Captain Annesley and friend

A carte-de-visite portrait of two men sharing a few bottles of Bass Pale Ale.

One of the men is identified as Captain William Grove Annesley of the 6th (the Royal Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot.

His obituary appeared in the Cork Constitution on 10 April 1873: ‘Drogheda, Tuesday – I regret to announce the death, after a lingering illness, of Captain William Grove Annesley, 2nd battalion her Majesty’s 6th Regiment, fourth son of the late Lieutenant-Colonel Hon. Arthur Annesley, of Annesgrove, county Cork, which took place at Millmount, Drogheda, on the 6th inst. The distinguished officer entered the 6th regiment early in 1852, and has been the whole of his service, now upwards of twenty one years, in the same regiment. He was with it at the Cape of Good Hope from the year 1853 to 1857, when he proceeded with it to the East Indies, arriving in February 1858. He served throughout the Indian Mutiny in the May and June of that eventful year, and was with his regiment when engaged with the rebels in the Judgespore jungles, for which he obtained a medal. On the 15th February 1858 he obtained his company. He subsequently exchanged to the 2nd battalion of his regiment, and served at Gibraltar, Corfu, and in Jamaica, where he married. He returned in May 1867 and since that time his regiment has been on home service. He was held in high esteem by his brother officers and beloved by his regiment, and his loss is greatly deplored, several families being placed in mourning by his death. A full military funeral will take place on Thursday next, in which all the officers off duty will take part.’

The Jamaican marriage referred to in the obituary took place at Port Royal Mountains in Jamaica on 8 March 1866. The bride was ‘Eliza, second daughter of John Taylor, Esq, of Good Hope, Jamaica’ (Wexford Independent, 7 April 1866).

Photographed by Wheeler and Day of Oxford