Governor's Body Guard of Light Horse
The Governor's Body Guard of Light Horse was a military unit maintained in the Colony of New South Wales between 1801 and 1834, and reputedly the "first full-time military unit raised in Australia". It was established by Governor Philip Gidley King by drawing men from the New South Wales Corps, the British garrison in the colony. Normally consisting of one or two non-commissioned officers and six privates, the Guard provided an escort to the governor and carried his despatches to outposts across the colony. From 1802, the men of the Guard were drawn from convicts pardoned by King. Men from the unit were deployed during the Castle Hill convict rebellion of 1804 and a trooper of the Guard assisted in the capture of two of the rebel leaders.

After King was succeeded by William Bligh in 1806, the Guard reverted to being drawn from the New South Wales Corps. The unit seems to have been absent during the Corps' 1808 mutiny against Bligh and, by one report, supported it. It was ordered to disband by the Earl of Liverpool but was granted a reprieve in 1812 by Liverpool's successor Earl Bathurst. Viscount Goderich ordered disbandment again in 1832 and Governor Richard Bourke transformed the unit into the Mounted Orderlies in 1834. These were absorbed into the New South Wales Mounted Police in 1836 and continued as a separate component within that force until at least 1860.
Q18348382
Colony of New South Wales
LOC
Q1528895
Governor
PER
Q725880
Philip Gidley King
PER
Q847247
New South Wales Corps
MEDIA
Q158950
non-commissioned officers
Concept
Q158668
privates
Concept
Q4353495
Castle Hill convict rebellion
Concept
Q294147
William Bligh
PER
Q2065299
Corps' 1808 mutiny against Bligh
EVE
Q312569
Earl of Liverpool
PER
Q335316
Earl Bathurst
PER
Q312591
Viscount Goderich
PER
Q2067627
Richard Bourke
PER
Q17016072
New South Wales Mounted Police
ORG
Q96379795
Governor's Body Guard of Light Horse
PER
1801-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1801
DATE
1834-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1834
DATE
1802-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1802
DATE
1804-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1804
DATE
1806-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1806
DATE
1808-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1808
DATE
1812-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1812
DATE
1832-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1832
DATE
1834-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1834
DATE
1836-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1836
DATE
1860-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1860
DATE
position held