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Painting of South Australian and Queensland Colonial Regiments

This watercolour is from the Library of South Australia by artist Richard Simkin (1850–1926) in 1900. He was  a British artist and illustrator of military uniforms. He probably sketched the uniforms when the units attended celebrations in London for the Queen’s Jubilee in 1897.

# H15591

On the mount is a handwritten label identifying the men as :

Back  L to R: South Australian Lancers*, South Australian Mounted Rifles, Queensland Lancers**.

Front (in khaki): South Australian Infantry.  The blue uniform represents the Queensland Permanent Artillery, although it is not so labelled on the image.

* The ‘South Australian Lancers’  (or Cavalry) were first noted in the press as attending the Jubilee Celebrations in London in 1897. They seem to have been separate from the ‘South Australian Mounted Rifles’ which formed around 1896; two contingents  served in the Boer War.

**With their origins dating from 1860, known as the Queensland Mounted Infantry (or Lancers from 1897). Late in 1899 the 1st Contingent of Queensland Mounted Infantry was sent the the to the Boer War.

This General Service pattern button was worn by  contingents to South Africa 1899-1902. Cossum pages 12, 20 & 23.