Original Boer War / Pre WW1 Highland Light Infantry HLI Captain's Scarlet Mess Dress Jacket
On the shoulders it has very large Scottish Thistle bullion wire and rope shoulder boards abd with fabric rank pips for a captain.
Brass HLI buttons throughout - all present.
Jacket has cream collar and cuffs facings.
Jacket is designed not to fasten, so the buttons have false button holes - presumably would have been worn over a waistcoat.
Nicely lined but with some degrading to the lining.
Chest Size is very small approx 32 inches. Armpit to armpit measurement is 16 inches. Armpit to cuff is 19 inches
Jacket has a makers label for Sandilands & Son of Conduit St London and named to Cap W M Hamilton HLI
Jacket condition is generally very good, though with wear to the elbows and 1 loose seam on one of those. Also wear to the back at the bottom of the the back (see photos) and a small dark stains on the collar and similarly on the back of the cuffs.
Major William Malcolm Fleming-Hamilton
He was born in 1869, was schooled at Eton and fought in both the Boer War and WW1.
He was a Justice of the Peace (JP) and Deputy Lieutenant (DL), and he was from Craichlaw, Wigtownshire, Scotland. He died in 1931
The London Gazette records his commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the HLI as “Gentleman Cadet William Malcolm Fleming Hamilton … to be Second Lieutenant” — dated 14th August 1889
He appears as Captain W. M. F. Hamilton in Boer War shipping records (troopship Galician, Sept 1902), and was made a temporary Major on 5th August at the outbreak of WWI.
In March 1922 he retired and is listed among the Highland Light Infantry officers shown as Major (retired pay) who ceased to belong to the Reserve of Officers.
