Hi all, I don't know if I should be posting this here as it is not a military timepiece, but it does have military connections.
I have just bought this 30 hour white dial oak cased longcase clock. The dial, movement and case are typical of the 1780/1820 period, and the maker's name on the dial is George Fish of Northampton (England), who is recorded as a clockmaker in Northampton in 1793. On the oak door is an oval brass plaque inscribed as follows:- Presented to SARGt. WRIGHT by the Non Commission'd OFFICERS and MEN of No.2 Company 48th N.M. as a token of respect. I am now in the process of trying to find out anything about life and service career of Sergeant Wright. The 48th was in existance from 1741 to 1860 and known as the Northampton Militia and were designated the 48th Regiment of Foot. Their first battle honour was at Louisburg in 1758. I have managed to find out quite a lot about the Militia, but details of Sgt. Wright of number 2 Company may prove to be a little more difficult. He may have been in the Peninsula War of 1807 to 1814 against Napolian as the 48th were involved in this campaign and the time scale would fit in with the age of the clock.
I apologise if I have posted this in the wrong section.

Peter

A close up of the brass plate.

Nice clock with some history behind it.Let us know if you find any more info on Sargent Wright.

I found one reference that talked about the numbering of the militias, and how they changed over time. It said that the Northampton Militia was given different numbers over its life as it was formed and reformed and as other militias were formed and reformed. This said that when it was first created ranking was the 36th militia. Then in 1779 it was reranked and became the 18th militia. Subsequently it became the 33rd militia regiment in 1780, the 44th in 1781, and the 37th in 1782. In 1793 it became the 45th, in 1803 it became the 29th and then when it was reformed in 1833 it finally became the 48th militia regiment. In 1860 it was combined with the Rutland militia to become the Northampton and Rutland militia regiment.

From all of this, the clock would have been presented to Sergeant Wright sometime after 1833 when the regiment was named the 48th. It could even have been presented well after the regiment ceased to exist in 1860 as a remembrance after everyone had retired.

Since the only major war between 1833 and 1860 in which this regiment would have fought was the Crimean War which took place from October 1853 to February 1856, my guess is that the presentation would have been a remembrance for their time during that confict and in which their Sergeant kept his men alive. At some point after they had returned to England from the war and were having annual veterans reunions or such they would have decided to all pitch in and buy him this clock with the plaque so it would be at some point after 1856 perhaps sometime between then and up to ten years or so afterwards.