'A Life Guard', 1829

Coloured aquatint by and after William Heath, 1829. Published by Thomas McLean, 1829.

A trooper of the Life Guards wearing helmet and breastplate, armed with a carbine and a sword, on sentry duty.

The Life Guards are the senior regiment of the British Army. The unit traces its origins back to 1660 when four troops of horse guards were raised by King Charles II around the time of his restoration. Both the 1st and 2nd Life Guards were part of The Household Brigade during the Waterloo campaign of 1815. This was their last active service until the 1880s. However, the mid-19th century saw them engaged in maintaining public order in London.