Officers-Viceroy's Bodyguard

This photograph yields few answers to the nature of the relationship between the seated British officers and the standing Viceroy's Bodyguard. The odd-looking man standing between the tall bodyguards (fourth from the left) is the most striking of the figures shown here. While his identity remains elusive, an inscription on the photograph tells us that the seated men are (from left to right) Pr. Banister; Captain Peacock, Captain Lawrence, and Captain Deane. No historical material has provided any conclusive insight into their lives or work.

Ironically, the dark men relegated to the background are better documented. The Viceroy's Bodyguard was formerly part of a cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army. Created in 1773 by Warren Hastings (India's first Governor-General), the regiment was renamed the Viceroy's Bodyguard in 1858, when India became a British colony.