40 JOSIAS CHRISTOPHER GAMBLE 



support which Colonel Gamble gave to it 

 from its inception in 1860. He was one of 

 the most active members of the General 

 Committee, which raised the funds for its first 

 establishment, and which included all the 

 leading men of the district. He was chosen 

 Captain of the first company that was 

 enrolled, and as the regiment grew in strength 

 and thereby became successively entitled to a 

 Major and to a Lieutenant-Colonel, he was 

 promoted to those ranks. By his generosity 

 the excellent drill-hall and parade-ground 

 were provided, and during the seven-and- 

 twenty years that he was commanding officer 

 of the battalion its organisation was perfect. 

 The 47th Lancashire was distinguished for 

 the soldierly bearing of its members on parade, 

 for the admirable commissariat arrangements 

 which drew official notice when a review was 

 held at a distance from home, and in 

 musketry it won not only the highest honours 

 in its county competitions, but also carried 

 off, in the great national contests at Wimble- 

 don, numerous and valuable prizes, on one 

 occasion bearing away the blue ribbon of 

 victory, the Queen's Prize. In yachting 

 circles, too, for many years Colonel Gamble 

 has been a familiar figure, having been 



