1st East Riding Artillery Volunteers
| 1st East Riding Artillery Volunteers 1st East Riding RGA (V) |
|
|---|---|
| Active | 1859–1908 |
| Country |
 United Kingdom
|
| Branch |
 Volunteer Force
|
| Role | Coast Artillery |
| Garrison/HQ | Scarborough |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Digby Willoughby, 9th Baron Middleton |
The 1st East Yorkshire Artillery Volunteers was was a part-time unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in the East Riding of Yorkshire, which also contained sub-units from the North and West Ridings. Created during an invasion scare in 1859–50, it survived to supply units to the later Territorial Force of the 20th Century.
At times of national crisis volunteers were regularly called upon to defend the vulnerable harbours on the coast of East Yorkshire. At the time of the Jacobite rising of 1745, the Wardens and Brethren of Hull Trinity House formed four volunteer artillery companies, equipped with 20 nine-pounder cannon from a ship lying in Hull Roads. These were the first volunteer artillery units formed in Yorkshire, though there may have been others manning the cannon in the fort covering Bridlington harbour. The companies were stood down after the Jacobite defeat at Culloden.
During the French Revolutionary Wars, a mixed unit of infantry and artillery manned the fort at Bridlington harbour from 1794 until the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, and reformed when the peace broke down in 1803. The Bridlington Volunteer Artillery disbanded in 1814.
A number of new Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) were formed in the East Riding during the first enthusiasm for the Volunteer Movement in 1859. The 1st Company East Yorkshire Artillery Volunteers formed at 'Burlington' (an alternative name for Bridlington) under Captain Benjamin Blaydes Haworth of Haworth Hall, Dunswell, on 9 December 1859, and the 2nd Company at Hunmanby under Captain Cortis on 9 February 1860. On 11 May the following year the 1st and 2nd Companies combined to form the 1st Administrative Brigade of Yorkshire (East Riding) Artillery Volunteers, under the command of Haworth (promoted to Major), with companies at Bridlington, Filey, Flamborough, Withernsea and Hornsea. The 2nd and 3rd North Riding AVCs, based on the coast at Whitby and Scarborough, and the 3rd West Riding AVC, based inland at York, were also included in the brigade, which had its headquarters at Scarborough. By 1872 it had assumed the following organisation:
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