The 1st Administrative Battalion of the Norfolk Volunteers at Gunton Park, 1864

Oil on canvas by Claude Lorraine Nursey (1820-1873), 1864.

Administrative battalions were formed mainly in rural areas, to provide Staff and headquarters facilities for widely scattered Volunteer units. This particular unit was formed in 1861, and in 1883 became the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, the Norfolk Regiment.

The painting depicts the battalion encamped at Gunton Park in Norfolk, the commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Suffield's family seat. The tradition of the military group portrait can be traced back at least as far as Rembrandt's 'Night Watch' (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), and seems to have been especially popular with volunteers.