Military button ID please

Finds and artefacts found while out metal detecting which require identifying.
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epmg
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Military button ID please

Post by epmg »

ID sought for this 19mm military button. Looks like ' R ? R' on the front, 'I & ? Hunter, London' as the back mark .Thanks.
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LuckyB
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Post by LuckyB »

It will be a militia button from the 1800s, this is a good website to identify it further
https://asahelena.wixsite.com/militaryb ... uttons-p-r
Bardolph
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Post by Bardolph »

Royal Garrison Battalion.png
Possibly this one, the Royal Garrison Battalion, founded by American loyalists during the War of Independence as a unit of the British Army and disbanded around 1805
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ManOnTheMoon
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Post by ManOnTheMoon »

The lettering on the front face of the button looks like it might be 'RBR', 'RPR' or 'RRR', but what that represents I don't know.

The British Military Buttons website, noted by LuckyB, has a contact form and email address, so a friendly message of enquiry sent there might prove useful?

EDIT: I am leaning more towards the middle letter being a 'P', but a couple more photos with slightly brighter, suitably angled lighting would help.
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Post by LuckyB »

I think Bardolph has it [81/]
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fred
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Post by fred »

LuckyB wrote: Tue Nov 19, 2024 8:51 am I think Bardolph has it [81/]
Similar but I don't think that it's the same initials. [88/] Another light brush and a couple more photos with the light from different directions might help. Also on the top part of the back. [81/]
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Post by LuckyB »

Yes you might be right Fred, if the OP can get a better photo we might be able to pin it down, on closer inspection the 2nd letter is probably not a G after all. I do struggle with that script, too many flourishs and twirly bits! [87/]
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Post by fred »

LuckyB wrote: Tue Nov 19, 2024 10:34 am Yes you might be right Fred, if the OP can get a better photo we might be able to pin it down, on closer inspection the 2nd letter is probably not a G after all. I do struggle with that script, too many flourishs and twirly bits! [87/]
The button maker is I&M Hunter of St Martins Lane, London. They are recorded as being active in the early part of the 19thC making livery buttons. That ties in nicely with the appearance and construction of the button so we now just have to work out whether it really is military or something else.

My suspicion is that it belongs to the 1st Regiment of the Liverpool Rifle Volunteers who, unlike the other Regiments in the same grouping, were known as Royal So RLR in script. The illustration on the website has LRV on the buttons, as worn by the other Liverpool regiments, but the design and script is remarkably similar. I wonder where it was found? [88/]
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Post by epmg »

Thanks for your furher thoughts on this, BTW the button was found in London. I have attached two more shots after more cleaning, I now think the middle letter is a 'P' so it reads 'RPR'. It's useful to know the maker was I&M Hunter, known for livery buttons around the 1800s, but would that imply the button is not military? ( It depends on how exclusive the button makers were at the time I guess).
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Koala
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Post by Koala »

Back marks look Victorian

Crown looks Victorian

Which fits with I & M Hunter, St Martins Lane London

Which is normal found on livery buttons



First and last letters look like the same R both curl outwards, almost certainly not ending in a B

Middle looks like a B to me

Although this does not help much

Probably ends railway or regiment
Hunter.jpg
images (1).jpeg
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Post by Leg end »

Royal Pioneer Regiment? :~#)
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Post by fred »

Leg end wrote: Wed Nov 20, 2024 2:33 pm Royal Pioneer Regiment? :~#)
The army has always had pioneers but I don't think that there was ever such a regiment. Nearest I can get is the Royal Pioneer Corps and that was founded in 1939. [81/]

Likewise I've looked through all the defunct and recent railway companies but to no avail. [81/]
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Post by Dave The Slave »

fred wrote: Wed Nov 20, 2024 4:09 pm The army has always had pioneers but I don't think that there was ever such a regiment. Nearest I can get is the Royal Pioneer Corps and that was founded in 1939. [81/]
Spot on, Fred [81/] .
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Post by fred »

Dave The Slave wrote: Wed Nov 20, 2024 4:11 pm Spot on, Fred [81/] .
This button is really, really annoying. It should be easy to pin down but it isn't. [88/]
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Post by Dave The Slave »

fred wrote: Wed Nov 20, 2024 4:18 pm This button is really, really annoying. It should be easy to pin down but it isn't. [88/]
Yep, spent some time looking for this. [81/]
Still think it`s Napoleonic Militia.
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