Uniforms Of British Officers In The Crimean War

A set of uniforms from the Crimean War period that belonged to David Milroy, M.D., a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in England (FRCSE), of the 30th Cambridgeshire Regiment. This set includes his scarlet officer’s tunic of the 30th Cambridgeshire Regiment, with white facings and cannetille braid on the collar and cuffs. It is adorned with gold regimental buttons and embroidered pennants. The quilted silk lining is slightly torn, as is often the case. It is adorned with full dress epaulettes with fringe, also featuring matching gold regimental buttons inscribed with “XXX Cambridge.” The reverse side bears the mark “J & G Linney, 23 Regent St, London.”Dark blue medical staff officer’s tunic. It has 16 gold “Medical Staff” buttons (2 missing on the front). The collar is stand-up, and the interior is lined with shiny black cotton. It is accompanied by its service epaulettes, also fitted with matching gold “Medical Corps” buttons and bearing the manufacturer’s mark “J & G Linney, 23 Regent St, London.”Both uniforms show signs of wear and some damage.Seven of his university diplomas and military commissions, dated from 1852 to 1856, include two army commissions (from the Crimean War period), those of Assistant Surgeon to the 30th Regiment of Foot (Cambridgeshire) and Assistant Surgeon to the Armed Forces, dated April 28 and April 7, 1854, respectively, signed by Queen Victoria and Lord Palmerston; a diploma from the University of Edinburgh, dated November 30, 1852, for his thesis on “The Influence of Climate on Diseases,” printed on vellum, signed by the university authorities, and sealed; his diplomas from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 1853 and 1856, printed and handwritten on vellum and sealed; a scholarship certificate from the Royal Public Dispensary of Edinburgh from 1852, printed and handwritten on paper; Surgeon’s Hall, Edinburgh, midwifery certificate from 1853, typographically printed and handwritten on paper; plus William Muir Milroy’s 1865 University of Edinburgh diploma, various signatures of the university’s academic staff, a fragmentary red wax seal in an aluminum case; all eight documents in three 19th-century tin boxes and lids.
Note-
Passed down through the Milroy family, David Milroy, M.D. and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCSE), arrived in Scutari in May 1854 with the 30th Infantry Regiment. As an assistant surgeon, he met Florence Nightingale at the Scutari hospital in the Selimiye barracks, before taking part in the battles of Alma (September), Inkerman (November), and the Siege of Sevastopol (October–September 1855). After the Crimean War, the regiment was sent to Montreal, Canada, in 1861, to reinforce British forces following the Trent Affair, before moving to Bermuda in 1864. In a tragic twist of fate, given his university thesis, he died on this tropical island from yellow fever on September 3, 1864, after honoring his Hippocratic Oath and selflessly treating men who were already infected. His brother was the Reverend Andrew Milroy (1841–1902).