A Brief History of B

Most people have no idea that B was born in India, both sides of his family having been there with The Raj for a couple of hundred years.  It's all very fascinating to me.  His kith and kin ran the government, the railways and were an integral part of both the Indian and British armies, as well as the Gurkhas.

Examining a photo of his great-grandfather, grandfather and uncle, we wondered about the medal great-grandfather Walsh was wearing?  Turns out it was the India Medal, awarded for military campaigns from 1895 to 1902.  In this photo, Walsh would have been a captain, posing with his sons George Walsh on the right (B's grandfather) and Jack on the left.  (I have to say that B looks like his great-grandfather, the guy standing, but B's son, Scott, looks like his great-grandfather.)  A member of the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars, great-grandfather Walsh eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, but sadly that's all we know about this ancestor and brave soldier.  Formed in Londonderry in 1693 as a Dragoon Regiment, the regiment was renamed in 1777 for George III as the 8th and became the Hussars in 1822.

The 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars was formed in Ireland after James II had been pushed out of Ireland by the men of Ulster, who had supported William of Orange.  What a history, but not much has changed in Northern Ireland. 

Here they are in all their ferocious and regal glory: