Dressed to Kill, Dressed to Till
Sylvester Frederick William Moor Wilson (1827-1907) entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich as a “legacy” in 1843—being that his father, Richard Goodwin Bowen Wilson, a serving officer in the British Army, had earlier attended the RMA or “The Shop”, 1810-1812. The Academy was originally established in the 18th century for the training of artillery and engineer officers, which still remained its primary focus in the 1840s, as reflected in both curriculum and in the dress of its gentleman-cadets. From 1830, the uniform of the Company of Cadets consisted of a double-breasted coat of blue superfine, faced scarlet and with convex, gilt buttons bearing the device of the Royal Artillery. With it was worn a military cap and blue-grey trousers with red stripes, changed to dark blue in 1845. Epaulettes were worn with the coat on full-dress occasions only and in 1840, good conduct badges were ordered to be worn on the sleeve, the first chevron of gold lace being authorized after one year’s honorable service and the others for every six months, to cadets with no entries in the company defaulter book during those periods. Cadet Wilson’s coat has three such chevrons, suggesting that he toed-the-line closely during most of his time at the Academy. “S Wilson” is inscribed in ink on the linen lining of the left sleeve cap. One of the earliest surviving examples of an RMA Cadet coat currently known, which descended in the family along with original drawings and plans prepared by both Wilsons while attending the Academy.
Share this lot:
