A number of 'Divisions' were organised on a territorial basis by Britain's

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

(RA) in 1882 in an attempt to improve the administration and recruitment of garrison artillery units. These also provided for the first time a higher organisation for the part-time Artillery Militia and Artillery Volunteers. In 1889 these divisions were reorganised into fewer, larger organisations. The RA was split into two distinct branches in 1899, with the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

(RGA) taking over all the units in these divisions, which were scrapped in 1902.

1882–89

Since 1877 the regular batteries of the

had been organised as 11 'brigades' of which 7th–11th Brigades were garrison artillery. Under General Order 72 of 4 April 1882 these five brigades were broken up and the garrison batteries of the regular

and all the part-time Artillery Militia units in the UK were organised into 11 territorial 'divisions'. Shortly afterwards, the Artillery Volunteers were added to the divisions.Frederick, pp. 562–6, 985.Frederick, pp. 567–73.Maurice-Jones, pp. 150–1. Within each division, the 1st Brigade comprised the regular batteries, assigned arbitrarily from the previous brigades and redesignated sequentially as '1st Battery, 1st Brigade, Northern Division' ''etc''. The 2nd and subsequent brigades were the artillery militia units (who temporarily lost their county designations), which already consisted of multiple batteries and had sometime sbeen referred to as 'regiments'. Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) had been independent units comprising a variable number of batteries, sometimes grouped into administrative brigades, but since 1881 these had been consolidated into larger AVCs. They mostly retained their county titles. Although the militia and volunteers organised by county were affiliated to an appropriate territorial division, for the Regular RA the divisions simply represented recruiting districts – batteries could be serving anywhere in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

and their only allegiance to brigade headquarters (HQ) was for the supply of drafts and recruits. The amount of militia artillery in each division had no relation to the coast defences that needed to be manned, but solely to the numbers that could be recruited within its boundaries. For example there were too few in Southern England where the principal coast fortress lay – there were none in London – and too many in Ireland. The

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

did not exist in Ireland. The organisation in 1882 was as follows:Lawes, Vol II, Index.Litchfield, ''Militia Artillery'', pp. 4–6; Appendix 5.Litchfield & Westlake, pp. pp. 4–6.Maurice-Jones, pp. 162–3.''Monthly Army Lists''.

1. Northern Division

* HQ at

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

* 1st Brigade ** HQ at Sunderland ** 1st–9th Btys (10th later added) and Depot Bty * 2nd Brigade – formerly

Durham Artillery Militia The Durham Artillery Militia was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in County Durham from 1853 to 1909. Volunteers from the unit served in the Second Boer War where they distinguished themselves fighting as infantry in th ...

* 3rd Brigade – formerly

Northumberland Militia Artillery The Northumberland Militia Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in the County of Northumberland, from 1854 to 1909. Background The long-standing national Militia of the United Kingdom was revived by the Milit ...

* 4th Brigade – formerly

Yorkshire Artillery Militia The Yorkshire Artillery Militia was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire from 1860 to 1909. Background The long-standing national Militia of the United Kingdom was revived by the ...

* Artillery Volunteers: 1st, 2nd and 3rd Northumberland; 1st and 2nd East Riding; 1st North Riding; 1st Berwick-on-Tweed; 1st Cumberland; 1st,

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...

, 3rd and 4th Durham; 1st,

and 4th West Riding; 1st Newcastle-upon-Tyne

2. Lancashire Division

* HQ at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

* 1st Brigade ** HQ at Liverpool ** 1st– 8th Btys (9th–10th later added) and Depot Bty * 2nd Brigade – formerly

Royal Lancashire Militia Artillery The Royal Lancashire Militia Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in Lancashire from 1853 to 1909. Background The long-standing national Militia (United Kingdom), Militia of the United Kingdom was revived by ...

* Artillery Volunteers: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Lancashire; 1st Cheshire and Carnarvonshire; 1st Shropshire and Staffordshire

3. Eastern Division

* HQ at Great Yarmouth * 1st Brigade ** HQ at

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

** 1st–9th Btys and Depot Bty * Prince of Wales's 2nd Brigade – formerly Prince of Wales's Own Norfolk Artillery Militia * 3rd Brigade – formerly

Suffolk Artillery Militia The East Suffolk Militia'' was an auxiliary military unit in the English county of Suffolk in East Anglia. First organised as one of two regiments in the county during the Seven Years' War it served on internal security and home defence duties i ...

* Artillery Volunteers: 1st Norfolk; 1st Essex; 1st Lincolnshire

4. Cinque Ports Division

* HQ at Dover *1st Brigade ** HQ at Dover ** 1st–9th Btys and Depot Bty * 2nd Brigade – formerly Kent Militia Artillery * 3rd Brigade – formerly

Royal Sussex Militia Artillery The Royal Sussex Militia Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery from the County of Sussex, which served from 1853 to 1909. Background The long-standing national Militia of the United Kingdom was revived by the Milit ...

* 1st Volunteer (Sussex) Brigade * 2nd Volunteer (Sussex) Brigade * 3rd Volunteer (Kent) Brigade * 4th Volunteer (Cinque Ports) Brigade

5. London Division

* HQ at

Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, is a barracks of the British Army which forms part of Woolwich Garrison. The Royal Regiment of Artillery had its headquarters here from 1776 until 2007, when it was moved to Larkhill Garrison. History In 171 ...

* 1st Brigade ** HQ at Woolwich] ** 1st– 8th Btys (9th–10th later added) and Depot Bty * Artillery Volunteers: 2nd Kent Artillery Volunteers, 2nd and 3rd Kent;

and 3rd Middlesex; 1st London

6. Southern Division

* HQ at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

* 1st Brigade ** HQ at

Fort Rowner Fort Rowner is one of the Palmerston Forts, in Gosport, England. Built circa 1858 as part of the outer defence line for Gosport along with Fort Brockhurst and Fort Elson to the North East and Fort Grange and Fort Gomer to the South West. The for ...

, Gosport ** 1st–9th Btys (10th later added) and Depot Bty * 2nd Brigade – formerly Hampshire Artillery Militia * 3rd Brigade – formerly Isle of Wight Artillery Militia *

1st Hampshire Artillery Volunteers The 1st Hampshire Artillery Volunteers and its successors were part-time coast defence units of the British Army from 1860 to 1967. Although the units saw no action, they protected the Portsmouth area in both World Wars and supplied trained gunne ...

7. Western Division

* HQ at Plymouth * 1st Brigade ** HQ at Devonport ** 1st–9th Btys (10th later added) and Depot Bty * 2nd Brigade – formerly Cornwall and Devon Miners Artillery Militia * 3rd Brigade – formerly Devon Artillery Militia * Artillery Volunteers: 1st and 2nd Devonshire; 1st Cornwall

8.
Scottish Division The Scottish Division was a British Army Infantry command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all Scottish line infantry units. It merged with the Prince of Wales' Division, to form the Scottish, Welsh and Irish Division in ...

* HQ at

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

* 1st Brigade ** HQ at Leith ** 1st–9th Btys (10th later added) and Depot Bty * 2nd Brigade – formerly Haddington, Berwick, Linlithgow and Peebles Artillery Militia * 3rd Brigade – formerly

Duke of Edinburgh's Own Edinburgh Artillery The Duke of Edinburgh's Own Edinburgh Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in the City of Edinburgh from 1853 to 1909. Volunteers from the unit served in the Second Boer War. Background The long-standing natio ...

* 4th Brigade – formerly

Fifeshire Artillery Militia The Fifeshire Militia was an auxiliary regiment raised in Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1798. It served in home defence during the Napoleonic Wars and again during the Crimean War when it was converted into an artillery unit as the Fifeshire Artillery ...

* 5th Brigade – formerly

Forfar and Kincardine Artillery The Forfar and Kincardine Artillery was a British artillery militia regiment of the 19th century. It was based in and named after Forfarshire and Kincardineshire in Scotland. Following the Militia Act of 1797, the regiment was raised as an inf ...

* 6th Brigade – formerly

Argyll and Bute Artillery Militia The Argyll & Bute Militia was a part-time military unit in the west of Scotland from 1798 to 1909, serving in Home Defence during the French Revolutionary War, Napoleonic Wars and Second Boer War. Originally an infantry regiment, it was converted ...

* Artillery Volunteers: 1st Edinburgh; 1st Midlothian; 1st Banffshire; 1st Forfarshire; 1st Renfrew & Dumbarton; 1st Fife; 1st Haddington; 1st Lanarkshire; 1st Ayrshire & Galloway; 1st Argyll & Bute; 1st Caithness; 1st Aberdeenshire; 1st Berwickshire; 1st Inverness-shire; 1st Orkney

9. Welsh Division

* HQ at Pembroke Dock *1st Brigade ** HQ at Newport ** 1st–8th Btys (9th later added) and Depot Bty * 2nd Brigade – formerly Royal Glamorgan Artillery Militia * 3rd Brigade – formerly Carmarthen Artillery Militia * 4th Brigade – formerly Pembroke Artillery Militia * 5th Brigade – formerly Cardigan Artillery Militia * Artillery Volunteers: 1st Glamorganshire; 1st Gloucestershire; 1st Pembrokeshire; 1st Worcestershire

10. North Irish Division

* HQ at

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest ...

* 1st Brigade ** HQ at Derry ** 1st–9th Btys and Depot Bty * 2nd Brigade – formerly

Antrim Artillery The Antrim Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, from 1853 to 1919. It numbered 1st on the order of precedence of the Militia Artillery. Volunteers from the unit served in the ...

* 3rd Brigade – formerly Donegal Artillery * 4th Brigade – formerly

Dublin City Artillery Militia The Dublin City Artillery Militia was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in Dublin, Ireland, from 1854 to 1909. Background The long-standing national Militia of the United Kingdom was revived by the Militia Act 1852, ena ...

* 5th Brigade – formerly Galway Artillery Militia * 6th Brigade – formerly Mid-Ulster Artillery Militia * 7th Brigade – formerly Wicklow Artillery Militia * 8th Brigade – formerly Sligo Artillery Militia * 9th Brigade – formerly Londonderry Artillery Militia

11. South Irish Division

* HQ at Cork * 1st Brigade ** HQ at

Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 (a ...

** 1st–9th Btys and Depot Bty * 2nd Brigade – formerly West Cork Artillery Militia * 3rd Brigade – formerly Cork City Artillery Militia * 4th Brigade – formerly Limerick City Artillery Militia * 5th Brigade – formerly South Tipperary Artillery Militia * 6th Brigade – formerly Waterford Artillery Militia * 7th Brigade – formerly 3rd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers

1889–1902

On 1 July 1889 the garrison artillery was reorganised again into three large territorial divisions of garrison artillery and one of mountain artillery. The names of the territorial divisions seemed arbitrary, with the Scottish units being grouped in the South Division, for example, but this related to where the need for coastal artillery was greatest, rather than where the units recruited. The artillery militia units regained their county designations, as did those volunteer units that had adopted brigade titles. After 1889 all were intended to include '(----ern Division, Royal Artillery)' after their title, but many of the volunteers did not use them. From 1 August 1891 garrison artillery batteries were termed companies (unless they were equipped with specific guns, such as mountain batteries or position batteries), and some were grouped into double companies at this time before reverting to their previous numbers in March 1894.Frederick, pp. 574–9.Frederick, pp. 891–2.

Eastern Division

* HQ at Dover

Regulars

* 1st–32nd Companies, Depot and Sub-depot

Militia

* Kent Artillery (Eastern Division) * Prince of Wales's Own Norfolk Artillery (Eastern Division) * Suffolk Artillery (Eastern Division) * Sussex Artillery (Eastern Division)

Volunteers

1st and 2nd Sussex; 1st Norfolk; 1st, 2nd Kent Artillery Volunteers, 2nd and 3rd Kent; 1st Essex; 1st and 2nd Cinque Ports;

and 3rd Middlesex; 1st London; 1st Suffolk & Harwich

Southern Division

* HQ at Portsmouth

Regulars

* 1st–42nd Companies, Depot and two Sub-depots

Militia

Volunteers

1st and 2nd Hampshire; 1st Edinburgh; 1st Midlothian; 1st Banffshire; 1st Forfarshire; 1st,

, 3rd, 4th,

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

, 6th, 7th,

8th 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

and 9th Lancashire; 1st Renfrew & Dumbarton; 1st and 2nd Dorsetshire; 1st Fife; 1st Haddington; 1st Lanarkshire; 1st Ayrshire & Galloway; 1st Argyll & Bute; 1st Cheshire & Carnarvonshire; 1st Caithness; 1st Aberdeenshire; 1st Berwickshire; 1st Inverness-shire; 1st Cumberland; 1st Orkney; 1st Shropshire & Staffordshire; 1st Worcestershire

Western Division

* HQ at Plymouth

Regulars

* 1st–31st Companies, Depot and two Sub-depots

Militia

* Cornwall & Devon Miners Artillery (Western Division) * Devon Artillery (Western Division) * Durham Artillery (Western Division) * Glamorgan Artillery (Western Division) * Northumberland Artillery (Western Division) * Carmarthen Artillery (Western Division) * Pembroke Artillery (Western Division) * Yorkshire Artillery (Western Division) * Cardigan Artillery (Western Division)

Volunteers

Tynemouth; 1st and

Northumberland; 1st and 2nd Devonshire; 1st Cornwall; 1st and 2nd Glamorganshire; 1st and 2nd Yorkshire (East Riding); 1st Gloucestershire; 1st Yorkshire (North Riding); 1st Lincolnshire; 1st Berwick-on-Tweed; 1st,

, 3rd and 4th Durham; 1st,

and 4th Yorkshire (West Riding); 1st Newcastle upon Tyne; 1st Monmouthshire

Mountain Division The Mountain Division (later the Mountain Subdivision) is a railroad line that was once owned and operated by the Maine Central Railroad (MEC). It stretches from Portland, Maine on the Atlantic Ocean, through the Western Maine Mountains and Whi ...

When the territorial divisions were reorganised on 1 July 1889, one field battery in South Africa and nine garrison artillery batteries – one in Monmouthshire, the remainder in India – were converted into mountain batteries to constitute a new mountain artillery division. On 1 June 1899 this was redesignated the Mountain Division, RGA, and the batteries became '1st Mountain Bty, RGA', ''etc''. * 1st–10th Mountain Btys

Reorganisation

In 1899 the Royal Artillery was divided into two distinct branches, field and garrison. The field branch included the

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link r ...

(RHA) and the newly-named Royal Field Artillery (RFA). The garrison branch was named the

(RGA) and included coast defence, position, heavy, siege and mountain artillery. The RGA retained the divisions until they were scrapped on 1 January 1902, at which point the Regular RGA companies were numbered in a single sequence and the militia and volunteer units were designated '--- shire RGA (M)' or '(V)' as appropriate.Frederick. pp. 580–95.

Footnotes

Notes

References

* J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol II, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-009-X. * Lt-Gen H.G. Hart
''The New Annual Army List, Militia List, Yeomanry Cavalry List and Indian Civil Service List for 1884'', London: John Murray, 1883.
* Lt-Gen H.G. Hart
''The New Annual Army List, Militia List, Yeomanry Cavalry List and Indian Civil Service List for 1890'', London: John Murray, 1889.
* Lt-Col M.E.S. Lawes, ''Battery Records of the Royal Artillery, 1859–1877'', Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution, 1970. * Norman E.H. Litchfield, ''The Militia Artillery 1852–1909 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges)'', Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1987, ISBN 0-9508205-1-2. * Norman Litchfield & Ray Westlake, ''The Volunteer Artillery 1859–1908 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges)'', Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1982, ISBN 0-9508205-0-4. * Col K. W. Maurice-Jones, ''The History of Coast Artillery in the British Army'', London: Royal Artillery Institution, 1959/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-845740-31-3. * War Office, ''Monthly Army List'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1882–1902. {{DEFAULTSORT:List of Royal Artillery Divisions 1882-1902 Divisions

1882–89

1. Northern Division

2. Lancashire Division

3. Eastern Division

4. Cinque Ports Division

5. London Division

6. Southern Division

7. Western Division

8. Scottish Division The Scottish Division was a British Army Infantry command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all Scottish line infantry units. It merged with the Prince of Wales' Division, to form the Scottish, Welsh and Irish Division in ...

9. Welsh Division

10. North Irish Division

11. South Irish Division

1889–1902

Eastern Division

Regulars

Militia

Volunteers

Southern Division

Regulars

Militia

Volunteers

Western Division

Regulars

Militia

Volunteers

Mountain Division The Mountain Division (later the Mountain Subdivision) is a railroad line that was once owned and operated by the Maine Central Railroad (MEC). It stretches from Portland, Maine on the Atlantic Ocean, through the Western Maine Mountains and Whi ...

Reorganisation

Footnotes

Notes

References

8.
Scottish Division The Scottish Division was a British Army Infantry command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all Scottish line infantry units. It merged with the Prince of Wales' Division, to form the Scottish, Welsh and Irish Division in ...