The Corps of Commissionaires refers to a movement in Commonwealth countries of societies that provide meaningful employment for veterans of the armed services.
[1] The Commissionaires movement traces its roots to 1859, when retired army officer Captain Sir Edward Walter KCB organised seven injured veterans of the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny to act as nightwatchmen.
At first limited to wounded men, it soon expanded to include all honourably discharged army and navy veterans.
In the 1860s the corps expanded beyond London, with branches opening across the United Kingdom.
[2] Commissionaires appear in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, including "A Study in Scarlet", "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" and "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty."