1690 AUTOGRAPHED vellum document SIGNED by CHARLES II

1690 AUTOGRAPHED vellum document SIGNED by CHARLES II

ESTABLISHMENT of the KINGS OWN REGIMENT

CHARLES II (1630-1685), King of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Autograph letter on VELLUM signed (‘Charles R’)

13th day of July, 1680

The document is written Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland

Autograph letter on VELLUM signed (‘Charles R’) to Henry Cheffers (Chivers?), appointing him Captain in a Regiment “to be raised for our service” and under the command of Charles’ son, Earl of Plymouth [This being the King's Own Royal Regiment].

13th day of July, 1680

The document is written Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland
English statesman who was one of the most influential advisers during the reigns of Charles II, James II, and William III. His ability to shift allegiances was both the secret of his success and the cause of his unpopularity.

Spencer was the only son and heir of the 1st Earl of Sunderland, and in 1679 he became secretary of state. In January 1681 he was dismissed from office for voting to exclude Charles II’s Roman Catholic brother James, Duke of York (later King James II), from the succession. Nevertheless, he was reinstated as secretary of state in January 1683 and became the architect of Charles’s pro-French foreign policy. Although he served as chief minister under King James II, Sunderland could maintain his position only by acquiescing to the king’s pro-Catholic policies. To win the queen’s support, he converted to Roman Catholicism in June 1688, but in October he was dismissed in a desperate effort by James to regain popular support.

The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, first raised on July 13, 1680, as the 2nd Tangier, or Earl of Plymouth's Regiment of Foot. It saw service for nearly three centuries.

The regiment's first battle honour was gained at Namur (1695) during the War of the Augsburg League, 1688-1697. Soon after they again saw action at Gibraltar in 1704-1705, Guadeloupe 1759, and St. Lucia 1778. During the Napoleonic Wars they fought at Corunna, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, San Sebastian, Nive, Peninsula, Bladensburg, and Waterloo. During the Crimean War the regiment fought at Alma, Inkerman, Sevastopol, before also seeing action at Abyssinia, South Africa 1879, the Relief of Ladysmith, and South Africa 1899-1902.

The regiment also saw colonial service in Australia from 1832 until 1837, being stationed variously at Tasmania, Sydney, Victoria South Australia, and the Swan River Colony under the command of Lieut. Colonel J. K. McKenzie.

During the Great War, the regiment received battle honours for France, Greece, Turkey, and Mesopotamia, and during the Second World War, they received honours for France, NW Europe, Iraq, Syria, N. Africa, Italy, Malta, and Burma.

The regiment received the freedom of Lancaster in 1953, before being amalgamated with The Border Regiment into the The King's Own Royal Border Regiment on October 31, 1959.

Document spotted and a little stained.


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