Benjamin Ffrench, D.C.M., Crimean War veteran, coloured cabinet card

A coloured cabinet card portrait showing Benjamin Ffrench wearing home pattern helmet and his medals, including a three bar Crimea and Turkish Crimea with his Distinguished Conduct Medal. It has been trimmed along the lower edge and there are marks at the corners where it has been fitted into the card frame to show the portrait in an oval – a late Victorian fashion. An old typed note which was fastened to the back identifies the sitter as Benjamin Ffrench and gives his rank as Regimental Sergeant Major although his uniform suggests he was a Staff Sergeant  at the time of the photograph. jan30/5