Dear Maureen: As you had done earlier you have been prompt with many a helpful suggestion. Indeed the Royal Volunteers came to be called the 85th Regiment and also the first Light Infantry of the British Army. In keeping with this thought I did contact the Curator of the Regimental Centre at Shrewsbury,Shropshire who replied to say that they did not possess any of the details that I had asked for. She also was not able to tell me what the colours of the regiment were. On an off chance I have also written to the new StChad's church ,Shrewsbury,pastorate as to whether they had any detail of the function.I have not had a reply . What had been bothering me was the time lag between the publication of induction and presentation of colours at the "old" St Chad' church. The induction as per the newspaper was 7 Aug 1759 the date of the colours being presented at the St Chad's Church at Shrewsbury was 21 Dec 1759. The regiment was not trained in the art of being a Light Regiment and found itself in Portugal. While the explanation you have given is possible,what makes me wonder is the fact that Lt James Stewart joined as a Lieutenant and not as an Ensign,the latter,would be in keeping with the purchase of a position.As you have suggested he may have come with previous experience and could have been used for recruitment.It would also mean that either James Stewart already had no army experience and that he could purchase his position, since the regiment he was joining was a" Volunteer" regiment and a certain laxity was permissible in his case and and a direct recruitment to the rank of Lieutenant made. The last reference that you gave was interesting. I found one reference to the List of Officers of the Bombay army (as of a later date). indicating a Lt General James Hartley Commander of the troops and member of the Commission on Malabar and Poona. He is stated to have joined the 75th Highland Regiment on Oct 24 1787 and been elevated to the rank of Lt General on 3 May 1796. He is also stated to be a King's Officer.You may well wonder at my interest in James Hartley. I have read that a James Hartley was in the advance party sent before the main British contingent that was sent out from Bombay to capture the seat of the Peshwas. He was also a Captain. Since James Hartley was a King's officer,could not James Stewart also have been a King's officer too and is it not be possible that he also possibly belonged to 75th Highland Regiment ? I do not know whether this Regiment was in India at that time or whether these officers were ceded from the King's Army to the HEICo. I do know that James Hartley was promoted to Lt Colonel immediately after the failed a attempt at Poona Once again I have so many questions which you may find irksome but then I don't have any one else to turn to. Thank you for your time and with regards Yours sincerely John this period of about 6 months could have been used for some kind of formal training. On Friday, June 5, 2015, Maureen Evers via <india@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > Hello List > > > > John, it appears the Royal Volunteers was called the 85th Regiment of > Foot > > > http://www.shropshireregimentalmuseum.co.uk/regimental-history/shropshire-light-infantry/85th-regiment/ > or http://tinyurl.com/ptx5ag9 . Perhaps the Shropshire Regimental Museum > may be able to help you in some way. > > > > There is also a catalogue entry for a record at the National Archives Kew > > WO 17/206. 1759 Dec to 1762 Dec: Colonel Craufurd's Regiment of Royal > Volunteers; colonel: John Craufurd. > http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C601083 > > > > I once saw a TV documentary about an officer, probably in a time before > the 1750s. Before he could take up his duties as an officer, he was > responsible for recruiting the men who were to serve under him, and as I > (vaguely) recall, this took quite a period of time, perhaps a year. Even if > Lt Stewart was not directly responsible for recruiting, the reciting > processor a new company may have taken a period of time. > > > > If you look on the FIBIS Fibiwiki page British Army, there is an > external link called "The system of purchase and sale of commissions in the > British Army and the campaign for its abolition 1660 - 1871" by Anthony > Peter Charles Bruce. which is an online PhD Thesis, which may answer your > question about the purchased commission > > > > http://wiki.fibis.org/index.php/British_Army#Other > > > > Cheers > > Maureen > > > > On 04/06/2015, at 10:37 PM, John A.Thomas via <india@rootsweb.com > <javascript:;>> wrote: > > > >> I am working on Lt James Stewart who was inducted into the Royal > Volunteers > >> and later joined the Bombay Army and was killed on 04 Jan 1779 at > Karla > >> Bombay Presidency fighting the Maharratas in the First Anglo Maharrata > >> War…………………………….. > > > >> John A. Thomas > >> > >> > >> > >> > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > INDIA-request@rootsweb.com <javascript:;> with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- John John A.Thomas Dr. John A.Thomas,MD,FRCPath, FAMS