Guide to the Collections of the Suffolk Regiment Association (as filmed by the AJCP), 1860-December 1974

 

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Collection context

Summary

Collection number:
M973
Creator:
Suffolk Regiment Association
Extent:
4 items
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Typescript papers relating to medals awarded for service in New Zealand during the period 1845-1866. Many of the papers were compiled from WO100/18, held at the Public Record Office, London.

Parts 1 and 2 of the papers contain the roll of servicemen of the 1st Battalion, 12th Regiment, presented with medals on 30 March 1870. The roll shows for each recipient name, rank, at the time the medal was earned, dates of action, and a note on subsequent service, discharge or death. Interspersed are typescript notes compiled from The History of the 12th (the Suffolk Regiment) and Gilbert Mair's The Story of Gate Pa (1937). The notes include material about the cemetery near Tauranga, New Zealand, where many of the Regiment's dead were buried.

Part 3 contains a list of claims of non-effective officers, NCOs and men of the 1st Battalion, 12th Regiment, showing name, rank, dates of action, and subsequent service. Many are shown as having died in New Zealand, or as having been discharged during the period of the Wars, presumably remaining as settlers.

Part 4, entitled 'The New Zealand War Medal 1845-1866' gives details of army and navy personnel awarded medals for action in the Maori Wars, lists ships serving in New Zealand waters 1845-1866 and regiments serving in New Zealand in the same period, and concludes with a chronological list of some recipients of medals. Part 4 also includes corrigenda to lists in Parts 1-3.

Biographical / Historical:

The Suffolk Regiment was raised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1685 to combat the Monmouth Rebellion and comprised men from the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Originally known as the Duke of Norfolk's Regiment of Foot, it was renamed the 12th Regiment of Foot in 1751. In 1782 it was called the 12th (East Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and in 1880 it became the 12th (Suffolk) Regiment. It saw action in Ireland (1689-1691) and in Europe in the War of Austrian Succession (1742-1745) and the Seven Years War (1758-1762). During the Napoleonic Wars it served in the West Indies, India and Mauritius.

In 1854 the 1st Battalion of the 12th Regiment sailed to Australia, where it was based at Sydney. Shortly after its arrival, a detachment was sent to Port Phillip and it took part in the fighting at the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat on 3 December 1854. During their time in Australia, soldiers of the 12th Regiment often acted as convict guards. In April 1860 two companies of the 12th Regiment and half a battery of artillery were sent to New Zealand, where they served under Major General Thomas Pratt in fighting against Maori forces. In 1862 the headquarters of the battalion were transferred to Auckland and the remaining companies moved from Australia to New Zealand. Under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel H.M. Hamilton, detachments fought at the battles of Gate Pa (29 April 1864) and Te Ranga (21 June 1864). A detachment that had remained at Moreton Bay joined the rest of the Regiment in New Zealand in 1866. Some soldiers were discharged in New Zealand and settled in the colony. In May 1867 the ten companies of the 1st Battalion, comprising 22 officers and 591 men left New Zealand and returned to England.

In 1959 the Suffolk Regiment amalgamated with the Royal Norfolk Regiment and in 1964 it became part of the Royal Anglian Regiment.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:
Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.
Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: