The Hertfordshire Yeomanry was a Yeomanry Cavalry regiment of the British Army that could trace its formation to the late 18th century. First seeing mounted service in the Second Boer War and World War I, it subsequently converted to artillery. Three regiments saw service in World War II, one of which was captured at the fall of Singapore. It continued through various postwar amalgamations and its lineage was maintained by 201 (Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Battery, 100th (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery until that unit was placed in suspended animation in 2014.
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars After Britain was drawn into the French Revolutionary Wars, Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger proposed on 14 March 1794 that the counties should form a force of Volunteer Yeoman Cavalry (Yeomanry) that could be called on by the King to defend the country against invasion or by the Lord Lieutenant to subdue any civil disorder within the county. By the end of the year 27 counties had raised Yeomanry, including Hertfordshire. On 7 May 1794 the Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, the Marquess of Salisbury, called a meeting at Hertford that opened a subscription list to provide arms and uniforms, and resolved to raise a force of yeomanry that could be embodied in defence of the county. The first were recruited on 21 June and by the end of the year five independent troops of 50 sabres had been raised:
Northern Troop, commanded by Captain W. Hale of King's Walden Western Troop, commanded by Capt the Hon George Villiers of The Grove, Watford Southern Troop, commanded by Capt Sir George Prescott, 1st Baronet, of Theobalds Park, Cheshunt Eastern Troop, commanded by Capt John Calvert of Albury Centre Troop, commanded by Capt the Hon Penistone Lamb of Brocket Hall In the spring of 1798 the threat of invasion seemed more acute, and the government encouraged the formation of local armed associations of cavalry and infantry for purely local defence. The following Volunteer Cavalry units were formed in Hertfordshire:
Beechwood Troop, commanded by Capt Sir John Sebright, 7th Baronet, of Beechwood Park Sawbridgeworth Troop. commanded by Capt Michael Hankin A Troop was raised in the parishes of Layston, Wyddial and Throcking under Capt J.G. Franklin with the Rev John Hull as Lieutenant, but this was short-lived. In addition a Troop of horse or 'flying' artillery was formed to support the Yeomanry, commanded by Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet, of Wormleybury There was little difference between the Yeomanry and the Volunteer Cavalry, and they were treated similarly. All seven Troops were on parade at Hatfield Park (the Marquess of Salisbury's country house) when the Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteers of the county were reviewed by King George III on 13 June 1800. The Yeomanry of Hertfordshire seem to have rarely been called out on service. The 'Hitchin Cavalry' (presumably the Northern Troop from nearby King's Walden) once went to Ware to deal with riotous behaviour by strikers, but little is known of the events. All the Volunteer Cavalry were disbanded after the Treaty of Amiens, but the peace was short-lived, and on the resumption of war the Hertfordshire units were reformed in August 1803 with an additional Troop, giving the county the following Yeomanry and Volunteer Cavalry by 1805:
Southern Troop, Major Sir Abraham Hume, 135 men Horse Artillery, Capt John Cook Northern Troop, Capt Adolphus Meetkerke of Rushden, 70 men Eastern Troop, Capt John Calvert, 70 men Beechwood Troop, Capt Sir John Sebright, 70 men Sawbridgeworth Troop, Capt Michael Hankin Ashridge Troop, Lt-Gen the Earl of Bridgewater, 50 men Midland Troop, Capt the Hon Penistone Lamb, 120 men Western Troop, Capt the Hon G. Villiers, 80 men On 20 August 1803 Sir Abraham Hume assumed command of the South Hertfordshire Legion, an all-arms 'battle group' consisting of the Southern Troop of Yeomanry Cavalry, the Horse Artillery Troop, and the Cheshunt and Wormley Volunteer Infantry, one of the infantry units that had been raised in the county. After the death of Capt Penistone Lamb in January 1805 he was succeeded in command by his brother the Hon William Lamb. Similarly, after the resignation of Capt George Villiers, his elder brother the Earl of Clarendon was promoted from Cornet to command in his place. As the threat of French invasion declined after the Battle of Trafalgar, funding for the Volunteer Cavalry was reduced from 1806, and interest and numbers declined. During the Great Fire of Stevenage, troopers from the Herts Yeomanry assisted the local volunteer firefighters. The Beechwood Troop was disbanded by July 1807, and the Ashridge and Sawbridgeworth Troops by early March 1809. The Yeomanry Troops continued in existence, but resisted being organised into a single regiment.
19th century The Yeomanry declined in importance and strength after the end of the French wars, and by 1824 all the Hertfordshire Troops had been disbanded. However, a wave of civil unrest across Britain from 1830 led to a revival of the Yeomanry and new Troops were formed in Hertfordshire from December that year. First came two troops of Light Dragoons designated the South Herts Yeomanry Cavalry, shortly joined by a third troop at Hertford. Then came a number of independent troops across the county so that by March 1831 they totalled seven: South Hertfordshire Yeomanry Cavalry (Light Dragoons)
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