Help in identifying this Foreign Service Helment

Posts : 1 Join date : 2019-11-21

Firstly, let me apologise if I've posted this in the wrong place. I have an interest in the Victorian South African wars - probably not as detailed as most of you - but I've read many books on the subject and watched numerous films and documentaries. I've come here though hoping that I may be able to get some help in identifying/dating a battered old Foreign Service Helmet that I have. It's probably not from the South African Wars, in fact it may never even have been outside the UK, but I thought there will probably be people on here with the knowledge to at least point me in the right direction. I bought it several years ago but the man selling couldn't tell me its provenance. It's quite fragile and battered and certainly looks old to me. If it was a re-enactors helmet, I'd have expected the interior to be less 'aged'. There is a name inside which looks like 'Oliver Roley' so, if I can narrow down its age, I hope to research the name (knowing that it may have been written in more recently). So, if anyone can tell me ANYTHING from the attached photographs, I'd be extremely grateful. On another forum, someone posted that it looked like a genuine pre-1900 6-panel helmet. Thanks in advance, Simon
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