POLITICAL HISTORY 



the Hamlets apart from the rest of Middlesex. When the militia was 

 reconstituted under George II, in 1757, the number of men appointed to 

 be raised in Middlesex was 1,160 and in the Tower Hamlets i,6oo. 4M 

 At the beginning of the next reign the quota for the county was raised to 

 1,600.*** By this Act separate provision is made for the necessary 

 qualifications of officers in the Tower Hamlets,*" the militia of which re- 

 mained on the same basis as in the time of Charles II, and consisted of 

 two regiments of eight companies each. 466 It was reorganized in 1797, 

 when the number of men to be levied in each parish within the division 

 was fixed. 467 Two regiments were raised as formerly, and it was provided 

 that one or other of these should stay always in the Tower division, 

 whilst the other might be put under the command of such general officers 

 as the king should be pleased to appoint, and might be required to serve 

 at a distance not exceeding twelve miles from London. 468 By 1802 the 

 number of men in the Middlesex Militia had fallen to 338, 469 but six years 

 later, when England was in the stress of the Napoleonic War, the number 

 was raised to 2,O24, 470 and in 1812 to I2,i62, 471 with 4,480 for the 

 Tower Hamlets and liberties of the Tower. 472 



During the revolutionary wars at the close of the eighteenth century, 

 several ' Loyal Associations ' were formed in Middlesex. These were 

 volunteer infantry corps on a small scale, to serve in parishes, and mainly 

 to assist the civil authorities. The earliest of these was the Tottenham 

 Loyal Association, 473 which was formed in 1792, and drilled regularly for 

 three or four years. 474 The ' Hadley and South Mimms Volunteers ' were 

 among the forces reviewed in Hyde Park by George III, on 21 June, 

 I799. 476 The Hampstead Loyal Association was also reviewed on that 

 occasion. It numbered probably 150 men, under the command of Josiah 

 Boydell, esq. 478 



Middlesex also furnished a corps of volunteer cavalry, numbering 

 830 men, 300 of whom were members of the London and Westminster 

 Light Horse Volunteers. Other cavalry corps were raised at Uxbridge, 

 Islington, and Twickenham. 477 The associations were disbanded in 1802 

 after the Peace of Amiens, but when Napoleon threatened invasion in 

 1803, the Defence Act was passed, by which the lords lieutenant were 

 empowered to raise forces in each county. The Hampstead Loyal 

 Volunteer Infantry was then formed, 478 and a force of 108 men was 

 raised in Barnet and district, and three companies were raised by 

 Mr. Nathaniel Haden at Highgate. 479 There also existed at this time a 

 mounted force, raised in Edmonton, Kensington, Baling, and Brentford. 

 These corps were in turn disbanded in 181314. 



465 Stat. 30 Geo. II, cap. 25. ** Stat. 2 Geo. Ill, cap. 20, sect.ij. 



464 Ibid. sect. 41. 4M Stat. 26 Geo. Ill, cap. 107, sect. in. 



467 Stat. 37 Geo. Ill, cap. 25. 468 Ibid. sect. 6. 



469 Stat. 42 Geo. Ill, cap. 90. 4ro Stat. 48 Geo. Ill, cap. 90. 



171 Stat. 52 Geo. Ill, cap. 38, sect. 14, 16. tn Ibid. sect. 169. 



473 Robinson, Hist, of Tottenham, 72-3. 



474 G. T. Evans, Records of the yd Middlesex Rifle Volunteers, 136. 



474 Ibid. 64. 47 Ibid. 36. 477 Ibid. 5. 



478 Ibid. 38. 47> Ibid. 65-7. 48 Ibid. 46. 



59 



480 



