Does anyone recogonize this uniform?

[tgit_1]

This is a photo of Patrick Flannery that I found in my late grandmother's things.  I do not know if it is her brother Patrick Flannery Jr (b in 1913) who served in what I think was WW2 or his father Patrick Flannery Sr (b in 1863 in India) who also served for the British Army.  What do the strips on the sleeves mean and the numbers on the collar?  Ir perhaps this may be Patrick Flannery Sr's father John Flannery who served in the British Army in India in the mid 1870's?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[MaecW]

Hi tgit,

Undoubtedly the father.
The three stripes usually mean the rank of Sergeant and he has service medals, so must have been in the military at some time, but the numbering on the collar suggests this may be a police uniform.
Unfortunately I can't get a clear view of the cap-badge.
Do you have any information from any of the later censuses that might give a clue ?

Maec

[ShaunJ]

Corps of Commissionaires.

See http://www.soldiersofthequeen.com/OldSoldiers-CorpsofCommissionairesSergeant.html

[MaecW]

Well done Shaun, I had forgotten them.
I'm picking the photo as taken a few years either side of 1900, which tends to suggest this would be Patrick snr rather than his father. Do you agree ?

Maec

[ShaunJ]

I think it's a bit older than that:  1880's-1890's perhaps

[veeblevort]

Maybe the Corps of Commissionaires (now trading as Corps Security)
can help you. They have a record repository (according to a National
Archives website page dated 2010), contact details here:

http://www.rootschat.com/links/0tnv/

vv.

[Rena]

When I left school my first job in the 1950s was as junior receptionist for a large engineering company and my immediate superior was addressed as "Sergeant" who wore a similar uniform to that in your photo.  At the time my father explained that he was an army veteran and was a member of the Corps of Commissionaires

P.S. I'm no expert on medals but the one on the left with all those bars looks like one which was on Antique Roadshow and was earned in various battles in South Africa. here's a similar one:
http://www.liverpoolmedals.com/Queen-s-South-Africa-J1161.html

[ShaunJ]

There's an archivist you can contact at the Corps: http://www.corpsmonitoring.co.uk/news/pdfs/ArchiveSearch.pdf

I reckon the collar number is 2397

[apwright]

The medals are the Queen's South Africa Medal with 5 clasps and the King's SA Medal with 2, both from the Boer War. The third looks like the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.
There's a service record on FindMyPast for one Patrick Flannery, born c.1863 in the East Indies (i.e. India), who served with the Royal Fusiliers from 1882 to 1907, including 3 years in the Boer War. He too received the QSA with 5 clasps (Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith) and the KSA with both (1901, 1902), and the LSGC medal. His record gives his next of kin as a brother Edward in Toronto, a sister Julia in New Hampshire USA, and it states that he married Maud Eldridge in Hounslow on 19/10/1890. Is this your relative??

Adrian