Richard William CAMPBELL, b1854 Derbyshire, local militia?

[vonpurdy]

Hello to all,

Working from information from my great aunt of several years ago, she told me that the Campbell family lived at Hardwick Mount, Buxton, Derbyshire and that the son of the family, Richard William Campbell, (1854-1885) was in the army and used to drill his men in the kitchen of the large house in which they lived. I think this is not the regular army, but I'm wondering if there might have been army cadets, local militia, or something of that kind in the time period in Buxton? I would also love to know if there might be any existing records remaining. I have also posted this message to the Derbysgen rootsweb list, and very much hope to find some information.

Thank you in advance for any help.

Kind regards, Yvonne Purdy

[FROGSMILE]

Hello to all,

Working from information from my great aunt of several years ago, she told me that the Campbell family lived at Hardwick Mount, Buxton, Derbyshire and that the son of the family, Richard William Campbell, (1854-1885) was in the army and used to drill his men in the kitchen of the large house in which they lived. I think this is not the regular army, but I'm wondering if there might have been army cadets, local militia, or something of that kind in the time period in Buxton? I would also love to know if there might be any existing records remaining. I have also posted this message to the Derbysgen rootsweb list, and very much hope to find some information.

Thank you in advance for any help.

Kind regards, Yvonne Purdy

The unit concerned might well be the 6th Buxton Rifle Volunteer Corps, which was absorbed into the 3rd Administrative Battalion, Derbyshire Rifle Volunteers, whose H.Q. was located in Bakewell, Derby.

The 3rd Admin Bn, was made up of the following Corps in 1860:

3rd Chesterfield
6th High Peak (aka "Buxton")
7th High Peak (Chapel-en-le-Frith)
9th High Peak (Bakewell)
11th Matlock
17th Clay Cross
18th Whaley Bridge
21st Hartington
22nd Staveley

The following were added in 1869:

8th Ashbourne
10th Wirksworth

From 1881 there was no longer a company drilling in Buxton itself and the unit had moved to a larger town nearby. The companies were dispersed as follows:

1880 3rd Admin Battalion retitled as the 2nd Derbyshire Rifle Volunteer Corps (10 Companies)

A Coy (Chesterfield)
B Coy (Chapel-en-le-Frith)
C Coy (Ashbourne)
D Coy (Bakewell)
E Coy (Wirksworth)
F Coy (Matlock Bridge)
G Coy (Clay Cross)
H Coy (Whaley Bridge)
I Coy (Hartington)
K Coy (Staveley)

These were part-time soldiers and after 1881 they became a volunteer battalion of the Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire) Regiment, which later still became the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby) Regiment. After 1908 almost all of the volunteer units became absorbed by the Territorial Force (later the Territorial Army).

[vonpurdy]

Hello Frogsmile,

Thank you so very much for your reply, and the pictures you posted. I really appreciate your help.

With my kind regards,
Yvonne Purdy

[FROGSMILE]

Hello Frogsmile,

Thank you so very much for your reply, and the pictures you posted. I really appreciate your help.

With my kind regards,
Yvonne Purdy

It's my pleasure Yvonne and a joint effort. Some of the info is from forum member Graham Stewart and some from my research library.

[crimea1854]

If it is the Derbyshire Rifles, and you can get to the National Archives, you could consult WO 13/4622, which is their Muster Books and Pay Lists for the period 1873-1878.

Martin