Troop Sergeant-Major c1880

A Troop Sergeant-Major of the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons. He is TSM John Gibson and the lady is Sarah Rimer. This was sent in to our website by Graham Bennet researching his ancestry. By the look of his beard it would appear that he was a lucky survivor of the Crimean War. This would seem to date it as c1860. However, after the Crimean War the undress cap was still quite shapeless and tall. As time went on the cap developed into the more stiff type such as the one he is wearing.
He has Crimean medals and the beard is definitely the sign of a veteran. He is wearing an NCO's arm badge of the Inniskilling Castle which was not worn ON the stripes until around 1880. Up until at least 1875 they were worn ABOVE the stripes, then again, by the late 1890s they were wearing them above the stripes.
So this make it see as if the photo may be as late as 1880. The uniform he is wearing is undress stable dress. The stable jacket is scarlet with yellow collar and cuffs. The colour yellow appeared dark in early photos. He has a yellow stripe down his trousers but that too appears dark. The rank of Troop Sergeant-Major was denoted by three stripes and a crown. They also wore an officer's style cap with gold lace round it. The lace is clearly that of the special Inniskilling Dragoon pattern.

Uniforms | Regimental details