Following conversion to the Special Reserve (SR) under the Haldane Reforms it supplied reinforcements to the fighting battalions during World War I.

The universal obligation to military service in the Shire levy was long established in England and its legal basis was updated by two acts of 1557 (4 & 5 Ph.

It was an important element in the country's defence at the time of the Spanish Armada in the 1580s, and control of the militia was one of the areas of dispute between King Charles I and Parliament that led to the English Civil War.

During the French wars, the militia were embodied for a whole generation, and became regiments of full-time professional soldiers (though restricted to service in the British Isles), which the regular army increasingly saw as a prime source of recruits.

They served in coast defences, manning garrisons, guarding prisoners of war, and for internal security, such as the time of the Luddite disturbances.

However, in the years of the long peace after the Battle of Waterloo the militia was allowed to decline again, the ballot and annual training being suspended.

Under the Act, militia units could be embodied by Royal Proclamation for full-time service in three circumstances:[12][13][14] With the threat of war against Russia, the three Lancashire regiments were ordered to recruit up to their full establishments of 1200 men.

When war broke out in 1854 an expeditionary force was sent to the Crimea and the militia were embodied for home defence and service in overseas garrisons.

[4][15][16] The Hon Charles James Fox Stanley, younger son of the Earl of Derby and a former lieutenant-colonel in the Grenadier Guards, was commissioned as Colonel of the new regiment, with John Edward Madocks, former captain in the 13th Light Dragoons, as Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant and John Hardy Thursby, former lieutenant in the 90th Foot, as the senior major.

[22][23][24] The 7th RLM was linked with the double-battalion 20th (East Devonshire) Regiment of Foot in Sub-District No 17 (Lancashire), with the depot at Wellington Barracks, Bury.

[18] Although often referred to as brigades, the regimental districts were purely administrative organisations, but in a continuation of the Cardwell Reforms a mobilisation scheme began to appear in the Army List from December 1875.

[15][16][18] After the disasters of Black Week at the start of the Second Boer War in December 1899, most of the regular army was sent to South Africa, followed by many militia reservists as reinforcements.

Militia units were embodied to replace them for home defence and a number volunteered for active service or to garrison overseas stations.

[25][26][27] The 6th Battalion was one of the first militia units embodied, on 13 December 1899, and immediately volunteered for overseas service, embarking for South Africa with a strength of 20 officers and 659 ORs under the command of Lt-Col F.C.

On arrival at Cape Town on 7 March 1900 its orders for Kimberley were countermanded and it was sent to the Orange River Colony where a Boer resurgence was threatened.

On 28 November the column attacked Hertzog who was holding a strong position at Luckhoff, deployed along a 9 miles (14 km) semi-circle of Kopjes.

They were then cleared from their position by the 6th Lancashire Fusiliers at the point of the bayonet, a rare example of offensive action by militia, who were usually relegated to garrison and escort duties.

[16] On 7 January 1901 the battalion took over the Carnarvon district, where it was actively involved in patrolling, escorting guns and convoys, and in operations against Commandant Maritz's Commando.

On 26 July the battalion was moved to Hanover Road and later to Beaufort West, providing detachments to build defensive posts and forts around Worcester.

On 28 December the battalion was redeployed, HQ and the main body going to Colesberg where it was employed on blockhouse duty, while two companies garrisoned Port Elizabeth and one was at Cradock.

There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces (Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteers) to take their place in the six army corps proposed by St John Brodrick as Secretary of State for War.