Thomas Price (soldier)
| Thomas Price | |
|---|---|
| Born |
21 October 1842 Hobart, Tasmania |
| Died | 3 July 1911 (aged 68) Warrnambool, Victoria |
| Buried | Melbourne General Cemetery |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
British Indian Army Victoria Military Force |
| Years of service | 1861–1883 1885–1904 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands held |
Victorian Mounted Rifles Victorian Rangers |
| Battles/wars | Second Boer War |
| Awards |
Companion of the Order of the Bath Mentioned in Despatches |
Thomas Caradoc Rose Price CB (21 October 1842 – 3 July 1911), often known as Colonel Tom Price, was an Australian soldier, and acting commandant of the Commonwealth Military Forces in Victoria in 1902. Joining the British Indian Army in his early his, he served 20 years in India before returning to Australia. In 1885, he raised the Victorian Mounted Rifles, and was instrumental in establishing the concept of light horse units within the Australian Army. In 1900, he led a Victorian contingent during the Second Boer War, and was the only Australian officer during that war to command a force of British regulars. He remained in the Australian military after the war, serving in Queensland until 1904 when he was medically discharged. He retired to Victoria again and died in 1911 at the age of 68.
Price was born in Hobart, Tasmania, on 21 October 1842. He was the fourth son of John Price, a police magistrate and convict superintendent, who was the fourth son of Cornish Australian Sir Rose Price, 1st Baronet of the Price Baronets. He received some basic education in Hobart and from 1854 was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne. In December 1859, he entered the East India Military College, in Addiscombe, England, and was commissioned in 1861 into the Madras Infantry.
Price undertook twenty years of service in India with several different regiments, during which time he was also seconded as a police superintendent. He retired from the army in 1883 with the rank of lieutenant colonel and returned to Australia, securing a plot of farm land around Heidelberg, Victoria. In 1885, he was appointed to the Victorian Military Forces, taking up a commission as an officer in its small permanent force. He subsequently formed the Victorian Mounted Rifles, an early light horse unit that helped establish the concept within the Australian military, which was raised from volunteers recruited from men based in rural Victoria. In establishing his new unit, Price obtained permission to dress them in khaki, instead of the red or blue uniforms that had been common at the time. He also instituted the slouch hat as an item of their uniform, which subsequently became a defining icon of the modern Australian Army. In 1888, he briefly took command of the Victorian Rangers, commanding them until 1889. During a civil disturbance in Melbourne in 1890 when maritime workers went on strike, Price's unit was called out to aid civilian police. The orders that he gave to his men to fire on the strikers if necessary later led to him being criticised by Premier Duncan Gillies and appearing before a court of inquiry. In the end, his actions were upheld and ultimately the strike was resolved peacefully.
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