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PANEL 2: Horses and Hunting – the revival of the Surrey Yeomanry

Horses and Hunting – the revival of the Surrey Yeomanry

The revival of a mounted regiment for the county was proposed by Viscount Midleton, Lord Lieutenant of Surrey and Secretary of State for War, in 1900. At the time troops were being recruited to fight in southern Africa where Britain was attempting to bring two Boer republics under British control by force following the discovery of gold on Boer land. The war was extremely popular with the British public.

The Surrey (Princess of Wales’ Lancers) Imperial Yeomanry was raised the following year by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Cubitt, son of Lord Ashcombe of Denbies. The regiment’s first annual training camp was held in the grounds of Denbies on 31 July 1901 under Cubitt’s command.

Once again the regiment’s headquarters were in Clapham. The new unit’s uniform was based on that of the Australian New South Wales Lancers whose style had been much admired when they paraded at Queen Victoria’s funeral. When George V came to the throne in 1910 the regiment was renamed Queen Mary’s after the new Queen. It was the first regiment to be armed only with the magazine rifle, the first to undergo annual training on Government horses and the first to adopt a light colonial saddle.

Volunteers to the Yeomanry underwent a stringent riding test. Its officers were drawn from well-to-do county families like the Cubitts whose members hunted together with the Surrey Union Hunt, their horses and dogs transported around the countryside to pursue foxes at the request of local livestock owners. When war broke out in 1914 the government encouraged the hunt to continue in order to maintain horse stocks but the Surrey Union struggled as its officers and horses were commandeered for war service.

Henry Cubitt was Lord Lieutenant of Surrey in 1914. He led local recruitment efforts, giving speeches on market days and promising preferential treatment for those who served once the war was won. In 1917 he inherited his father’s title and became the 2nd Lord Ashcombe. He lost his three eldest sons to the war. © Dorking Museum
Surrey Yeomanry dress uniform, 1911 by PH Smitherman. © Dorking Museum
Mounted yeomanry units were renowned for their flamboyant dress uniforms but after the Boer War they were encouraged to adopt khaki. © Dorking Museum
Surrey Yeomanry uniform button © Dorking Museum
Denbies, the mansion of Henry Cubitt’s father, Lord Ashcombe, provided the reformed Surrey Yeomanry’s first training ground. © Dorking Museum
Henry Cubitt inspects the local Red Cross unit in the grounds of Denbies in 1913. © Dorking Museum
Surrey Imperial Yeomanry metal cap badge. The symbol is the crest of Lord Midleton who was honorary colonel of the regiment on its formation. © Dorking Museum
Captain Sydney Thornhill Hankey was the regiment’s adjutant on its reformation. Related to the Hankey family of Fetcham Park who were keen members of the Surrey Union Hunt, he was seconded from the Life Guards. © Dorking Museum
Officers of the Surrey Yeomanry featured in the Navy and Army Illustrated in 1902. The paper reported that the officers were drawn from some of the ‘best’ county families. Included in the photograph are representatives of the Brays of Shere, the Barclays of Bury Hill, the Gordon-Clarks of Mickleham Hall and the Cubitts of Denbies. © Dorking Museum
Meet card for the Surrey Union hunt. The hunt was an expensive undertaking for the local gentry. Not only had dogs to be kennelled and horses stabled, the hunt was often transported by special train. © Dorking Museum
A trumpeter at the first training camp at Denbies. © Dorking Museum

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