QVC - RCN - Mystery Naval Officer's Tunic Button

by Tim Burt - 7/31/2006
 

This is the type of mystery that I like to get my teeth in.

You see the conundrum is, that the Royal Canadian Navy, (RCN), did not come into existence until 1911. The first year of the reign of King George V.

So what is this button, which is identical to the KC RCN buttons, (except for the crown), doing 20 years prior ?

The maker is ARMY & NAVY C.O. (Army & Navy Co-operative Society).

My records show that this vendor first appeared on button reverses about 1873, and disappeared about 1934, (this rules out any doubts about it being a variation of QEII buttons).

Please note, that there also appears to be a similar button maker called the Army and Navy Company which appears to have started and finished at a later period of time, ( 1918 - 1952 ).

From my old archives, this button turns out to be used by a Ship's Officer of the Canadian Dep't of Fisheries & Marine. Time period is about 1893 - 1901. See Smylie's book Ref. Nº Naval N1c.

The RCN re-adopted this design in 1911.

What did the navy in Canada use during the Victorian and Edwardian periods ? As it was the Royal Navy, they used the RN designs.

For comparison, I have also inserted the KC and the QEII RCN buttons below. Note the lower arched crown on the QEII button.