Lot 5598

Description

12th Regiment of Foot shako, black cloth with leather brim and bottom edge trim, with brass 12th Regiment shako plate (QVC), small, metal image of Medusa near top back, with cream woollen pompom at top front, leather chinstrap, leather sweatband and lined with magneta silk, blocked maker's name, Besch & Co/10 & 11 Hanover St/Hanover St (repeated) London'. A few spots with loss of material, pompom dirty, lining damaged, otherwise shako fine, helmet plate, obviously a new addition, nearly uncirculated.

The 12th Regiment served in Australia 1854-1861 in NSW, Victoria and Van Diemen's Land. In October 1854 they, along with the 40th Regiment, took part in quelling an uprising by the gold miners at the Battle of Eureka Stockade. They also served in the New Zealand Wars in the early 1860s before returning to England in 1867.