Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Garrett, East Kent Yeomanry 1794-1827
Thomas Garrett, whose uniform is on display, was one of the Regiment’s first officers, being made a Lieutenant in the Thanet Troop when it formed in August 1794. He lived at Nether Court near Ramsgate, inheriting the estate from his father in 1779.
In 1797 he was made a Captain, commanding the Troop when it was called out to patrol the North Kent coastline during the Nore mutiny. The Royal Navy’s Channel Fleet anchored, at The Nore, mutinied over poor pay and conditions. They blockaded London and threatened to sail to join the revolution in France.
The yeomen were one of the few units seen as reliable enough to escort naval deserters imprisoned at Margate to Canterbury for trial when their shipmates on the frigate HMS Beaulieu threatened to fire on the town unless the prisoners were freed.