Photographs
Recruiting Sergeants at Westminster
Genre ScenePhotograph
Details
- Author / creator
- John Thomson (Scottish, 1837–1921)
- Object type
- Photograph
- Date or period
- 1877
- Dimensions summary
- Image: 11 × 8.7 cm; Paper: 11 × 8.7 cm; Mounted: 27 × 20.7 cm
- Photo process
- Other
- Studio or series
- John Thomson
- Place of origin
- England
- Acquisition method
- Purchase
- Credit line
- Purchased with the Art Fund grant and Friends of the Ashcombe Museum, 2019
About this object
The sergeants, who held these posts for many years, were paid by the recruit, receiving a little over £1 for each person who ended up serving in the army. Out of that, the recruiters had to pay expenses, including giving each enlistee a shilling (1/20th of a pound) and paying “bringers” who supplied them with likely prospects. In 1875, 3,605 approved recruits were enlisted from London.
Materials and technique
Woodburytype
Signature and marks
Stamped in red ink on recto of mount: “RECRUITING SERGEANTS AT WESTMINSTER.”
