|
The 33rd Regiment of Foot, Waterloo, 1815. Initially formed as Huntingdon's Regiment, in 1751 regiments were given numbers, and was from that time officially known as the 33rd Regiment of Foot. In 1782 the regiment's title was changed to the 33rd (or First Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment. The first Duke of Wellington died in 1852 and in the following year Queen Victoria, in recognition of the regiment's long ties to him, ordered that the regiment's title be changed to the 33rd (or The Duke of Wellington's) Regiment. Invariably further amalgamations took place, the most recent being in 2012, when the battalion was re-designated as the new 1st Battalion (1 Yorks) of the regiment.
In 1702 Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he did in and around the city of Gloucester. As was the custom in those days the regiment was named Huntingdon's Regiment after its Colonel. As Colonel succeeded Colonel the name changed, but in 1751 regiments were given numbers, and the regiment was from that time officially known as the 33rd Regiment of Foot. In 1782 the regiment's title was changed to the 33rd (or First Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment, thus formalising an association with the West Riding of Yorkshire which, even then, had been long established. The first Duke of Wellington died in 1852 and in the following year Queen Victoria, in recognition of the regiment's long ties to him, ordered that the regiment's title be changed to the 33rd (or The Duke of Wellington's) Regiment. In 1881, following the Childers Reforms, the 33rd was linked with the 76th Regiment of Foot, who shared their depot in Halifax. The 76th had first been raised in 1745, by Simon Harcourt and disbanded in 1746, re-raised in 1756 disbanded again in 1763, before being raised again in 1777, disbanded in 1784 and finally re-raised, in 1787, for service in India, by the Honorable East India Company. The two regiments became, respectively, the 1st and 2nd battalions of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment. In 1948 the 1st and 2nd battalions were amalgamated into a single battalion, the 1st Battalion. On 6 June 2006 the 'Dukes' were amalgamated with the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and the Green Howards to form the 3rd Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot). Following further mergers, in 2012, the battalion was redesignated as the new 1st Battalion (1 Yorks) of the regiment. |
