thank you
i had wondered about those stripes,
and thank you again your help is much appreciated.
I’m sorry but I’ve just realised that he has another good conduct stripe on the right lower sleeve (please forgive my old eyes), which means that my original assessment was correct.
Before 1881 the general position for good conduct badges (inverted stripes) was the right lower sleeve, but there were some exceptions. Fusiliers, Light Infantry, Highlanders and Rifle regiments were to wear the stripes on both lower arms and that’s what we see here. It confirms the photo as pre-1881 and takes us back to the numbered regiments. However, we can rule out the 13th and 51st, as although they had dark facings at that time, their collar badges were distinctly different to those seen in the photo. That leaves the 68th (after 1881 1st Bn DLI) and 85th (after 1881 2nd Bn KSLI). On the table beside the soldier is a white helmet, which tells us he’s with a battalion serving overseas in a tropical climate, most probably India. Going by the late 1870s date of the uniform style I can tell you that from 1872 to 1885 the 65th/1st DLI were in India, and from 1868 to 1880 the 85th/2nd KSLI were also in India. In 1881 the latter served in South Africa for the 1st Anglo/Boer War, where their uniform was largely unchanged from when in India, apart perhaps from some units staining their helmets a darker colour (than white), often using tea. Hopefully this still enables you to narrow down your search.
Again, my apologies for any confusion inadvertently caused.
