A HISTORY OF NORFOLK 



I 20 men of the Norfolk regiment and a few of the Lincoln was a creditable 

 episode of garrison duty.^ 



On the radical army reorganization of 1881, the regiment was directed 

 to bear the style of the Norfolk Regiment instead of the East Norfolk. The 

 present facings are yellow in accordance with the precedent of the eighteenth 

 century.' 



The third and fourth battalions of the Norfolk Regiment are formed 

 from the Norfolk miUtia. Incidental reference has already been made to the 

 county militia, but a few facts may be added here.^ In 1697 the infantry 

 numbered 4,532 divided into the Blue Regiment (Colonel Sir Jacob Astley, 

 bart.), the Yellow Regiment (Colonel Robert Walpole), the Purple Regiment 

 (Colonel Edmund Wodehouse), the White Regiment (Colonel Sir Richard 

 Berney), each comprising seven companies, while Norwich, Yarmouth, and 

 Lynn furnished further contingents of six, four and two companies respec- 

 tively. Six troops of horse mustered 335 strong, bringing the county 

 establishment up to very nearly 5,000 men. 



As the necessity for a standing army was gradually though reluctantly 

 .accepted by the nation, the old constitutional force suffered neglect, but 

 during the Seven Years' War, when every linesman that could be spared was 

 employed abroad, the government determined to call out and reorganize the 

 militia. In 1758 the Act for the better regulating of the militia passed in 

 the previous year was first put into execution, and the quota fixed for 

 Norfolk was 960 men, of which Norwich furnished 151. On 21 June, 

 1759, the First or West Norfolk Regiment was commanded by Colonel the 

 Right Honourable George Townshend, and the Second or East Norfolk 

 Regiment by Sir Armine Wodehouse, bart. Soon after this George II 

 ordered that every mark of his favour should be shown to the Norfolk 

 militia as ' being the first which offered to march wherever they might be 

 most serviceable to the public defence.' Furthermore, when passing the 

 Norfolk men in review His Majesty called Lord Orford from the head of 

 the regiment and was graciously pleased to inquire of him the names of the 

 individual officers as they marched past, ' and on their paying the military 

 salute His Majesty condescended to pull off" his hat to every officer.' In 

 1796 an Act was passed authorizing the raising of supplementary militia by 

 ballot, partly for the purpose of feeding the regular, or as they were often 

 styled from their frequent embodiments the marching militia, and partly for 

 local defence. In Norfolk four such regiments were raised. The behaviour 

 of the Norfolk Militia at its various garrisons was most favourably mentioned, 

 and in 1802 on the disembodiment of the East Norfolk Militia, accord- 

 ing to a statement of the Ipswich 'Journal (i May, 1 802), ' In a few hours after 

 the men had delivered up their arms and accoutrements, they were observed 

 in perfect sobriety taking the roads that led to their respective families,' 

 although it was the day of the fair, so that ' scarce a single soldier of this 

 respectable corps was to be seen in the street on the evening of Friday.' 



In 1808 local militia were raised in Norfolk and in other parts of 

 the country, while great numbers of the volunteers transferred their services 

 to the newly raised corps. The May of the next year witnessed the first 



' Rudolf, op. cit. 93. ' See Official Army List, Oct. 1905. 



* These are m-iinly derived from Sir C. Harvey's Hist, of the Fourth Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment. 



526 



