The 1879 Annual Volunteer Match sponsored by the Nottinghamshire Rifle Association was held on Tuesday, 17th June at the Town Butts located to the west of what is now called Ransome Road with the Hungerhill Gardens allotments stretching westwards from the range to Woodborough Road.

There were 70 competitors and not many targets so the match must have taken most of the day to complete.

The weather was apparently difficult at the start but improved as the day went along. Close examination of the scores recorded below will identify some good shooters who fell foul of the conditions.

Prize money totalling £75 was provided by the Nottinghamshire Rifle Association. This was awarded in order of merit, with money being shared out where scores were equal. There appears to have been a system of counting back from the longest range to establish the order of scores.

The top scorer was Sergeant Edwin Dracott of the 5th R.H.R. with 91 points. He counted out Private M. Freestone, also of the 5th R.H.R., who was doing better than the winner up until the 600 yard range. Sergeant Dracott won £6 and the Bronze Medal of the National Rifle Association. This entitled him to take part in the Prince of Wales' Prize at the National Rifle Association Wimbledon Meeting held in July.

Subsequent announcements of Regimental Orders which appeared in the Nottingham Evening Post give details of the Robin Hood Rifles team selection and achievements at Wimbledon – see below.

The Robin Hood Rifles formally announced the success of Sergeant Edwin Dracott in the Regimental Orders for Monday, 30th June, an extract from which is opposite.

On July 8th, the Nottingham Evening Post published the Regimental Orders for July 7th and additional After Orders for July 8th

The first set of orders included instructions to those attending Wimbledon as regards dress code and conduct. It also mentions a practice session for the Volley Firing Team to take place at 7pm on July 9th.

There is an interesting reference here to "military time". In this era time keeping was changing from local to standard or railway, now called UTC or GMT, and maybe it was necessary to differentiate; but this is the only reference that we have come across in the Regimental Orders. In the UK, Railway Time was aligned to GMT; but worldwide agreement to the use of GMT was not achieved until October 1884.

The Regimental After Orders published the next day gave details of the team selected to represent the Robin Hood Rifles at Wimbledon.

This covered entries to the Queen's Prize, the St. George's Vase, the Prince of Wales' Prize (only Sergeant E Dracott), and the volley firing team for the Belgian Challenge Cup.

A month later a list of prizes won by members of the Robin Hood Rifles was published – see below.

The Robin Hood Rifles squad attending the National Rifle Association's Wimbledon Meeting came away with a good list of winnings, including apparently the top prize in the Belgian Challenge Cup for volley firing.

You will note that Captain J. White has been replaced by Major Henry E. Hunt as Acting Adjutant. This was announced on August 2nd with the following statement:–

The following extract from the London Gazette is published for Battalion information:–"1st Nottinghamshire Corps.-Captain and Adjutant Jonathan White resigns his Commission, and is placed on retired allowance; also is granted the honorary rank of Major, and is permitted to continue to wear the uniform of the Corps on his retirement July 30th."

There followed the statement that "until further orders, Major Henry E. Hunt will do duty as Adjutant."

In the Regimental Orders for July 7th, but not included in our extract, Captain White had added a memorandum complaining about being much hindered in the discharge of his office duties by the failure of some companies to send in drill attendance and other returns when these were requested. There is the clear suggestion that the Captain was not happy in his work at the Orderly Room.