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Royal Niger Company Station with Soldiery

Image Architecture
A photograph depicting uniformed soldiers with rifles in front of a two-story stone building and a sentry box.
Royal Niger Company station and soldiers, Niger River, circa 1886-1895. Photographed by William Henry Crosse.

A monochromatic photograph depicting a two-story masonry structure built from irregular stone and mortar in a hilly landscape. Five uniformed male subjects, identified in manuscript notes as "Soldiery", are present: four stand in a line in the foreground holding rifles, and one is positioned within a pitched-roof sentry box to the right of the building. The structure features a corrugated metal hip-roof with a central spire, upper-level windows with awnings, and arched openings on the ground floor. The image was captured by William Henry Crosse, Principal Medical Officer for the Royal Niger Company, between 1886 and 1895.

Community Notes

Onyeka Nwokike

Sep 04, 2026

The soldiers depicted are members of the Royal Niger Constabulary (RNC), the military force established by the Royal Niger Company in 1886 to protect company stations and enforce administrative control along the Niger River. Their attire consists of the standard RNC uniform of the era: light colored khaki tunics and trousers, dark utility belts, and red pillbox style caps.

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