Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry
| Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry | |
|---|---|
| Active | 15 May 1794 – 7 June 1920 |
| Country |
 United Kingdom
|
| Branch |
 British Army
|
| Type | Yeomanry |
| Size | Regiment |
| Garrison/HQ | Exeter |
| Engagements | |
Second Boer War
First World War
The Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1794, it participated in the Second Boer War and the First World War before being amalgamated with the Royal North Devon Yeomanry in 1920 to form the Royal Devon Yeomanry.
Under threat of invasion by the French Revolutionary government from 1793, and with insufficient military forces to repulse such an attack, the British government under William Pitt the Younger decided in 1794 to increase the Militia and to form corps of volunteers for the defence of the country. The mounted arm of the volunteers became known as the "Gentlemen and Yeomanry Cavalry". The Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry was first raised on 15 May 1794 as 1st Devon Troop before being regimented in 1803 as the 1st Devonshire Yeomanry Cavalry. One of the main organisers of this force was Col. John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (1751-1842), of Stevenstone near Great Torrington, Devon.
Despite the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the Yeomanry was retained by the government "for Military Service in aid of the Civil Power" in the absence of organised police forces. The establishment of police forces (in London in 1829 and in the counties in 1855) reduced the need for Yeomanry to be called out. The last occasion was during the food riots in Devon in 1867 when 112 members of the 1st Devonshire Yeomanry Cavalry mustered in Exeter.
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Wikipedia