captured the spirit of the time by publishing his poem Riflemen Form in The Times on 9 May 1859. As a basis for the units, many communities had rifle clubs for the enjoyment of the sport of shooting. Originally corps were to consist of approximately 100 all ranks under
1932-617: The bombs used in the attack manufactured in Birmingham . The perceived threat of invasion by the much larger French Army was such that, even without sending a third of the army to another Crimea, Britain's military defences had already been stretched invitingly thin. On 29 April 1859 war broke out between France and the Austrian Empire (the Second Italian War of Independence ), and there were fears that Britain might be caught up in
2001-509: The "real beefeaters" at the Tower are the ravens. Traditionally, they were fed raw beef bought at Smithfield Meat Market by the Ravenmaster. Recently, other foods have been introduced to their diet, such as chicks, lamb , mice and pig hearts, as well as peanuts and dog biscuits soaked in blood and fish, in hope that this tactic would reduce the amount of scavenging from the rubbish bins. The Tower Warders are featured in an 1888 Savoy Opera written by Gilbert and Sullivan . The Yeomen of
2070-520: The 1850s. These forces were originally local-service, embodied during wartime or emergency, and placed under the control of Lords-Lieutenant of counties, and, in British colonies , under the colonial governors . After the British Army's Regular Reserve was created in 1859, by Secretary of State for War Sidney Herbert , and re-organised under the Reserve Force Act 1867 ( 30 & 31 Vict. c. 110),
2139-527: The 1st Devonshire Rifle Volunteers (and were often referred to as the 1st Rifle Volunteer Corps), and the Victoria Rifles (descended from the Duke of Cumberland's Sharpshooters , formed in 1803) who became the 1st Middlesex Rifle Volunteers. An order of precedence was established for ninety-two other counties, depending upon the date of establishment of the first corps in the county. The most senior artillery corps
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2208-644: The British Army when the Board of Ordnance was abolished in 1855). and the Reserve Forces . After the 1855 consolidation of the Regular Forces (ignoring minor forces such as the Yeomen Warders and the Yeomen of the Guard ) into the Regular Force (i.e., the British Army ), there still remained a number of British military (not to be confused with naval ) forces that were not part of the British Army; specifically
2277-627: The Corps of Rifle Volunteers and volunteer regulations were published in 1859 and 1861 respectively. From 1860 Cadet Corps were also formed, consisting of school-age boys, which were the forerunners of the Army Cadet Force and Combined Cadet Force . Like the adult volunteers, the boys were supplied with arms by the War Office, for which they had to pay a fee, which reduced the longer they remained members. Cadet Corps were usually associated with private schools. They paraded regularly in public. In 1862,
2346-505: The Force. The lord-lieutenant of a county, or the commanding officer of a corps or administrative regiment was empowered to appoint a court of inquiry into any corps, officer, non-commissioned officer or volunteer. Part II of the Act dealt with "Actual Military Service". The terms for calling out of the force were altered: this would now happen in "the case of actual or apprehended invasion of any part of
2415-416: The Guard, he stated, "A very large ration of beef is given to them daily at the court, and they might be called Beef-eaters". The Beefeater name was carried over to the Yeomen Warders, due to the two corps' outward similarities and the Yeoman Warders' more public presence. Beefeaters also commonly produced and consumed broths made of beef, which were described as rich and hearty. These broths were known, at
2484-633: The Leicester and Lincolns were based at Lincoln under the commander of the regimental district. However, on 1 June 1906 all the Volunteer brigadiers received new commissions, and Earl Manvers was reappointed to the re-amalgamated North Midland Brigade. When the Volunteers ere subsumed into the new Territorial Force in 1908 under the Haldane Reforms , the North Midland Brigade was incorporated into
2553-526: The Regular Army. This culminated in the Childers Reforms of 1881 which nominated rifle volunteer corps as volunteer battalions of the new "county" infantry regiments, which also consisted of regular and militia battalions within a defined regimental district. Over the next few years many of the rifle volunteer corps adopted the "volunteer battalion" designation and the uniform of their parent regiment. This
2622-688: The Reserve forces, to avoid confusion, were generally known as the Auxiliary Forces or Local Forces . The Regulation of the Forces Act 1871 removed the Lord-Lieutenant as head of the county reserve forces and they were increasingly integrated with the British Army. A large number of Volunteer Corps were formed during the French Revolutionary War but were stood down afterwards. Following
2691-579: The Special Reserve, which provided a body of trained men available for drafting to regular battalions as required during wartime). The total cost of the TF was to be met in future by central government. In addition to the introduction of terms of service for volunteers, most of the units lost their unique identities, becoming numbered territorial battalions of the local army regiment, albeit with distinctive badges or dress distinctions. The 1907 act did not extend to
2760-524: The Tower Hamlets . In 2018, there were 37 Yeomen Warders and one Chief Warder. At one time they were primarily guards, but more recently their role is mainly ceremonial; they have become greeters and guides for visitors, as part of their 21 duties. All Yeoman Warders are retired members of the armed services . To be appointed, one must be "a former Warrant Officer, class 1 or 2, (or the equivalent rank in other services) and in exceptional circumstances,
2829-657: The Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary , popularly known as the Beefeaters , are ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London . In principle they are the palace guard, responsible for looking after any prisoners in the Tower, and safeguarding the British crown jewels . They have also conducted guided tours of the Tower since the Victorian era . All warders are retired from
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2898-455: The United Kingdom (the occasion being first communicated to both Houses of Parliament if parliament is sitting, or declared in council and notified by proclamation if parliament is not sitting.)" As well as being entitled to pay and billets, relief was also to be given to the wives and families of volunteers. A bounty of one guinea was to be paid to volunteers on release from actual military service, such release being notified in order by writing by
2967-401: The Volunteer Battalions of the Lincolnshire and the Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire) Regiments would assemble at Derby . Later the Leicestershire Battalion was added. The Brigade formed part of Northern Command . The brigade had the following composition: Colonel Charles Pierrepont, 4th Earl Manvers (known by the courtesy title of Viscount Newark until 1900) was appointed to command
3036-414: The back, below the left shoulder, originally intended to hold the harquebus bandolier in place. The rank chevrons point down and are worn on the right upper arm. The Ravenmaster's badge is worn on the right lower arm. When wearing State dress, the Chief Yeoman Warder has a black cane as additional sign of his dignity. Instead, on special or highly official occasions, he carries a ceremonial staff topped by
3105-419: The brigade on 15 January 1896. All the battalions provided volunteers to serve alongside the Regular regiments in the 2nd Boer War and gained the Battle honour South Africa 1900–02 . The brigade was split into two in 1901, forming the Sherwood Foresters Brigade and the Leicester and Lincoln Brigade , each of four battalions. The Sherwood Foresters' HQ remained at Derby under the command of Earl Manvers,
3174-415: The brink of insolvency, the Volunteer Force had become indispensable to British defence planning, as well as an enabler of the Regular Army's drawing its own forces away from home defence stations. Consequently, the government passed the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 , which merged the Volunteer Force with the Yeomanry to form the Territorial Force in 1908 (while the Militia was re-organised as
3243-402: The command of a captain, with some localities having subdivisions of thirty men under a lieutenant. The purpose of the rifle corps was to harass the invading enemy's flanks, while artillery corps were to man coastal guns and forts. Although not mentioned in the circular letter, engineer corps were also formed, principally to place underwater mines for port defence. Stretcher-bearers attached to
3312-422: The first such action since 1963. In July 2020, Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), the charity that looks after the Tower of London, announced a compulsory redundancy order following losses in tourist revenue from the COVID-19 lockdown. This included the first ever Yeomen Warder redundancies. Compulsory redundancies were avoided, but five warders took voluntary redundancy. As of July 2023, the Chief Yeoman Warder
3381-449: The formal status of a royal palace and to mark this a party of twelve Yeomen of the Guard was left in place as a token garrison . The title of this detachment was subsequently changed to that of Tower warders as a more accurate reflection of their duties. As warders without any ceremonial state functions they forfeited the right to wear the scarlet royal livery of the now separate Yeoman of the Guard. This was, however, restored to them during
3450-490: The grouping. However the individual corps were to continue to exist. As in the earlier legislation, a volunteer could resign with fourteen days notice, with the addition that if a commanding officer refused to remove a volunteer from the roll of the corps, then he could appeal to two justices of the peace of the county. An annual inspection by an officer of the regular army was instituted, and efficiency standards were to be set by Order in Council , as were regulations for governing
3519-490: The guards at the Tower were numbered among the extraordinary but in that year were raised to the status of ordinary yeomen. There was a considerable wage difference between the two groups. In 1562, a yeoman of the ordinary received 16d per day, whereas an extraordinary yeoman was paid the same as a common infantryman (4d or 6d). In 1551, the ordinary was expanded to 200 men, of whom 100 were to be archers and 100 halberdiers, but these numbers were not maintained. Uniform at this time
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#17328595874963588-416: The kingdom. When John Flamsteed , the "astronomical observator", complained that the ravens interfered with observatory work, Charles initially ordered them destroyed, but reminded of the legend, the story goes that he decided instead to relocate the Royal Observatory to Greenwich . He decreed that at least six ravens must always remain at the Tower. The presence of captive ravens probably goes back only to
3657-427: The late 19th century. According to one source, a picture of captive ravens from 1883 is the first known reference to the birds. As of 2024, the Yeoman Warder Ravenmaster of the Tower of London is Company Sergeant Major Barney Chandler (a former Royal Marine ), who took over from Colour Sergeant Christopher Skaife (a former Drum Major with the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment ). Skaife will continue as
3726-409: The lord-lieutenant. If disabled on service, officers and volunteers were to receive a pension. Part III dealt with discipline and part IV with the rules and property of the corps. Part V dealt with the process of acquiring land for shooting ranges. Apart from the corps taking ownership of the land, a municipal corporation or private company could grant a licence to the volunteers to use their land for
3795-436: The lord-lieutenant. The Isle of Man was also to dealt with as if it were a county of England, with the Lieutenant-Governor performing the same role as a county lord-lieutenant. In 1872, under the provisions of the Regulation of the Forces Act 1871, jurisdiction over the volunteers was removed from the county lord-lieutenants and placed under the Secretary of State for War . Volunteer units became increasingly integrated with
3864-401: The new King Henry VII , the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty . The Tudor rose , a heraldic badge of the dynasty, is part of the badge of the Yeomen Warders to this day. Founded after the Battle of Bosworth , it is the UK's oldest existing military corps and the oldest of the royal bodyguards. In 1509, Henry VIII moved his official residence from the Tower of London . The Tower retained
3933-438: The part-time Reserve Forces , which had at various times included the Honourable Artillery Company , Militia Force (also referred to as the Constitutional Force , and originally an infantry force), the Yeomanry Force (made up of mounted units, organised similarly to the Volunteer Force), Volunteer Force , and Fencibles . Equivalents were also raised in the Crown Dependencies and many colonies. Known collectively as
4002-446: The purpose. Justices of the peace were given the power to close rights of way adjacent to ranges. The Act concluded by defining the counties to which the corps were to belong: for the purposes of the Act the Isle of Wight , the Tower Hamlets and the Cinque Ports were separate counties, with the Governor of the Isle of Wight, the Constable of the Tower of London and the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports commissioning officers in place of
4071-410: The recommendations of the commission, and to replace the 1804 legislation, the Volunteer Act 1863 ( 26 & 27 Vict. c. 65) was passed. Part I of the Act dealt with the organisation of the Volunteer Force. It became lawful for "Her Majesty to accept the services of persons desiring to be formed under the Act into a Volunteer Corps, and offering their services to Her Majesty through the Lieutenant of
4140-438: The reign of Edward VI (1547–1553), reportedly at the request of a high court official who had been briefly imprisoned in the Tower and was impressed by the behaviour of the warders. The original Tudor guard was split into two categories: the ordinary (i.e., permanent) guard and the additional troops of the extraordinary. In 1550, for example, the ordinary mustered 105 men, with an additional 300 extraordinary yeomen. Until 1549,
4209-416: The rifle corps subsequently formed volunteer medical detachments affiliated to the Army Medical Corps . In a handful of counties, units of light horse or mounted rifles were formed. Two volunteer units whose services had been accepted by Queen Victoria during the early 1850s became the two senior rifle corps of the new force. These were the Exeter and South Devon Volunteers , formed in 1852, who became
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#17328595874964278-423: The shortfall of soldiers in the Regular Army . The situation had been complicated by the fact that both auxiliary forces were under the control of the Home Office until 1855. Tensions rose between the United Kingdom and France following the Orsini affair , an assassination attempt on Emperor Napoleon III on 14 January 1858. It emerged that the would-be assassin, Felice Orsini had travelled to England to have
4347-457: The time, as bef or beffy . While this is the most-cited etymology, including by the Corps themselves, some etymologists have noted the term's similarity to hláf-æta , the Old English term for a menial servant, lit. "loaf-eater", the counterpart of hlaford "loaf-warden" and hlæfdige , which became " lord " and " lady " respectively. Claims that the name derives from buffetier (an Old French term meaning "a waiter or servant" at
4416-405: The top of the buildings. One of the birds, Merlina, was allowed to fly to the wharf on the Thames but she always returned due to the bonding with her keeper. During Skaife's tenure to date, only one raven, Munin, escaped but was captured by a member of the public. The Ravenmaster releases the birds from their cages and prepares breakfast for them at dawn each day. The warders have commented that
4485-403: The volunteers having to purchase their own rifles and uniforms was felt by some to exclude the lower classes. Unlike regular rifle regiments, the volunteer units had colours often made and presented by the women of the community. These were unauthorised, however, with the Volunteer Regulations stating "Neither Standards nor Colours are to be carried by Corps on parade, as the Volunteer Force
4554-517: Was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reforms in 1881, before forming part of the Territorial Force in 1908. Most of the regiments of the present Army Reserves Infantry , Artillery , Engineers and Signals units are directly descended from Volunteer Force units. Prior to
4623-439: Was a velvet coat trimmed with silver gilt, worn over armour. The Yeomen Warders provided the permanent garrison of the Tower, but the Constable of the Tower could call upon the men of the Tower Hamlets to supplement them when necessary. The Tower Hamlets was an area significantly larger than the modern London Borough of the same name , which owed military service to the Constable in his ex officio role as Lord Lieutenant of
4692-413: Was far from universal, however, with some corps retaining their original names and distinctive dress until 1908. The artillery volunteers were similarly remodelled as reserve formations of the Royal Artillery , eventually being redesignated as Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers) in 1902, while the Engineer Volunteers became Royal Engineers (Volunteers). The volunteers finally saw active service during
4761-465: Was the 1st Northumberland formed at Tynemouth on 2 August 1859. Initially, there were attempts at class distinction with the middle class seeing the formation of rifle units as a contrast with the strict class divide between the officers of the gentry and the other ranks of the working class and farm labourers of the militia and the standing army. Some also compared the initiative, small unit tactics and marksmanship principles of rifle regiments of
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