Fort Acquires Napoleonic Drum

Last year a collector of militaria approached us, seeking our expertise in evaluating a Napoleonic rope-tensioned military side-drum alleged to have been carried by a British drummer at the Battle of Waterloo. In the world of military collecting, this provenance is claimed so often as to account for enough materiel to equip Napoleon’s and Wellington’s respective armies several times over. However, a peek inside this drum hinted that if it never made an appearance at Waterloo, its real history might prove much stranger than its fictitious one.

After loosening the rope and carefully removing the calf-skin head of the drum, we were intrigued to find written clearly inside: “James Guidney, Sergt. & Drum Major, Birmingham”. A Google search revealed much about the life and times of Guidney, an infamous and rather colourful resident of Birmingham, known as Jemmy the Rockman.

James Guidney was born at Norwich in 1782. In 1797, aged fifteen, he enlisted with a recruiting party of the 48th Northamptonshire Regiment and saw service in Gibraltar, Minorca and Malta. While serving in Malta he lost an eye from ophthalmia and had a vision – or at least half of a vision – in which a lamb, taking a man’s form, commanded him in future to wear a beard! In 1807 James was transferred to the 1st Royal Veterans Battalion and promoted to Sergeant and Drum Major.

In 1816 the 1st Royal Veterans Battalion was disbanded after which James collected a pension of a shilling a day. Making his way to Birmingham in 1824, he began hawking pharmaceuticals, including a throat lozenge that he had developed and referred to as his “rock.” Clad in scarlet tunic and gaiters, he walked the city’s streets crying, “Composition, good for cough or cold!”

When trade fell off, he turned to selling his autobiography, Some Particulars of the Life and Adventures of James Guidney, A Well Known Character in Birmingham, a copy of which is preserved in the Birmingham Local Studies Library. There he wrote: “Having had very considerable experience as a drummer, James Guidney will be happy to attend any Public Parties of Pleasure.” Clearly the practice referred to around Fort York as “Rent-a-Guard” is much older than we had previously believed!

After his death in 1860, some personal items remained with Guidney’s family, including his drum, a pair of drumsticks, two portraits and the canister from which he sold his “rock.” In 1930 a descendant named Thomas Drew sold the drum, portraits and canister–the sticks had been mislaid–to Philip Baker, a Birmingham solicitor. Some time later the drum became separated from the other items (which are now in the possession of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery) and made its way to Toronto where it was purchased from an antiques dealer in the late 1970s.

Currently the drum on display in the music section of The Soldiers’ Trade exhibit in Blockhouse No. 2 is on loan from Parks Canada. After the condition of Guidney’s drum has been stabilized by a professional conservator we hope to replace Parks Canada’s drum with our own exciting new acquisition.