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, which placed them under the command of Lords Lieutenant appointed by the monarch.

These were an important element in the country's defence at the time of the Spanish Armada in the 1580s: the Hampshire and Isle of Wight TBs would have been in the front line in the event of invasion.

An adjutant and drill sergeants were to be provided to each regiment from the Regular Army, and arms and accoutrements would be supplied when the county had secured 60 per cent of its quota of recruits.

[5][11][12] The Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Lieutenant-General Charles Powlett, 5th Duke of Bolton, took personal command of the North Regiment as Colonel.

It seems that a compromise was reached in 1762 when the Duke was appointed Brigadier-General of Hampshire Militia, while Worsley was established as Lt-Col Commandant of the South Regiment.

[1][13][14] The South regiment was ordered to be embodied for permanent duty at Southampton on 12 May 1760, although the Duke of Bolton actually assembled it at Winchester on 3 June before it marched to Blandford in Dorset.

In November the South Hampshires marched under Lt-Col Worsley to winter quarters at Maidstone in Kent, with a 200-strong detachment guarding French prisoners-of-war at Sissinghurst.

At the end of May 1761 the South Hants were issued with tents and ordered to Winchester, where they joined a large militia encampment under Lt-Gen the Earl of Effingham.

The following year the regiment was ordered on 27 May to march as two 'divisions' to Southampton, and then provided a 250-strong detachment to guard French prisoners at Fareham and Forton.

The South Hampshire regiment with seven companies was embodied at Southampton in April under the command of Col Sir Simeon Stuart, 3rd Baronet, MP, and then marched to Chichester, Sussex, on 1 May.

Before leaving Southampton the regiment had been inoculated against smallpox (Variolation) and the people of Chichester were frightened by the men showing mild symptoms of the disease, demanding that the militiamen should be quarantined.

[1][3][5][18][19] On 12 June the South Hampshire Militia under Col Stuart marched in two divisions to Coxheath Camp near Maidstone, the army's largest training camp, where the completely raw Militia were exercised as part of a division alongside Regular troops while providing a reserve in case of French invasion of South East England.

[14] On 19 May 1780 the South Hants received orders to return to the mainland, sailing to Portsmouth and then marching via London to camp at Danbury, Essex.

[1][3][5][22][23] [24][25] From 1784 to 1792 the militia were assembled for their 28 days' annual peacetime training, but to save money only two-thirds of the men were actually mustered each year.

[5][3][28][22] The French Revolutionary Wars saw a new phase for the English militia: they 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.

[30][31] During the French Revolutionary War the militia were frequently collected in large encampments for summer training alongside regular troops.

When these duties were completed in June, the South Hants concentrated in summer camp at Battle, East Sussex.

In February the Supplementary Militia was called out for permanent service and a detachment of the South Hants men were sent from Winchester to reinforce the 'old' regiment at Lewes.

[37][38] By 1799 the threat of invasion seemed to have receded and in July the Supplementary Militia was stood down, the surplus men being encouraged to transfer to the Regular Army.

The reduced regiment crossed from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight from in October and returned in April 1800, landing at Lymington and marching to Maker Heights above Plymouth.

[39] The Treaty of Amiens was signed in March, ending the war, and on 12 April the South Hampshire Militia at Ringwood received the order to disembody.

Colonel Sir Richard Worsley died in 1805 and Mitford was brought back to succeed him, but resigned again the following year, when Serle was appointed Lt-Col Commandant.

Proposals to amalgamate the two small Hampshire regiments (the South Hants had been reduced to 365 privates in five companies in July 1805) came to nothing and Serle was promoted to Colonel in 1808.

In June 1810 the regiment moved to Maker Heights, where it remained for a year before being stationed at Exeter from May 1811, where the duties included escorting prisoners of war to Dartmoor and Bristol.

The South Hants LI left Exeter in April 1812 for Weedon Barracks, Northamptonshire, travelling in hired carts and completing the 170 miles (270 km) journey in 5 days.

On 27 and 31 May the South Hants embarked in two divisions in small ships at Leith and landed at Gravesend on 2 and 5 June before marching to Portsmouth.

It was stationed at Hilsea Barracks and Fort Monckton while numerous foreign dignitaries visited and French prisoners of war were released.

The warrant for calling out the South Hants was issued on 16 June, but the Battle of Waterloo had been fought by the time the regiment assembled on 10 July.

Colonel Serle died on 26 September 1826, but it was not until 25 June 1827 that Lt-Col Sir John Pollen, 2nd Baronet, MP, of Redenham Park, was promoted to succeed him.

[54] On 14 December 1852 the reformed South Hampshire Light Infantry was ordered to assemble for training at Southampton on 1 February 1853.