The Hampshire Family Historian | Volume 49 No.4 | March 2023

Local Group Programmes

Contact: Keith Turner Email: fairoak@hgs-online.org.uk

Fair Oak

Meetings are normally held at 8pm on the second Tuesday monthly at St Thomas’ Church Hall (attached

to the church) Mortimers Lane. Doors open approx 7.30pm (November) Royal Hampshire Regiment 1702-1992 – Ian Taylor

Ian was very knowledgeable about the regiment and has written books including "The War History of 7th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment 1939-1946" and "11th (Royal Militia Island of Jersey) Battalion, the Hampshire Regiment 1940-1946”. The regiment was originally formed as the Meredith's Regiment 37th Foot in Dublin 1702. Later the 37th Foot was raised in North Hampshire and the 67th Foot in South Hampshire. The army reforms in the 1870s and 1880s merged the 37th and 65th Foot to become the Hampshire Regiment and in 1946 it became the Royal Hampshire Regiment. In 1992 it was merged with the Queen’s Regiment to become the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment. The Hampshire’s cap badge comprises a tiger (from service in India) and a rose (picked after victory at the Battle of Minden). Ian’s talk (including the Territorial force) took us through the Regiment’s various campaigns including Spanish Succession, American Independence, Austrian Succession, India, Ceylon, the Opium Wars, the Boer War and both World Wars. After this the regiment was posted to Palestine, Borneo, Ulster and Hong Kong. The regimental museum is at Serles House in Southgate Street, Winchester. The website address: https://www.royalhampshireregiment.org/ It does not contain any individual service records. Service records can be obtained from the Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow at 65 Brown Street, Glasgow, G2 8EX. https://www.army.mod.uk/people/joining-the-army/army-personnel centre/ (December) Christmas Social Despite the very cold conditions there was a large attendance for what was to be the last face to face meeting until Spring 2023. Angela gave a review of the Fair Oak Group 2022 meetings. The group was then split into 6 teams for a quiz based on the world events of 2022 and an animal picture round. We then had the usual American Supper which produced a wonderful spread. (January) Memsahibs and Servants – Jenny Mallin This was a return to the Zoom format for the first meetings of 2023. Jenny’s family includes a few generations who travelled to, lived and worked in India, and she gives talks on aspects of Indian life. This talk concerned the life of expatriate women in India from the late 1600s up to partition in 1947. The main British influence in India was through the East India Company. Initially they had a

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