   the essex regiment was an infantry unit of the british army that saw active service from 1881 to 1958. members of the regiment were recruited from across the county of essex. today, its lineage is continued by the royal anglian regiment. ==origins== the essex regiment was formed in 1881 by the union of the 44th (east essex) and 56th (west essex) regiments of foot, which became the 1st and 2nd battalions respectively of the new regiment. this merger was part of the childers reforms of the british army, which also saw the east and west essex regiments of militia joining the essex regiment as its 3rd and 4th battalions. a large number of small rifle volunteer corps had been formed in the county as a result of an invasion scare in 1859. in 1880 they were consolidated into four battalions, and in 1883 they were designated as the 1stâ4th volunteer battalions of the essex regiment.beckett, appendix vii.westlake, rifle corps, pp. 83â7. under the mobilisation scheme proposed by the stanhope memorandum of 1888, they constituted the essex volunteer infantry brigade, which was to gather at warley in case of invasion.beckett, pp. 135, 185â6.quarterly army list for the history of the regiment's regular army components prior to 1881, see: * 44th regiment of foot * 56th regiment of foot ==second anglo-boer war (1899-1902)== the 1st and 2nd battalions both 
1881_establishments_in_the_United_Kingdom City_of_Chelmsford Infantry_regiments_of_the_British_Army Military_history_of_Essex Military_units_and_formations_disestablished_in_1958 Military_units_and_formations_established_in_1881 Museums_in_Essex Regimental_museums_in_England Regiments_of_the_British_Army_in_World_War_I Regiments_of_the_British_Army_in_World_War_II