The Civil Service were represented in this body by two corps: the Excise Corps, which in 1804 was 576 strong, under the command of Lord George Seymour, and the Customs Corps, about 300 strong.
In the same year (1804), the Bank of England had a corps of 433, under the command of William Manning, and a supplementary corps of 122, under the command of Beeston Long.
Some of the records of the last-named corps are still in existence in the Bank. From them we gather that the parades were usually held at 7 or 8 a.m. The most notable period in their history appears to have been in 1812, at the time of the assassination of Mr. Percival in the House of Commons. In the state of public alarm that followed this event, it was considered necessary that the Bank Volunteers should be under arms to guard the Bank, night and day.
Disbandment.
At the signing of the general treaty of peace in 1814, the joy of the country at what it believed to be the conclusion of its long and exhausting wars, was shown by the haste with which the Volunteers were at once disbanded.
The Corps of the Civil Service shared with others in votes of thanks passed to them by both Houses of Parliament, and letters from the Commander-in-Chief (the Prince Regent) were received, thanking each corps for its valuable services.
From the records already referred to, we find that a special “march past” before the Lord Mayor, at the Mansion House, brought the military duties of the Bank officials of that generation to an end.
We now pass over a space of 45 years, during which the military spirit of the Service may be said to have lain dormant, until we approach the event with which the true interest of our story begins, viz., the year 1859, and the birth of the Corps to which we have the honour to belong.
To the Members of the Audit Office (now the Exchequer and Audit Department), Somerset House, must, without doubt, be assigned the honour of having founded the Civil Service Volunteer Corps.