what is the history behind the 'honourary' ranks (e.g.honourary
colonel)within the British and Commonwealth armed forces?

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 13 Feb 2004 12:29 PST

Does this answer your question with reagrd to this history of buying a
commission? If so I can close your question for you if you like.

FORRESTDALE RESEARCH
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/forrestdale/Purchase.html


Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 13 Feb 2004 12:31 PST

Here is another:

PURCHASE SYSTEM & PAY SCALE
http://www.cwreenactors.com/~crimean/purchsys.htm

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

Dear 4me2no-ga

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question. Honestly I don?t know what else I can add that would prove
more informative than the links I gave you, which, as you can clearly
see are quite comprehensive in their details about the history and
origin of purchased commissions.

Since you are agreeable to accept my links as an answer I will focus
mainly on providing you with other resources on the subject that may
add to what you have already learned; though, as you know, I would be
hard pressed to find better examples than these two, which you have
already seen:

FORRESTDALE RESEARCH
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/forrestdale/Purchase.html

PURCHASE SYSTEM & PAY SCALE
http://www.cwreenactors.com/~crimean/purchsys.htm

But I did find these which I found very interesting and informative:

HEARTS OF OAK
http://www.oak.netfirms.com/chap2.html

COMPATIBLE INCENTIVES AND THE PURCHASES OF MILITARY COMMISSIONS
http://www.sfu.ca/~allen/army.pdf

BBC: HISTORY TRAIL ? WARS AND CONFLICT
?BUYING A COMMISSION?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/lj/warslj/soldier_05.shtml


It seems that some of the most notable men to have had a purchased
their commissions were was none other than Napoleon, Wellington and
George Washington himself:

?For Alicia's sons, Anthony and George Washington, Vesey purchased
commissions in the army and they both had distinguished military
careers. Anthony having been commissioned in the 1st Life Guards as
medical officer became Inspector General of Army Medical Services. His
wife, Sarah Pearson, came from a landed family near Clondalkin in Co.
Dublin. George Washington when first commissioned had Lieutenant
Arthur Wellesley as his senior officer and with Wellesley he remained
during the whole of his service.?

DUFFRY HALL
http://members.fortunecity.com/chtii/colclough/cap7.htm


Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future.

Again, thank you for allowing me to answer your question for you and
thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher


INFORMATION SOURCES

Defined above


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINES USED:

Google ://www.google.com




SEARCH TERMS USED:

Purchased commission

Bought their commission

Buying a commission

No where near an answer, but you may find this page of interest.

"Militia and Volunteer regiments also had Colonels. These were
typically important local gentry who had not necessarily served in the
regiment. These became "Honorary Colonels" when they were absorbed
into larger regimental families in order to distinguish them from the
overall "Colonel" or "Colonel Commandant" of the family. In some
instances, the Honorary Colonel has been a member of the royal family
(since the 1990s titled "Royal Honorary Colonel"), and these were
sometimes elevated to the title of "Colonel in Chief". In some
instances, a royal appointment has existed conjointly with a non-royal
Honorary Colonel."

http://www.regiments.org/milhist/regtintro/ranks.htm

Thanks, Answerfinder-ga
I understood that there was a system of "buying a commission" in the
British and Commonwealth armed forces and I need to know the genesis
of that practice.

tutzdad-ga
Good Work! Thanks.
You can close it off