Royal North Devon Yeomanry
| Royal North Devon Yeomanry | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1798 – 7 June 1920 |
| Country |
 United Kingdom
|
| Branch |
 British Army
|
| Type | Yeomanry |
| Size | Regiment |
| Garrison/HQ | Barnstaple |
| Engagements | |
Second Boer War
First World War
The Royal North Devon Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1798, it participated in the Second Boer War and the First World War before being amalgamated with the Royal 1st 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 North Devon Yeomanry was first raised in 1798 as independent troops, one of the main organisers of which process was Col. John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (1751-1842), of Stevenstone near Great Torrington, Devon. In 1803 it was regimented as the North Devonshire Mounted Rifles.
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. For example, in 1816, a mob forced its way into Bideford prison to try to release their ringleaders. Members of the Regiment were mustered and patrolled the town all night; several rioters were arrested and escorted to Exeter. The unwilliingness of the government to pay for the Yeomanry led to many corps being disbanded in 1827–28. Twenty two corps were authorised to continue officially, and another sixteen were allowed to continue to serve without pay. Serving without pay from 1828 to 1831, the Regiment was never disbanded.
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