The “Loyal Volunteers of London,” as they were called, were therefore raised to uphold the cause of the King and of order. Their motto was “Pro Rege et Patria.”
Among the corps thus raised was that of the “Somerset House Volunteers.” A picture of one of these gentlemen, as copied from a book by T. Rowlandson, in the British Museum, may now be seen in the Orderly Room at the Audit Office.
Somerset House Volunteers, 1798.
The Somerset House Volunteer Association consisted only of two companies of light infantry, under the command of Walter Sterling, Major Commandant. The Captains were J. Stewart and W. Harrison. The corps was not to go out of the district of Somerset House and St. Mary-le-Strand, but with its own consent.
Bank of England Volunteers, 1798.
Among those who would have cause for anxiety at such a period would naturally be the Governor and Directors of the Bank of England, and certainly they showed great public spirit. They headed a voluntary contribution to the revenue in this year, with a subscription of £200,000. They also raised from their employés a corps of volunteers, 450 strong, to protect the Bank.
This corps was under the command of Thomas Whitmore, and Rowlandson tells us that it was presented with colours on 2nd September, 1799, by the lady of Samuel Thornton, Esq., Governor of the Bank of England, in Lord’s Ground, Marylebone. A picture of this ceremonial, painted by Stoddart, is to be seen now in the Bank.
These Loyal Volunteers of London were, however, entirely swamped by the great volunteer movement, which swept throughout the country in 1802, caused by the extensive preparations then being made by Bonaparte to invade England.
Volunteers of 1802.
In this war-scare, which far exceeded in its intensity that of 1859, 420,000 Volunteers were enrolled in a few months—many more, in fact, than the Government could or ever did arm.