The North Hampshire Militia (or colloquially the 'North Hants Militia') was an auxiliary military regiment in the county of Hampshire on England's South Coast. First organised during the Seven Years' War it carried out internal security and home defence duties in all of Britain's major wars. It later absorbed the South Hampshire Militia and became a battalion of the Hampshire Regiment, supplying thousands of recruits to the fighting battalions during World War I. After 1921 the militia had only a shadowy existence until its final abolition in 1953.
Background
The universal obligation to military service in the Shire levy was long established in England and its legal basis was updated by two Acts of 1557, which placed them under the command of Lords Lieutenant appointed by the monarch. This is seen as the starting date for the organised county militia in England. From 1572 selected men were given regular training as the 'Trained Bands'. These were an important element in the country's defence at the time of the Spanish Armada in the 1580s: the Hampshire and Isle of Wight TBs would have been in the front line in the event of invasion. Control of the militia was one of the areas of dispute between King Charles I and Parliament that led to the English Civil War. Although hardly employed during the civil wars, the Hampshire Trained Bands were active in controlling the country under the Commonwealth and Protectorate. The English militia was re-established under local control in 1662 after the Restoration of the monarchy, and Hampshire supported six regiments of foot, with independent companies in Southampton and Winchester, two Troops of horse, and two regiments and a company of foot on the Isle of Wight. The Hampshire Militia was called out during the Monmouth Rebellion. However, after the Peace of Utrecht in 1715 the militia was allowed to decline.Atkinson, Vol I, pp. 368–77.Fortescue, Vol I, pp. 12, 16, 125, 294–5.Frederick, p. 250.Hay, pp. 11–17, 25–6, 60–1, 88, 99–105=4.Hay, pp. 345–8.Holmes, pp. 90–4.
1757 Reforms
Under threat of French invasion during the Seven Years' War a series of Militia Acts from 1757 reorganised the county militia regiments, the men being conscripted by means of parish ballots (paid substitutes were permitted) to serve for three years. In peacetime they assembled for 28 days' annual training. There was a property qualification for officers, who were commissioned by the lord lieutenant. An adjutant and drill sergeants were to be provided to each regiment from the Regular Army, and arms and accoutrements would be supplied when the county had secured 60 per cent of its quota of recruits.Fortescue, Vol II, pp. 288, 299–302.Hay, pp. 136–44.Holmes, pp. 94–100.Western, pp. 124–57, 251.
Hampshire was given a quota of 960 men to raise in two regiments with an independent company on the Isle of Wight. The North Regiment of eight companies had been formed by 14 September 1759, when its arms were ordered to be issued, and by 19 October a sergeant and 20 experienced privates from regiments of the Line had been assigned to be sergeants. The South Regiment was formed by 3 October. The Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Lieutenant-General Charles Powlett, 5th Duke of Bolton, commissioned Hans Stanley, Member of Parliament (MP) for Southampton, as Colonel of the North Regiment. On 15 December the North Regiment was ordered to be embodied for duty, and it assembled at Winchester on 25 December.Parkyn.Lloyd-Verney, pp. 1–13.Lloyd-Verney, pp. 26–9, 38–9.Western, Appendices A & B.
After briefly serving at Winchester, the regiment marched in three 'divisions' to Bristol in late February 1760 to take charge of French prisoners-of-war. By now the Duke of Bolton had taken personal command of the North Regiment as well as the South Regiment (the Secretary of State for War regarded them as two battalions of a single regiment). In May 1760 the North Regiment moved to Bideford in Devon, from where it escorted prisoners-of-war back to Hilsea Barracks in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in August. In November four companies left Hilsea and went into winter quarters round Newbury, Berkshire, where they were required to provide escorts for prisoners-of-war being sent to Winchester. The other four companies spent the winter in Gosport before marching to rejoin at Newbury in March 1761. From April the regiment was moved around in small detachments between Andover, Stockbridge and Whitchurch in north Hampshire (in June two companies billeted in Stockbridge were temporarily moved out to accommodate the crowds for a horse racing meeting), and Gosport, Winchester and Romsey further south. In late July it moved to Reading, Berkshire, but again was displaced for a race meeting. Finally, in October the regiment went back to Winchester to take over guarding the French prisoners-of-war.Lloyd-Verney, pp. 30–44.
By 1762 the militiamen enlisted in 1759 were approaching the end of their three-year service, and the regiments returned to their home areas for balloting and recruitment. Most of the North Hants went from Winchester to Basingstoke, leaving 130 men who were sent to assist the detachments of the South Hants guarding prisoners-of-war in the Portsmouth area while their own regiment was recruiting at Southampton. The North Hants spent the autumn in the northern part of the county. However, by the end of 1762 a peace treaty was being negotiated (Col Hans Stanley, who resigned from the regiment in December 1761, had been one of the negotiators) and orders were issued on 20 December to disembody both Hampshire regiments. The North Hants were paid off at Winchester on 24 December. The regiment appears to have been mustered for annual training thereafter, with new clothing issued every three years.Lloyd-Verney, pp. 45–7.
American War of Independence The militia was called out during the American War of Independence when the country was threatened with invasion by the Americans' allies, France and Spain. The North Hampshire regiment, with eight companies totalling 547 all ranks, was embodied in March 1778 under the command of the Lord-Lieutenant, James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos. On 6 June the regiment was ordered from Winchester to Southampton to cross to the Isle of Wight, where five companies were quartered in Newport (displacing the independent company of Isle of Wight Militia, which went to Ryde and Brading) and Carisbrooke), two at Cowes and one at Yarmouth and Newtown. Parliament permitted the addition of one company raised by voluntary enlistment to supplement the balloted men in each regiment; the North Hampshires did so at the end of July, and organised it as a Light Company. In May 1779 the regiment was relieved on the Isle of Wight by the South Hampshires and embarked for Lymington, where it quartered six companies, sending the other three to Christchurch, later adding quarters at Ringwood and Fordingbridge. On 5 June the regiment began a march via Exeter to Plymouth, where it went into barracks. By September it was camped on Maker Heights overlooking Plymouth. On 19 November it began a march to Bideford for winter quarters, where it was joined by the newly balloted men from Winchester.Lloyd-Verney, pp. 47–54.Western pp. 209, 431.
In April 1780 the North Hampshires marched to Salisbury, now under the command of Col Hans Sloane, MP for Southampton, and they were then distributed to billets across North Hampshire. On 27 May the regiment was summoned to London to assist in suppressing the Gordon Riots. It marched through the west and south suburbs to Greenwich and then joined the South Hampshires and three other militia regiments in a camp in Hyde Park. They remained there until the disorders were suppressed, and then marched on 9 August to camp on Blackheath with three other militia regiments. The camp broke up on 16 October when the North Hampshires went to winter quarters in Reading with a detachment at Henley-on-Thames. On 7 March 1781 it moved to Portsmouth, picking up that year's new recruits and balloted men as it marched through Hampshire. It then crossed to the Isle of Wight where it was engaged in anti-smuggling patrols. It remained on the island (seven companies at Newport and two at Cowes) for the remainder of the war. By March 1783 a peace treaty was being negotiated and the militia was stood down. The North Hampshires crossed to Lymington and then marched into Winchester to be disembodied on 15 March.Lloyd-Verney, pp. 54–8.
From 1784 to 1792 the militia were assembled for their 28 days' annual peacetime training, but to save money only two-thirds of the men were actually mustered each year.Fortescue, Vol III, pp. 530–1.Lloyd-Verney, pp. 58–9.
French Revolutionary War The Militia had already been called out before Revolutionary France declared war on Britain on 1 February 1793. On 8 December 1792 Harry Powlett, 6th Duke of Bolton, as Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, received orders to embody those men of the North Hampshires who had undergone training earlier in the year, and the regiment assembled at Winchester on 19 December; it numbered 282 effective men, needing 222 to complete. Recruiting parties were sent out across North Hampshire during the early months of 1793.Lloyd-Verney, pp. 59–60.
The French Revolutionary Wars saw a new phase for the English militia: they were embodied for a whole generation, and became regiments of full-time professional soldiers (though restricted to service in the British Isles), which the regular army increasingly saw as a prime source of recruits. They served in coast defences, manned garrisons, guarded prisoners-of-war, and carried out internal security duties, while their traditional local defence duties were taken over by the Volunteers and mounted Yeomanry.Knight, pp. 78–9, 111, 255, 411.
The North Hants' first station was to be Chatham, Kent, and it began its march there under Col Sloane on 13 February. It was joined by the new recruits in June. During the previous war it had become customary to gather the militia into large encampments for summer training alongside regular troops. At the end of June 1793 the North Hants, with 11 other militia regiments, five cavalry regiments and attached artillery, formed a camp at Broadwater Common, near Tunbridge Wells on the Kent–Sussex border. The division then moved about 6–8 August to a camp at Ashdown Forest before marching to the Brighton area. After two weeks' training there, the whole division returned to Broadwater for the rest of the summer. In September the North Hants were back at Brighton, from where they were sent on 1 November to Portsmouth to cross to the Isle of Wight for the winter. In May 1794 the regiment re-crossed to Portsmouth and marched to spend a second summer at Brighton Camp, before returning to winter quarters on the Isle of Wight once more. The North Hants spent part of the summer of 1795 in Sussex, visiting Brighton again before moving into Blatchington Barracks. It went to Porchester Barracks later in the summer and remained there until May 1796 when it moved to Plymouth Dock Barracks.Lloyd-Verney, pp. 60–8.'Broadwater Common 1793' at Royal Collection Trust.
In order to have as many men as possible under arms for home defence to release regulars for overseas service, the Government created the Supplementary Militia in 1796, a compulsory levy of men to be trained in their spare time, and to be incorporated into the Regular Militia in emergency. Hampshire's additional quota was fixed at 1049 men. The county lieutenancies were required to carry out 20 days' initial training as soon as possible, and the North Hants sent parties from Plymouth to train the North Hampshire supplementary men in batches.Lloyd-Verney, pp. 68–70.Western, pp. 301, 408.