Reply To: Help with uniform identification please

[oriskany 60771xp 1]

@ninjilly – based on the two choices given, I’m going to hazard a 70-30 guess on the latter, but only by process of elimination, and this is shaky.

One, far more photos were being taken in 1900 than 185o.  😀  So statistics are on our side.  😀

 

For a more detailed look:

The problem with old photos like this is …

(a) they’re black and white, so confirmation of COLORS in the uniform is sometimes tough.

(b) they’re low-res.  What would CINCH this 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt is sharper details in either the belt buckle or especially the small device on his collar.

That said, the device on his collar looks more oblong than circular.  The Royal Marines have a circular device.

Here is a confirmed Royal Marine from an archive of records 1842-1925

A closer look at the collar badge:

Compared to an 1890 photo of a London cop making an arrest.  Check out the device on his collar.  Again, very grainy … but the general shape looks more like the one in your photo.  Also, the jacket seems double lined with buttons, whereas the Marines’ has a single row.

So do NOT “take this to court …” but my 2/3 guess is that the gentleman in the photo is the police.