Coastguard connections
QThis is a not very sharp photo, captioned in contemporary writing on the reverse stating ‘Coastguardsmen Pembroke’. The photo is in a family collection (not with me) of photos of our naval ancestors. Walter James Pollard 1818-1879 (who died while serving on Southampton training ship Hull) is the likely connection. His wife was Jane Rebecca Keane of Co. Clare and newspaper reports reference him in coastguards in Co. Clare/ Limerick. The other photo is a group on presumably HMS Resolute which includes my surgeon grandfather E.R.H. Pollard who died 1906.
AThe coastguard service was part of the Royal Navy until 1923, so their officers and men wore naval uniforms.
• A formal uniform for ‘ratings’ (men who weren’t officers) was not standardised until 1857, but the coastguards in this photo all wear the loose-fitting, baggy uniforms characteristic of the late 1850s and early 1860s.
• I’m not an expert on firearms, but their guns look like the 1856 or 1858 pattern naval rifle which also helps to confirm the date https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/382693
• The man standing to the left is an officer and wears the tiny cap that was common to the same period. The photo may have been taken at Pembroke in Wales, but the coastguard service was given
a ship called HMS Pembroke in 1858, so these men may have been serving on that vessel.
• In your second photo, the young boy sat down has ‘HMS Resolution’ on his cap ribbon (rather than ‘Resolute’). This ship was commissioned in 1893 but your surgeon ancestor did not serve on it according to his naval records. Your grandfather, standing behind the seated girl with hands clasped, wears the uniform of a Deputy Inspector General, a promotion he attained on 23 August 1899. So the photo was taken after this date.
• The ladies and children on board may be the family of senior officers, but I note that your grandfather served on the Royal Yacht, HMS Victoria & Albert, in June 1900. In which case, these guests including the boy sailor, may be members of the Royal family and household. If a Royal party had toured several ships, the boy could have been given an HMS Resolution cap earlier in the day. It might be worth investigating further to see if you can identify them. SW