NORTHAMPTONSHIRE IMPERIAL YEOMANRY HELMET, New to My Collection

[Yeohelmetguy]

Hello to all,

I am very excited to share with the Forum members the latest addition to my British Army dragoon helmet collection. I had the very good luck to acquire an extremely rare dragoon helmet (less than 30 of these helmets were made) attributed to an officer of the NORTHAMPTONSHIRE IMPERIAL YEOMANRY. This is a helmet that I have looked for over a period of some twenty plus years and one presented itself a couple of weeks ago… and the rest is history, it now resides in my collection.

The Northamptonshire Yeomanry has a history that can be traced back to the Napoleonic Wars. Over the life span of its existence there were a number of disbanding of the regiment only then to be reconstituted again. For the purposes of this helmet the Northamptonshire Yeomanry was reconstituted circa 1900/1901 and taken into the newly formed Imperial Yeomanry in 1902 and titled the NORTHAMPTONSHIRE IMPERIAL YEOMANRY. The regiment had on its rolls 26 officers who took this helmet into wear with their modified full-dress uniform. This helmet was introduced at the same time the British Army was slowly transitioning away from full dress uniforms beginning about the time of the First Boer War and having all but disappeared several years prior to World War One, full dress being replaced by “Blue Patrols” and khaki service dress. There were less than 30 officers dragoon helmets produced for the regiment, the other ranks did not wear the dragoon helmet in full-dress, and none were ever produced.

The helmet, worn from 1902 to mid-1908, the years the Imperial Yeomanry was in existence, is silver plate with fitting being either gilt or gilding metal. The cornflower blue over white hanging horsehair plume was distinctive among both yeomanry and regular line cavalry regiments and was unique the NORTHAMPTONSHIRE (IMPERIAL) YEOMANRY. The title of the regiment was changed to the NORTHAMPTONSHIRE YEOMANRY in 1908 with the demise of the Imperial Yeomanry and the regiments that made it up transferred to the newly created “Territorial Force” and the helmet removed from wear.

Please enjoy the pictures of this extremely rare and unique helmets!

Cheers to all,

David

 

[stuka f]

Very nice !

 

[Yeohelmetguy]

Very nice !

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I am thrilled to have this helmet in my collection... appreciate your comment!!!

Cheers,

David

 

[stuka f]

I like them very much.
Just know nothing about them.
Allways glad to see your collection growing and reading about them.

Just aquired a third (sadly incomplete,....again....)British spike helmet for my collection.
I am using the sellers pic, I will have it on friday.

 

[Yeohelmetguy]

I like them very much.
Just know nothing about them.
Allways glad to see your collection growing and reading about them.

Just aquired a third (sadly incomplete,....again....)British spike helmet for my collection.
I am using the sellers pic, I will have it on friday.

That is indeed a very nice helmet... If I am correct, it looks like you have just acquired an 1847/48 Albert pattern officer's helmet to the Queen's Own Royal (Staffordshire) Yeomanry... japanned black helmet skull with silver fittings and helmet plate and a gilt perforated title scroll to the center of the helmet plate. In the event you don't know, the chin chain which appears to be absent from your helmet should also be silver metal lined with black leather and then covered in black velvet, one inch wide. The plume was also of Albert pattern, black horsehair with a black hairbrush worn from 1860 to 1870. The plume was changed to white horsehair with a white hairbrush and worn from 1870 to 1873. the black pattern plume had a unique finial at the top shaped like an acorn... often missing from original plumes or replaced with a rose pattern in silver metal... and the correct Albert pattern plumes, both black and white, are extremely difficult to find. I will look forward to seeing your pictures of this helmet when it arrives and the other two British helmets you have in your collection. I have two trooper's helmets to the Queen's Own Royal (Staffordshire) Yeomanry in my collection... minor differences between the two...

Cheers,

David

 

[Bobted]

I love the Northamptonshire helmet the plume is very appealing. Congratulations on your new addition. Rob

 

[Yeohelmetguy]

I love the Northamptonshire helmet the plume is very appealing. Congratulations on your new addition. Rob

Hi Rob!

THANK YOU, A BUNCH!!! I appreciate it, all modesty aside, I think it is gorgeous helmet too... and I agree, the unique cornflower blue over white plume for this particular regiment really sets this helmet apart from the multitude of other regiments helmets. You have to see it in person... again, thank you for looking at this post and your gracious comment!

Cheers,

David

 

[JzPf]

David, another gorgeous helmet, congrats! This may be the first one you’ve displayed with a blue over white plume? Such a rare helmet, worth the 20 year wait!
Cheers,
Dennis

 

[Jeff R]

Oh that's an especially beautiful addition to your already impressive collection David - congrats!

 

[Yeohelmetguy]

David, another gorgeous helmet, congrats! This may be the first one you’ve displayed with a blue over white plume? Such a rare helmet, worth the 20 year wait!
Cheers,
Dennis

Hi Dennis,

Thank you!!! I it's indeed a beautiful helmet... I feel so luck that it was made available for me to acquire and display in my collection... and very much, yes well worth the wait!! You are very observant, the vast majority of the British line cavalry regiments and yeomanry regiments displayed either red, white or black plumes or a two-color combination of those three colors. There was just a hand full of regiments that deviated from that norm... The Norfolk (Imperial) Yeomanry worn a black leather helmet with an all-yellow horsehair plume, The Sussex Yeomanry wore a silver metal helmet that displayed a yellow over dark blue horsehair plume... there were only four made for the officer contingent to wear at Edward VII's coronation, two are known to exist today and then this Northamptonshire Imperial Yeomanry helmet with its unique cornflower blue over white horsehair plume... again, one of no more than perhaps 26 helmets made.

Again, thank for taking time to look at this post and then kindly comment!!

Cheers,

David

 

[Yeohelmetguy]

Oh that's an especially beautiful addition to your already impressive collection David - congrats!

Hi Jeff,

THANK YOU, so much very generous remarks, not just about this helmet, but my collection in its entirety!!! I am so pleased you like this particular helmet... it is so incredibly unique among British dragoon helmets and I'm thrilled to have now in my collection. Again, thanks for viewing this post and making such kind comments...

Cheers,

David

 

[John Josef]

Hi David,

That's an absolute stunner, Congratulations

Being half Bavarian I find the Blue and White plume especially beautiful, maybe it's just me seeing the world though my Bavarian view but is that a Pretzel in the center of the Helmet plates of the other two beauties pictured above? best regards John Josef

 

[Yeohelmetguy]

Hi David,

That's an absolute stunner, Congratulations

Being half Bavarian I find the Blue and White plume especially beautiful, maybe it's just me seeing the world though my Bavarian view but is that a Pretzel in the center of the Helmet plates of the other two beauties pictured above? best regards John Josef

Hi John Josef,

Thank you for your very enthusiastically positive comment regarding my Northamptonshire Imperial Yeomanry helmet... wish you could see it in person, all modesty aside, it is magnificent helmet in every regard and am so pleased to have it as part of my collection! That is a clever observation on your part... the cornflower blue and white plume on the Northamptonshire helmet is very reminiscent of the traditional national colors of Bavaria. It is interesting that there are a number of instances where German iconography figures in British military badges, but that might be the subject of a different post for another time.

No, that is not a pretzel to the center of the helmet plates of the Queen's Own Royal Staffordshire Yeomanry helmets (the black helmets), though it does resemble one. It is a Staffordshire Knot or Stafford Knot, a distinctive three-looped rope knot that is the traditional symbol of the English county of Staffordshire and of its county town, Stafford. It is a particular representation of the simple overhand knot.

Again, thank you for your kind comments and continued interest in my collection!

Cheers,

David

 

[John Josef]

Hi David,

Thanks for the detailed reply, it's very informative and much appreciated. I've no doubt in person your Northamptonshire Imperial Yeomanry helmet is even more beautiful if that's possible. Would you happen to have a picture of the complete uniform? I'm really curious to see what it would look like. Sorry about my ignorance regarding the three-looped rope knot. Cheers John Josef

 

[Yeohelmetguy]

Hi David,

Thanks for the detailed reply, it's very informative and much appreciated. I've no doubt in person your Northamptonshire Imperial Yeomanry helmet is even more beautiful if that's possible. Would you happen to have a picture of the complete uniform? I'm really curious to see what it would look like. Sorry about my ignorance regarding the three-looped rope knot. Cheers John Josef

Hi John Josef,

You are welcome, always glad to help and shed some light on unfamiliar areas of interest. Pictures of this regiments' full-dress uniform are very few and far between... really hard to find in part because they were short lived and by this point (1902-1908) the British army was well underway moving away from full dress transitioning to the more familiar khaki service dress in the lead-up to the first world war. I do have a couple of pictures in my digital library however, one is a photograph of an actual officer's full-dress tunic, and the other picture is a watercolor painting by the contemporary artis E. A. Campbell showing any officer in full-dress... the artist has reversed/inverted the order of the colors in the plume on the helmet... the plume should be as show on my helmet, cornflower blue over white and as defined in regimental orders, not white over blue as the arts shows it...

Cheers,

David

 

[John Josef]

Brilliant mate, thanks a million.

The embroidery on that tunic is incredible.
Cheers John Josef

 

[Yeohelmetguy]

Brilliant mate, thanks a million.

The embroidery on that tunic is incredible.
Cheers John Josef

... absolutely... ALWAYS glad to help!!! The cuff lace is so intricate, and the shoulder knots are lovely... they both follow a pattern pretty standard throughout the army and if you followed some of my posts regarding infantry officers home service helmet plates, the same rule that governs those plates applies to the cuff and collar lace, shoulder knots or boards and buttons on officers uniforms... gold for regular army officers, silver for volunteers and yeomanry and black for rifle regiments/corps with some exceptions. And just as an aside, these tunics are fairly heavy due to the bullion braid/lace and all the quilting and padding in the body of the garment...

Cheers,

David