Welsh Horse (Lancers) Yeomanry Research Papers

Papers accumulated during the course of Julian Franklyn's research into the recruitment, training, equipment and campaigns of the Welsh Horse (Lancers) Yeomanry, with particular reference to Lord Kensington's role in them, including many records that were originally created by the Welsh Horse itself and first accumulated by Kensington as its commanding officer.

The Welsh Horse (Lancers) Yeomanry was part of the Territorial Force of the British Army, and served as part of the Eastern Mounted Brigade (with the Norfolk and Suffolk Yeomanries) and later in the South Eastern Mounted Brigade (with the Sussex, West Kent, and Royal East Kent Yeomanries) during the First World War. The first regiment of the Yeomanry was raised throughout Wales in August 1914 under the auspices of Captain Owen Vaughan ('Owen Rhoscomyl'), and command was given to Hugh Edwardes, 6th Baron Kensington, as Lieutenant-Colonel. The headquarters of the Welsh Horse were initially in Cardiff, but they were subsequently moved to Newtown and later to Norfolk and Kent; most of the soldiers' training was carried out in Glamorgan, Pembrokeshire and Norfolk. Operating primarily as infantry, 1/1 Welsh Horse fought in the Dardanelles, Egypt and Palestine, before being amalgamated with 1/1 Montgomeryshire Yeomanry in 1917 to form 25 Battalion The Royal Welsh Fusiliers, which saw action on the Western Front. Two further regiments of the Welsh Horse (2/1 and 3/1) were raised in 1914 and 1915, with the purpose of providing support for 1/1; neither entered combat, since their purpose was to act as a Reserve (2/1) and to provide initial training (3/1), and both disappeared in administrative re-organisations in 1916 and 1917. The Welsh Horse (Lancers) ceased to exist as a separate Yeomanry after further re-structuring of the Army at the end of the War.
- In 1954, the writer Julian Franklyn was commissioned by William Edwardes, 7th Baron Kensington and the son of Hugh Edwardes, to produce a memoir of the Welsh Horse, a draft of which was completed in 1957, relying on Lord Kensington's own papers, official records, and an appeal in the press for information from former soldiers and their families, many of whom contributed their own documents. The memoir, entitled '"Copy their virtues" being a memoir of the Welsh Horse (Lancers)', was never published.

Arranged into three groups: army records; personal papers of Lord Kensington; and Julian Franklyn research papers. The original arrangement has generally been retained, although a small number of papers have been re-arranged (see appropriate levels of description for details).

Access to this archive was formerly closed until 2022, but this restriction has been lifted due to the 2000 Freedom of Information Act. Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to abide by the conditions set out in information provided when applying for their Readers' Tickets, whereby the reader shall become responsible for compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 in relation to any processing by them of personal data obtained from modern records held at the Library.

The Rt Hon. William Edwardes, 7th Baron Kensington, per Messrs Simmons and Simmons; London; Donation; May 1962

The Welsh Horse (Lancers) Yeomanry was part of the Territorial Force of the British Army, and served as part of the Eastern Mounted Brigade (with the Norfolk and Suffolk Yeomanries) and later in the South Eastern Mounted Brigade (with the Sussex, West Kent, and Royal East Kent Yeomanries) during the First World War. The first regiment of the Yeomanry was raised throughout Wales in August 1914 under the auspices of Captain Owen Vaughan ('Owen Rhoscomyl'), and command was given to Hugh Edwardes, 6th Baron Kensington, as Lieutenant-Colonel. The headquarters of the Welsh Horse were initially in Cardiff, but they were subsequently moved to Newtown and later to Norfolk and Kent; most of the soldiers' training was carried out in Glamorgan, Pembrokeshire and Norfolk. Operating primarily as infantry, 1/1 Welsh Horse fought in the Dardanelles, Egypt and Palestine, before being amalgamated with 1/1 Montgomeryshire Yeomanry in 1917 to form 25 Battalion The Royal Welsh Fusiliers, which saw action on the Western Front. Two further regiments of the Welsh Horse (2/1 and 3/1) were raised in 1914 and 1915, with the purpose of providing support for 1/1; neither entered combat, since their purpose was to act as a Reserve (2/1) and to provide initial training (3/1), and both disappeared in administrative re-organisations in 1916 and 1917. The Welsh Horse (Lancers) ceased to exist as a separate Yeomanry after further re-structuring of the Army at the end of the War.
- In 1954, the writer Julian Franklyn was commissioned by William Edwardes, 7th Baron Kensington and the son of Hugh Edwardes, to produce a memoir of the Welsh Horse, a draft of which was completed in 1957, relying on Lord Kensington's own papers, official records, and an appeal in the press for information from former soldiers and their families, many of whom contributed their own documents. The memoir, entitled '"Copy their virtues" being a memoir of the Welsh Horse (Lancers)', was never published.

Title supplied from contents.

October 2013.

Compiled by David Moore. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: NLW MS 18107C; Bryn Owen, Owen Rhoscomyl and the Welsh Horse (Caernarfon : Palace Books, 1990); papers within the archive;

Usual copyright laws apply.

Action: All records donated to NLW have been retained..

Many of the papers in the archive were accumulated by the author Julian Franklyn during the course of compiling his memoir about the Welsh Horse, and many others were accumulated by Hugh Edwardes, 6th Lord Kensington, as commander of the Welsh Horse. All of these papers were put into the care of William Edwardes, 7th Lord Kensington, who donated them to the National Library of Wales.

Accruals are not expected.

A bound typescript copy of the memoir is NLW MS 18107C.

Published

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales