English Blue Grey Kersey

[DBURT]

Hi Everyone

A couple of questions on the English imported blue grey kersey.
Does anyone know which firm in Manchester England produced this
cloth ?
And what did the British army use it for,when the standard British coat was scarlet ?

Many thanks
Dave Burt Co G 18th VA ACWS UK

[markj]

Hi Everyone

A couple of questions on the English imported blue grey kersey.
Does anyone know which firm in Manchester England produced this
cloth ?
And what did the British army use it for,when the standard British coat was scarlet ?

Many thanks
Dave Burt Co G 18th VA ACWS UK

Greetings,

I e-mailed an English uniform researcher acquaintance of mine about your question but he wasn't aware of a Manchester firm that produced this type of cloth. Are you perhaps thinking of the Irish enterprise of Peter Tait?

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[DBURT]

Greetings,

I e-mailed an English uniform researcher acquaintance of mine about your question but he wasn't aware of a Manchester firm that produced this type of cloth. Are you perhaps thinking of the Irish enterprise of Peter Tait?

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

Hi Mark

According to surviving records the first shipment of this English Army Cloth used for enlisted clothing was purchased in Manchester England by Major J B Ferguson in April 1863.This is according to the New Richmond Depot catalogue by Chris White
I always thought S Issac Campbell of London produced this Cloth.
Iknow Tait Also used the same Cloth,but did his firm produce it or was it imported from England
Dave Burt ACWS England

[Tom Ezell]

A couple of questions on the English imported blue grey kersey. Does anyone know which firm in Manchester England produced this cloth ?

And what did the British army use it for,when the standard British coat was scarlet ?

Abimelich Hainsworth company, textile producers in England, still produce the same blue-grey cloth that was shipped through the blockade, and also used in the making of the Tait jackets. County Cloth's old "K-7 Kersey" came from this source.

This material is currently being produced for the manufacture of overcoats for several British Guard regiments.

As for the standard British coats, they weren't all red. Various regiments in the Queen's service differed widely from one another in their uniforms. There was a great deal of uniformity within the regiment, but from one to another, there were often significant differences... Compare, for example the uniform of the Coldstream Guard with that of the Black Watch to the Queen's Household Cavalry. With respect to the dress uniforms, many of the Queen's regiments are still that way.

Way over in Limerick, I understand that the oiginal records of the Peter Tait Company are still stashed somewhere, if anyone has an interest in that direction...

Tom

[markj]

Hi Mark

According to surviving records the first shipment of this English Army Cloth used for enlisted clothing was purchased in Manchester England by Major J B Ferguson in April 1863.This is according to the New Richmond Depot catalogue by Chris White
I always thought S Issac Campbell of London produced this Cloth.
Iknow Tait Also used the same Cloth,but did his firm produce it or was it imported from England
Dave Burt ACWS England

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the info. You might want to contact Mr. Ron Field, a countryman of yours, as he is currently working on a book about Confederate uniforms, equipage, &c., &c. Here is his e-mail:

RDFSWELL@aol.com

Tell him Mark Jaeger sent you. I'm currently supplying him interesting information from the Jackson, Mississippi "Weekly Missippian."

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[DBURT]

Mark
Many thanks for giving me Ron Fields email address.
I got a reply from him this morning, and he thinks that the blue grey Kersey was used for British army trousers at that time.
I think I might have found out who the Manchester Firm was who major JB
Ferguson bought the first lot of material from,Ithink it was Alexander Collie &
Co, who had a factory in Manchester at the time.
Of course if anyone has any further information......
Dave Burt ACWS UK

[Clark Badgett]

I am not real sure but I think Brit overcoats as well as trowsers may have been made of the B/G cloth. I seem to remember seeing it somewhere in some article I read about Brit uniforms and equipage many years ago, but for the life of me can't recall which one.

[Jimmayo]

Has anyone compared the English Army Cloth from England with the product being manufactured in the US? I have seen it in two thickness from several different vendors.

[SCTiger]

Jim,

Did the Coleman 6th SC Tait jacket originally have wooden buttons in place of the current SC state buttons that now decorate it? It seems to me that I viewed an earlier picture of the same jacket and it had wooden dish buttons.
Has someone altered the jacket?

Also I have done alot of searching but, I have found no other photos of the ACW era English Blue Grey Kersey. There have been many stories in both theaters that SC troops were identifiable by these unique uniforms, to possibly include the 26th SC in the Mississippi Campaign.

[Blum]

Here is the url of the firm :

http://www.abimelech.co.uk/index2.html