Under threat of French invasion during the
Seven Years' War a series of Militia Acts from 1757 re-established county militia regiments, the men being conscripted by means of parish ballots (paid substitutes were permitted) to serve for three years. There was a property qualification for officers, who were commissioned by the lord lieutenant. An
adjutant and
drill sergeants were to be provided to each regiment from the
Regular Army, and arms and accoutrements would be supplied when the county had secured 60 per cent of its quota of recruits. Carnarvonshire's quota was a company of just 80 men, but
Major-General the
Earl of Cholmondeley, who was
Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire and several other counties, found that he was unable to raise militia in any of his Welsh counties other than
Flintshire. The problem was less with the other ranks raised by ballot than the shortage of men qualified to be officers, even after the requirements were lowered for Welsh counties.
Thomas Wynn of
Glynllifon became Lord Lieutenant of Carnarvonshire in 1761 and the
Carnarvon Militia was finally raised under his command, receiving its arms on 28 August 1762. The company was immediately put under training and on 28 September was ordered to be embodied for permanent service. This was carried out at Carnarvon on 5 October. However, by now the war was drawing to a close and the militia were disembodied in early 1763. The disembodied company – sometimes known unofficially as the 'Royal Carnarvon Grenadiers' – was kept up to strength by periodic use of the ballot, and was probably called out for annual training. The arms and equipment were kept at 'Fort Williamsburg', Glynllifon, by the commanding officer, who succeeded as Sir Thomas Wynn, 3rd Baronet of Bodvean, in 1773 and was created
Lord Newborough in 1776. The Carnarvon company remained in Anglesey until the spring of 1779, when it was marched to
Kent to join
Coxheath Camp near
Maidstone. This was the army's largest training camp, where the Militia were exercised as part of a division alongside Regular troops while providing a reserve in case of French invasion of South East England. The understrength militia units from small counties (Anglesey, Carnarvon and Rutland) were attached to guard the artillery park of the division, and they were later criticised as having worked as artillery and forgotten their infantry training. Lord Newborough was replaced as commanding officer in 1781 by Ellis Wynn. The Carnarvon Militia remained in South East England for the rest of its embodiment. In 1782 it moved into
Essex and was still there when hostilities ended in 1783 and it was marched back to Carnarvon to be disembodied.
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars The Carnarvon Militia was embodied again in 1793 when
Revolutionary France declared war against Britain. The unit was stationed on the South Coast of England to meet the invasion threat, with its headquarters (HQ) at
Eastbourne, later moving into Kent. . In a fresh attempt to have as many men as possible under arms for home defence in order to release regulars, in 1796 the Government created the Supplementary Militia, a compulsory levy of men to be trained in their spare time, and to be incorporated in the Regular Militia in emergency. Carnarvonshire's new quota was fixed at 176 men. However, the militia ballot was unpopular in the county, and protest meetings took place at
Penmachno,
Dolwyddelan,
Ysbyty Ifan and
Capel Curig, while at Cerig y Druidion a balloted man was snatched from the hands of the militia by protesters. Carnarvon's militia quota was further increased to 239 in 1799. The regiment was designated the
Royal Carnarvon Fuzileers (
Fusiliers) in 1800. Richard Edwards, who had commanded the regiment since its embodiment in 1793, was promoted to colonel on 21 February 1804. During the summer of 1805, when
Napoleon was massing his 'Army of England' at
Boulogne for a projected invasion, the regiment with 137 men in 3 companies, under Maj John Hampton, was stationed with the
Royal Glamorgan Militia at
Pevensey Barracks on the Sussex coast, forming part of
Brigadier-General Moore Disney's brigade. By late 1805 the regiment had moved to the
West Country, being stationed at New Cranby Barracks,
Plymouth Dock, where its duties included dockyard security, coast defence, and guarding
Prisoners of War confined in the
Prison hulks or at Mill Prison. On 1 February 1808 a draft of newly raised militiamen marched from
Bangor to Plymouth to reinforce the regiment. The following month the Royal Carnarvon moved to
Sussex to take up duties at
Chichester and
Worthing, where the regiment volunteered to serve in
Ireland. This offer was not accepted at the time, but the regiment supplied a steady number of volunteers for the Regular Army. Later in 1808 the regiment served at
Battle and
Winchelsea. By March 1809 it was at
Pevensey Barracks, later moving to
Kent and then back to Worthing. In 1804 three independent infantry Volunteer units in the county had combined as the
Loyal Bangor, Carnarvon and Conway Infantry under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Assheton Smith of
Vaynol. In July 1808 the men were invited to transfer to the Local Militia, and the Bangor and Carnarvon companies enthusiastically accepted. The regiment was stood down in September 1808 when most of its officers and men, together with some of the other volunteers in the county, transferred to the new
Carnarvonshire Local Militia under the command of Lt-Col Assheton Smith. The new regiment assembled at Carnarvon for its first 28-day raining in June 1809. It trained at the town in each of the following years, though only for 14 days from 1811. In 1813 the regiment volunteered for garrison duty anywhere in the UK if required, but was not called upon. The Local Militia was disbanded in 1816.
Ireland In common with a number of other Welsh militia regiments, the Royal Carnarvon was converted into a light infantry regiment in 1810. The
Interchange Act 1811 passed in July allowed English and Welsh militia regiments to serve in Ireland and vice versa, and the regiment's offer to serve was taken up in November that year. The regiment embarked at
Portsmouth and went into garrison at
Longford, the first British militia regiment to serve there after the Act. Shortly after arrival the regiment volunteered again, this time to serve in the
Peninsular War. Although this offer was not taken up, it was reported in the Welsh press, together with rumour that the Royal Carnarvon Light Infantry were being converted into a Rifle unit. This was carried out in 1812, when it was officially redesignated the
Royal Carnarvon (Rifle Corps). The Royal Carnarvon Rifles was only called out for training in 1820, 1821 and 1825. In 1831 there was considerable civil unrest, so the militia ballot was enforced in Carnarvonshire and the regiment was assembled for training. Colonel Edwards retired from the command in 1838, and he was succeeded by
Major O.J.C. Nanney, formerly of the
East India Company's army, who continued as Major-Commandant. ==1852 Reforms==