Chester-le-Street Volunteer Infantry shoulder belt plate, British (1803)

Title	Chester-le-Street Volunteer Infantry shoulder belt plate
Nationality	British
Period	1803

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This plate is engraved with the coronet and crest of the Earls of Scarborough above the initials CVI, all within a border with the family motto 'Murus Aereus Conscientia Sana' and the date 1803, which commemorates the raising of the Chester-le-Street Volunteer Infantry in this year.

The Lumleys (the family name of the Earls of Scarborough) had their seats at Sandbeck Castle in Yorkshire and Lumley Castle in Co. Durham, and therefore this is a Co. Durham volunteer unit.

In approximately 1810, most of these volunteer units were amalgamated into units of the Local Militia. The purpose of the volunteers was to raise local defence for England after the Peace of Amiens was abrogated by Napoleon in 1803 with his seizure of Malta. There were literally thousands of these small volunteer units, cavalry and infantry, scattered throughout Great Britain.

On the reverse of the plate, which is made of cast and polished brass and is finely engraved in the style of the period, there is what appears to be an 'F' rather crudely engraved under the hook, probably for F Company of the unit.

The condition is excellent, apart from some minor abrasions to the motto.

If you want to comment on this item—re quality, age, etc—please email me.

[Militaria : Badges : British : 19th Century]

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