Talk:55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot

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Spelling: Westmoreland vs. Westmorland[edit]

This article has been edited to change the county title to the modern spelling "Westmorland." Even if Westmorland is the current accepted spelling for the (former) county itself, I submit that it would be more appropriate for the article to keep the archaic spelling "Westmoreland Regiment" as this is the spelling used to refer to the regiment while it existed (i.e. from the adoption of county titles circa 1783 until the regiment was amalgamated into The Border Regiment in 1881) and is still the spelling used in modern printed sources referring to this regiment.

The spelling Westmoreland was used in contemporary references to the regiment.

The spelling Westmoreland is used in history books when writing about this regiment, e.g. English and Welsh Infantry Regiments 1995 ISBN 1873376243.

The spelling Westmoreland is what was written on the colours and insignia (e.g. post-1843 officer's belt-plate shown on page 109 of above cited work).

Why should the regiment's name be retroactively changed to a modern spelling which was not used in that context? Neitz (talk) 03:50, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The spelling is mixed. Both Westmorland and Westmoreland were used throughout the history of the 55th's attachment to the county in newspapers (see the archives of The Times) and in books. The principal book being A Historical Account of the services of the 34th & 55th Regiments, 1875 by the Quartermaster of the Cumberland and Westmorland brigade.

Quoting a letter from the Commander in Chief of the British Army, 31 August, 1872;

Sir,–His Majesty having been pleased to order that the regiment of foot which you command shall take the county name of the Fifty-Fifth or Westmorland Regiment, and be looked upon as attached to that county.

You of course have a point about the colours (which I haven't seen, I presume that they are still in Kendal). To be perfectly honest just because a recent book has it in doesn't make it right. --Harlsbottom (talk) 18:33, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]