MILITARY HISTORY 



Reigate sixty-eight described as 'gentlemen' gave in their names as 

 privates. In June a meeting was held in Guildford. It was proposed 

 by Mr. Henry Drummond, M.P., and seconded by Mr. Guildford 

 Onslow, that a corps be formed, and the motion was carried with 

 enthusiasm. Mr. Martin F. Tapper took a prominent part in the com- 

 mittee which arranged this meeting. 



There were the usual prophecies of failure by one party in the 

 local press. It was gravely urged too that it was dangerous to distribute 

 weapons * which would kill at half-a-mile ' ; and it was said the donkeys 

 on the commons and harmless passengers would be shot by the dozen. 

 But only at Kingston did any real hitch occur. The proposal to start a 

 corps was made there in May, but in July the effort was abandoned for 

 want of support. Ultimately however, lo March i860, a Kingston 

 corps was enrolled. About the same time the Farnham corps was also 

 enrolled, Mr. Ward of Willey Park being the first captain. 



As elsewhere the composition of the volunteer force in Surrey 

 altered a good deal after about the first ten years of its existence. At 

 present the four battalions of the East Surrey Brigade have their head- 

 quarters at Camberwell, Wimbledon, Kingston and Clapham Common ; 

 the four battalions of the West Surrey Brigade have their headquarters 

 at Croydon, Guildford, Bermondsey and Kennington Park, respectively. 

 Volunteering in Surrey claims special attention because the National 

 Rifle Association, established ' to give permanence to Volunteer Corps, 

 Naval and Military, and to encourage rifle-shooting,' has made its home 

 in the county, and has held the great rifle shooting competitions at 

 Wimbledon and Bisley in Surrey, without which neither the numbers 

 of the volunteers nor the shooting of the regular forces would probably 

 be what they are. The Association was formed in i860, and was 

 incorporated by Royal Charter 25 November 1890. In the year of its 

 formation it held the first meeting on Wimbledon Common. Her 

 late Majesty presented the Queen's Prize, which was shot for with the 

 Whitworth muzzle-loading rifle, and won by Private Ross of the 7th 

 North Yorkshire. In 1871 the Queen's Prize was first shot for with 

 a breech-loader, the Snider in the earlier stages, the Martini-Henry in 

 the final stage, the winners with the breech-loader being Private May- 

 field, Robin Hood Rifles, in the first stages, and Ensign Humphry, 

 Cambridge University, in the final stage. The same year saw the com- 

 petition for the cup then newly given by the late Rajah of Kolapore for 

 teams representing the mother country, the colonies, dependencies and 

 federations of the empire, marking a stage in the growth of the meeting 

 as an Imperial contest. The Queen's Prize was first shot for with the 

 present service rifle, '303 magazine rifle, in 1897, when it was won by 

 Private Ward, ist V.B. Devon. The Elcho challenge shield, open to 

 teams representing England, Scotland and Ireland, was first shot for in 

 1862. The China Cup was in 1865 given by British residents in China 

 for competition among volunteers of British counties. 



After twenty years of the meeting at Wimbledon it began to be 



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