Sergeant William Knapp

10" x 8" glass plate negative showing Sergeant William Knapp seated, facing front, holding a rifle in one of his hands. He is wearing military uniform and has a rucksack on his back. There is a round water bottle and a bearskin hat on the table beside him.

Sergeant William Knapp served with the Coldstream Guards during the Crimean War. Throughout the war Queen Victoria 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. 

The glass plate negative has been photographed showing the coated side and therefore the image appears laterally reversed. Prints from this negative do not seem to exist in the Collection but a variant is represented by RCIN 2500202.