page_title: Militia and Volunteers of County Durham
section_title: General Militia
hierarchical_section_title: Militia and Volunteers of County Durham / Militia / General Militia
caption_attribution_description: English: Officer's coatee button of the Durham Militia c.1850s from the Durham Light Infantry museum
context_page_description: The Militia and Volunteers of County Durham are those military units raised in the County independent of the regular Army. The "modern" militia dates from legislation enacted during the Seven Years' War. The volunteers had several forms and separate periods of existence until made a permanent body in 1859.
context_section_description: The regiment of the Durham Militia did not form until 1759, it was led by Henry Vane, 2nd Earl of Darlington, and had an initial strength of 369 men, with the headquarters at Barnard Castle (the Vanes lived nearby in Raby Castle). The first bandmaster of the regiment was William Herschel. The militia regiment in its early form was embodied on the following occasions:
  During the Seven Years' War from 22 February 1760 to early 1763, it served briefly at Pontefract, where, in November 1761, it had a strength of 23 Officers, 16 Serjeants, 16 Drummers and 396 Other ranks formed in eight companies. The uniforms had green facings.
  During the American Revolutionary War from 26 March 1778 to 1783, when France had joined the Americans, it served locally in Scarborough and Whitby, and was composed of six companies. It was ranked 44th in order of militia precedence by drawing of lots annually in June 1778, then 30th, 35th, 32nd and 44th. The uniforms had purple facings.
  During the French Revolutionary Wars from end 1792 until May 1802 the regiment was tasked with maintaining order as well as anti-invasion duties and for this purpose they were employed outside of their area of recruitment and kept on the move so as to avoid fraternization with the local population. On the death of Henry Vane in 1792, the regiment was led by his son William Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland. The regiment was moved at regular intervals, Whitby, 1793, where it had a strength of 289 all ranks, Scarborough, 1794, Morpeth and Alnwick, 1795, Yarmouth, 1796, where it had 14 officers, 20 serjeants, 20 corporals, 12 drummers, 375 privates. Then to Hull, 1797, where the establishment raised to 1300+, and the strength rose to 800 men, Burstwick camp, 1798, now 1200 men strong, where large numbers volunteer for the regular army, and by the end of 1799, the strength had fallen to 439 all ranks. Lastly, back to Yarmouth, 1800, Sunderland, 1801 and Barnard Castle in 1802 to disband. For this whole embodiment it was ranked 10th in order of precedence, in lots drawn in 1793, the uniform for which had buff or pale yellow facings.
  Less than a year later, after the short-lived Peace of Amiens, the regiment was once again embodied from March 1803 to August 1814 during the Napoleonic Wars, with an initial strength of 14 officers, 26 serjeants, 9 drummers, 401 rank and file, and was ranked 25th in order of precedence in lots drawn in 1803, the uniform had white facings. The regiment was station in Hull, 1803, Chelmsford Barracks, 1804, escorting French prisoners to and guarding them at Norman Cross Barracks, 1805, Woodbridge Barracks, 1806, Portsmouth, 1808, where some 168 men joined the 68th Regiment and others the 43rd Regiment and the 53rd Regiment, they also suppressed a rising of prisoners on board a prison ship. They stayed in Sunderland for two years, before moving North to Musselburgh, 1812, Perth, 1813 and Glasgow in 1814, returning to Barnard Castle to disband later that year.
  After Napoleon escaped from Elba the regiment was once more embodied from 14 July 1815 to 28 February 1816, it was much weaker with initially only 25 officers, 18 serjeants, 9 drummers, 156 rank and file. It served in Glasgow, where by the end of 1815 its strength had risen to 232 other ranks. The regiment was disbanded at Barnard Castle on 28 February 1816.
  The last annual training for balloted men was in 1825, and was held only once or twice in the next few years, as the militia was allowed to fall into disuse, and the Durham militia dwindled to only a small headquarters staff. At the end of 1833 this amounted to a captain, a serjeant-major (the captain's son), 12 serjeants, a drum-major and four drummers, and by 1844 was only the serjeant-major and six serjeants. In 1840 the Colonelcy of the Durham Militia was held by William Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland, and after his death in 1842 it passed on to his son Henry Vane, 2nd Duke of Cleveland.
caption: Officer's coatee button of the Durham Militia c. 1850s from the Durham Light Infantry museum
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