Quartermaster John Tempest c1740

This sketch made by W Y Carman is from a portrait that hung in Tong Hall, Bradford in West Yorkshire. The sitter is said to be John Tempest who was the 3rd son of Sir George Tempest Bt. In the Army List he is a Quartermaster, entering Churchill's Dragoons as a cornet, from the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, on 3 Nov 1735. He was promoted to, or purchased, the rank of lieutenant on 19 May 1740. In the Remarks column it says he was ‘Incapable of service 26th Aug 1746’. The coat is quite plain apart from the silver laced button-holes, and the plaited silver cord aiguillette hanging from his right shoulder. The flap on the cuff has six buttons and button-holes, and the lace strips beneath the flap are diagonal. This developed in later years into inverted lace chevrons, the distinction of dragoon uniform until c1855. The dragoon uniform worn in the portrait of Colonel Charles Churchill has similarities but is more elaborate.
The earliest regulation of officers’ uniform is in the Royal Warrant of 1 July 1751 which says of the 10th: ‘Officers—to be distinguished by silver lace, their coats and waistcoats bound with silver embroidery; the button-holes worked with silver, and a crimson silk sash worn across the left shoulder.’ In this sketch there is a hint of silver lace embroidery on the waistcoat.

Regimental Details | Uniforms