The Marksmen's Cup
Bathford Society was given a trophy called the Marksmen's Cup from the 1869 shooting competition of The 14th Somersetshire Volunteer Rifle Corp (Warleigh Manor).
The cup is a solid silver beaker 4 inches high with a diameter at the top of 3.5 inches. On one side it bears the inscription "1869 Marksmans Cup 14th S.V.R.C (WARLEIGH MANOR) Won by Wm SANDERSON, CAPTAIN" with a crossed rifles emblem below the year. One quarter of a turn around the cup is a second inscription "1870. Won by Qr. Mastr. Serjt. May.". The spacing would allow for a further two winners.
In 2010, Bathford Society was contacted by Geoffrey Rider from Ottawa, Canada who owned the cup and had seen the references to the 14th Somersetshire Rifle Volunteers at Warleigh Manor on the website. The final winner, Quartermaster Serjeant May was his great grandfather's brother, Edmund Reynolds May who died in Bath in 1879. Geoffrey Rider generously donated the cup to Bathford Society.
The Bath Chronicle printed reports of some of the shooting competitions held at Warleigh Manor around that time, but a careful search through the archived copies of Bath Chronicle produced no further information on either the 1869 or 1870 competition. The 1861 census lists William Sanderson (the winner in 1869) as "Lieut 14th Somerset Rifles" age 44 living at Manor Cottage, Church Street, Bathford with a wife and daughter. Edmund Reynolds May is not listed in the census records for this parish.
The Marksmen's cup (by matchbox)