'East Devon', East Devon Militia, 1780 (c)

Etching from a bound volume, 'The Militia Man', containing 69 outline watercolours depicting uniforms of Militia Regiments, inscribed on the flyleaf, 'John Osborn Lt-Col of the Bedforshire Regt 1st January 1780'.

Uniform study of a soldier of the East Devon Militia, with dark yellow facings, 1780 (c).

The Militia Act of 1757 transformed part-time militia into a better-trained and better-equipped national force, organised by county.

Sir John Osborn (1743-1814) was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel of the Bedfordshire Militia on 29 November 1779, and apparently acquired this work soon after. This was at a time when the ongoing war with America, in which his brother George fought, reinforced the importance of the Militia as an institution in Britain.