Stafford and Dorset Regiments, 1895 (c).

Glass negative, William Gregory and Company, 51 Strand, London, 1895 (c).

This image comes from a collection of glass plate negatives associated with William Gregory and Company. The negatives depict the British Army, including some members of the colonial forces, 'at home' in Britain during the 1890s.

As well as being intimate portraits of soldiers from this era, the images provide detailed illustrations of uniforms worn during the high point of military tailoring.

The soldiers are wearing field day order, consisting of scarlet tunics with white facings (collars and cuffs), and dark blue overalls tucked into boots with gaiters attached. They wear glengarry caps with regimental insignia Both regiments look very similar but the Staffordshire knot can be seen on the collars of some of the men, including the Corporal who stands on the right hand side of the equipment, smoking a pipe.

The soldier standing second from the left is in the Dorsetshire Regiment. His collar badges, although indistinct, are a sphinx. He wears the 1888 Slade Wallace equipment with ammunition pouches visible at the front, as well as a haversack on his left hip. They have made several pyramid-shaped structures using their rifles to hang their white leather Slade Wallace equipment from. Kit bags support the structures from below. Behind them are some wooden huts, and a few children can also be seen amongst them.

One of a collection of 280 glass negatives, associated with William Gregory and Company, London, and Francis Godolphin Osborne Stuart (1843-1923), 1892 (c)-1900.