Richard Simkin 1850-1926

Simkin was born in Herne Bay, Kent, on 5 November 1850, (some references cite 1840) the son of a commercial traveller, also named Richard.  After marrying his wife, Harriet, in 1880, He spent much of his time at Aldershot, Hampshire, and may also have been a volunteer in the Artists Rifles.  He was employed by the War Office to design recruiting posters, and to illustrate the Army and Navy Gazette. In 1901, he created a series of 'Types of the Indian Army' for the Gazette. he obtained much of the information from the Colonial and India Exhibition of 1886. During his lifetime, he, along with Orlando Norrie produced thousands of watercolours depicting the uniforms and campaigns of the British Army.  Simkin also contributed illustrations to numerous publications including the Boy’s Own Magazine, The Graphic and others; many were published by Raphael Tuck and sons. 
He died at his home at 7 Cavendish Street, Herne Bay on 25 June 1926, survived by his wife and two daughters. Today, his pictures can be seen in numerous regimental museums and his illustrations appear in regimental histories, while watercolours occasionally come up for auction. 

Simkin R. Royal Scots Fusiliers [Various ranks  1884] 
Watercolour, museum matted, glazed gilt-wood frame 
Image: 9 1/4 x 12 1/4" ( 23 1/4 x 31.1 cm)  Frame: 20 1/4 x 23 /4"

The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959.

The regiment was not fundamentally affected by the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, which gave it a depot at Churchill Barracks in Ayr from 1873, or by the Childers Reforms of 1881 – as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment. Under the reforms the regiment became The Royal Scots Fusiliers on 1 July 1881. It became the County Regiment of Ayrshire, Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire and Wigtownshire in South-West Scotland. This made them a Lowland Regiment and forced them to adopt trews. Wikipedia

Ref. 624 RY8 (179)/ RNN /r.ando>SNN    PRICE CODE D

Simkin R.  80th. Staffordshire Volunteers, 1812  Four uniform studies 
Watercolour, Museum matted, glazed gilt-wood frame

10 1/4 x 13 1/2" inc. letters  (26 x 34.3 cm) Frame 16 3/4 x 20" 
Ref. 625 RY9 (179)/RNN/r.ando>SNN    PRICE CODE D

The regiment was raised by Lord Henry Paget as the 80th Regiment of Foot, in response to the threat posed by the French Revolution, on 9 December 1793.[2] The regiment was largely recruited from the Staffordshire Militia and comprised men living on the estates of Paget's father, The Earl of Uxbridge. In 1802 they chose to be merged with the 80th Foot, which became the 80th Regiment of Foot (Staffordshire Volunteers) and saw many Colonial postings.
See: Original Letter from Lord Paget

Simkin R.  80th. Staffordshire Volunteers, Undress  uniforms.
 1846-56     1856-70   1870-80
Watercolour, Signed (Bottom Right) Museum matted , Glazed gilt-wood frame

10 1/4 x 13" inc. letters  (26 x 33 cm) Frame 16 3/4 x 20" 

Ref. 626 RY10 (179)/ RNN /r.ando> SNN   PRICE CODE D

Private 1742	Grenadier 1768
Officer 1808	Officer 1826 (Levee Dress)

 
 
 Band Corporal and Drummer 1843 (Marching Order)

Simkin R. Uniform Studies.
Watercolours, Signed (Bottom Right)  matted, glazed, gilt-wood frames 5 1/2" >6 3/4" x 4" approx. inc. letters. Each (14>17.1 x 10.2 cm.) each   Frame:13 x 10" each.

Ref. 627- 631 RY11-15 (179)/DSL each/r.ando>ENN each    PRICE CODE B 

Simkin R. The 30th. Foot Storming of Badajoz, 6 April 1812

Watercolour, Signed  (Bottom Right)  titled on mount, matted, glazed, gilt-wood frame
8 3/4 x 10 1/2" ( 22.2 x 26.2 cm) Frame: 14 1/2 x 19"

The siege was one of the bloodiest in the Napoleonic Wars and was considered a costly victory by the British, with some 4,800 Allied soldiers killed or wounded in a few short hours of intense fighting during the storming of the breaches as the siege drew to an end. Wellington is reported to have wept at the sight of so many casualties.

The 2nd Battalion, 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot embarked for Portugal in March 1809 for service in the Peninsular War. It fought at the Siege of Badajoz in March 1812: the battalion's losses were 6 officers including the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel George Grey, and 132 other ranks. It also saw action at the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812; at Salamanca, Ensign John Pratt, a junior officer in the battalion, captured the French Imperial Eagle of the 22nd Regiment de Ligne. It went on to fight at the Siege of Burgos in September 1812 before returning home in December 1812. The battalion subsequently landed in Holland and fought at the Battle of Quatre Bras and the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815.

Ref. 632  RY16 (179)/AOL /r.ando>VOL    PRICE CODE  D

Richard SIMKIN
British
1850-1926
Royal Horse Guards 1887

Watercolours on paper Signed titled and dated, matted, glazed and framed.
11 x 8 ¾" (28 x 22.2 cm.) Frame: 17 5/8 x 14 5/8"
Ref. 644 GH 120(140)/ ANN/ dd.amdo > LNN  PRICE CODE C

Depicts a guardsman of 'The Royals' in full ceremonial dress, mounted on his handsome black charger.
In 1750 the regiment became the Royal Horse Guards Blue and eventually, in 1877, the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues).
The regiment served in the French Revolutionary Wars and in the Peninsular War. Two squadrons fought, with distinction, in the Household Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo. The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards has its origins in the Regiment of Cuirassiers raised by Sir Arthur Haselrig on the orders of Oliver Cromwell.

Provenance:
Arthur Reader London England 1973
The Rev. Maj. Donald Howson collection, Peterborough, Ont.1973- 2019
Lord Russborough’s Annex, Port Hope.

 

James P.  10th Hussars Officer in Review Order 1833
Watercolour, Signed & dated '82 (Bottom Right) Museum matted, glazed, black wood, gilt lip frame   11 x 10 1/4" ( 28 x 26 cm.)  Frame 20 x 18 1/2"

Ref.  633 RY17 (179)/ANN/r.ando>GNN    PRICE CODE C

The 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army raised in 1715. In 1806, the regiment was re-designated, this time becoming a hussar regiment as the 10th (Prince of Wales's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars), and sailed for the Peninsula War. As part of the 6th Cavalry Brigade, the regiment charged the French cavalry and infantry at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815.