The Earl of Wemyss and March
www.GBMRT2016.org.uk
British competitive rifle shooting traces its origins to a meeting held at the Thatched-house Tavern, St
James’s on 16 November 1859, at which a “National Association for the encouragement of volunteer rifle corps
and the promotion of rifle shooting throughout Great Britain” - the National Rifle Association - was founded,
and at which my great-great-grandfather, Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho (later 9th Earl of Wemyss) became its
first Chairman of Council.
The Crimean War of 1854-56 had revealed that with new rifles accurate long-range rifle-fire was an
essential component of victory on the battlefield. At the Battle of the Alma, the British Army with its Minié
rifles had been able to inflict devastating causalities on the Russians at 1200-yards range, well beyond the 300yard range of the Russian muskets. On 14 January 1858 a group of Italian nationalists led by Felice Orsini
attempted to assassinate the Emperor Napoléon III by throwing three bombs, made in Birmingham, under the
Imperial carriage as it arrived at the opera. The Emperor was unscathed, but 10 bystanders were killed and
156 were injured. French military circles and public opinion clamoured for a War on Terror directed against
Britain.
The British Secretary of State for War, General Jonathan Peel, on 12 May 1859 called on the Lord
Lieutenants to set up Volunteer Rifle Corps, to promote the practice of rifle-shooting and to defend the country
against invasion. The enthusiasm of the public response was astonishing – by 1861, 160,000 men had joined usually at an annual subscription of £1 (5/- for artisans) or a life subscription of £10. The Times carried almost
daily reports of the activities of the Volunteers. Lord Elcho helped raise the 7th Middlesex (London Scottish)
Volunteer Rifle Corps, and was its Colonel and then honorary Colonel until 1900. To improve the aim of the
new volunteers, he and others at the Thatched-house Tavern meeting resolved to found the National Rifle
Association, and to hold annual competitive meetings on wild Wimbledon Common.
At the inaugural meeting on 2 July 1860, Queen Victoria was invited to fire the first shot. Mr Whitworth
and his assistants had attached a Whitworth rifle to a metal frame, under a circular canopy. The Queen pulled
a string attached to the trigger, and scored a “centre”, worth 3 points, which Elcho described as “the first bull’s
eye on our then iron target that rang through the Common, and proclaimed to the world that our shop-keeping
people were about to bloom into a nation of riflemen.” The Times’ leading article proclaimed that “HER
MAJESTY yesterday inaugurated the Rifle as our national weapon....HER MAJESTY’S own shot yesterday
proved the perfection to which we have brought our national arm. At the distance of 400 yards the bullet
deviated only an inch and three-quarters in elevation, and four-fifths of an inch from the direct line.” The
Queen’s shot is depicted on the right-hand side of the Elcho Shield. The Queen donated the Queen’s Prize of
£250 – worth about £50,000 today – which, along with the NRA’s gold medal and badge, was won by Captain
Edward Ross of North Yorkshire.
The Wimbledon meetings became at once very popular and very fashionable, and made a lasting
contribution to national and imperial defence. I hope and trust that the Great Britain team’s visit to Australia
in 2016 will continue the proud tradition of its mid-Victorian progenitors.
The Earl of Wemyss and March
June 2015
The Earl of Wemyss and March, Bisley, UK