DLI Objects

Officer's Full Dress Coatee, Durham Militia, about 1813. This scarlet, short-tailed woollen coatee (jacket) has white facings (collar and cuffs) and silver lace. The silver buttons bear 'Durham Militia' and the number '25', which was this Regiment's precedence number about 1813. White facings were adopted by the Durham Militia in 1803, and were retained by the North and South Durham Militia Regiments after 1853. The Durham Militia was raised in 1759 at Barnard Castle by the Earl of Darlington. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Regiment was embodied (called out) for over 20 years on garrison duty in England and Scotland. For further reading on the Durham Militia - 'The Durham Light Infantry' by W L Vane (1914) and 'Faithful: The Story of The Durham Light Infantry' by S G P Ward (1962). Acc No: 1019