Silver trophy cup for Proficiency in Sword Exercise, awarded to Sergeant Smith Howlett Rowley, D Troop, Duke of Manchester's Light Horse, 1878

Silver cup with the inscription, 'Duke of Manchesters Light Horse Volunteers Prize for Proficiency in Sword Exercise Presented by the Duchess of Manchester Given by Lieutenant Linton Won by Serjeant Smith h. Rowley D Troop Newmarket May 30th 1878'.

The 1st Huntingdonshire (Duke of Manchester's Own) Mounted Rifle Volunteer Corps was raised at the end of 1859 by William Drogo Montagu, 7th Duke of Manchester. In January 1861 it was renamed the 1st Huntingdonshire (Duke of Manchester's Own) Light Horse Volunteer Corps. Members of the unit were drawn from the land-owning classes and county elite, paid an annual subscription and had to purchase their own uniforms, equipment and horses. The unit was disbanded in 1882.

Smith Rowley, a wealthy Cambridgeshire farmer, and his brother, William Taylor Rowley, served with 'D' (Cambridge) Troop.

German-born Luise Friederike Auguste, Countess von Alten (1832-1911) became the Duchess of Manchester in 1852. After the death of her husband she married the Duke of Devonshire, thereby gaining the nickname, the 'Double Duchess'.

From a collection of regimental militaria associated with Sergeant Smith H Rowley of Histon, Cambridgeshire.