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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: Terrier70 on Tuesday 28 February 23 12:40 GMT (UK)
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I'm interested to discover who and where the people in this photo are and if they would be connected in anyway to my husband’s ggg uncle, William Barnfather, and the time he spent out in India? William (born 1818 in Alnwick, Northumberland) worked for the Department of Public Works between 1858-1880 as an Executive Engineer in Bengal.
The photo is from a very old family album and I only have a photocopy of it so sorry about the quality.
Any help much appreciated.
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I really can't help in any detail other then some general observations. The photo is clearly either from the second half of the nineteenth century (which would fit with the time your husband's great x3 uncle was in India) or possibly the turn of the century. These are relatively senior officers*, possibly in the Bengal Army. You can tell this from the amount of gold braid or lace on their sleeves and the fact that they are wearing trousers with shoes and not jodhpurs and riding boots. As this is not a formal studio photograph, perhaps it was some great ceremonial occasion such as the Delhi Durbar of 1877 to mark the proclamation of Queen Victoria as Empress of India, or possibly the Durbar of 1903 to mark the accession of Edward VII. I am almost certain the key to identifying the men, and possibly the date, will lie in the turbans they are wearing.
* senior by Indian standards pre-Independence, meaning probably no more than Majors.
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Many thanks for your reply Andy, very helpful.
As you suggested I’ve been trying to identify the turban and wonder if the Poona Horse regiment might be a possibility, it looks very similar to me. (Alamy.com - The Poona Horse)
Would they wear trousers and shoes?
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Do you think this uniform is similar?
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Reverse of the above card.
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This might help identify the helmet / head gear
http://www.militarysunhelmets.com/2013/turbans-of-the-indian-army
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I think we are looking at cavalrymen as they have sabretaches and spurs. Agreed they are senior officers and their dress suggests the late Victorian or Edwardian period.
Hopefully somebody can identify the turban which will represent their particular regiment.
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Many thanks for your replies and information.
Neale1961 I agree the uniform is similar but not sure that the Scinde Horse turban is a match as the stripes on the turbans on the photo appear to be of equal width. I think the Poona horse turban is more of a match but the braid on the sleeves is different. As MaecW says hopefully someone reading this will know.
MaecW Thanks for pointing out the spurs, I hadn’t noticed them on the photo and I was wondering what the bag was so thanks for that.