Sergeant Major William Stewart

Photograph of Sergeant Major William Stewart standing facing forwards with his left hand resting on his sword. He is wearing cavalry uniform with two medals and a metal helmet with a plume. There is a patterned carpet on the floor and an upholstered chair just visible to the left. This photograph, printed by Jabez Hughes in 1883, is a carbon print pasted over the original photograph.

Sergeant Major William Stewart served with the 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards during the Crimean War. He was one of the men seen by Queen Victoria at Aldershot Garrison in 1856. Throughout the war she had taken an active interest in the welfare of the troops and on their return from the Crimea she met a number of the veterans at Buckingham Palace, Chatham Military Hospital and Aldershot Garrison. Following these meetings she commissioned a series of photographs of the veterans from the photographers Joseph Cundall and Robert Howlett.