7th Hussars

Band in Undress c1870

The band are wearing blue stable jackets and pill-box forage caps. The age of the photo is in question here. This is taken from a reproduction in a book that captions it as c1890 but the drum banners suggest a much earlier date. They emblazon only two battle honours; PENINSULA and WATERLOO (although the latter is hidden). The next honour to be added was LUCKNOW, granted on 3rd Sep 1863. A painting by Norton shows the drumhorse, presumably painted in 1874 to show the new drum banners with Lucknow added. So this photo has no third battle honour and it would have been taken at some time before 1874.
The age of the photo also means that any yellow lace or braid would appear as dark, preventing us from seeing the patterns on sleeves etc. There are some musicians who have inverted chevrons on their right fore-arm. These are good conduct stripes, not badges of rank. In 1881 they were moved to the left fore-arm, again proving the age of the photo. An interesting point is the man on the left of the photo who holds a baton indicating that he is the bandmaster. He has stripes on his upper arm, in gold. They look narrow and there are probably three stripes. Usually a bandmaster is a WO1, not a sergeant. There is more gold on his stable jacket, down the front edge, along the bottom, and around his collar and cuff. His cap also has a wide gold cap-band. The jacket is fastened with hooks and eyes instead of buttons like the other band members. A similar jacket is worn by the band sergeant sitting next to the large time-beater's drum.

Regimental details | Band