Lieutenant Wadmore's writing was hurried and the dash was his main form of punctuation. A certain amount of capitalization and punctuation has been added where the editor judged that the meaning would thus be made clear. Otherwise the text remains as written with the exception of editorial inserts in curved brackets, and footnotes.

David Ross

Editor.

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Colonel R.L. Wadmore, a biographical note

Robinson Lyndhurst Wadmore was born in England in 1855 and educated at Tonbridge School. He studied to be an architect then worked for some years in his father's architectural firm. During this time, in 1880, he joined the Volunteers and was commissioned Lieutenant and later Captain in the 2nd London Rifles. In 1881, evidently bored by the routine of office work and daily commuting to London, he sailed for Canada in the hope of finding military employment there. This did not materialize, but thanks to an introduction to Sir James McDougal he became a civil engineer in the Dominion Lands Office in Ottawa.

In 1882 he was engaged to Annie Knight Skead, daughter of Senator James Skead, and they were married on April 17th, 1882. Armed with capital from his father, the young couple moved to Winnipeg and invested in real estate, which was then booming. By 1883 the boom had collapsed and he returned to work for the Dominion Lands Office, but he soon obtained a commission as Lieutenant in the newly formed Infantry School Corps, thanks to the influence of his father-in-law.

As his diary shows, he took an active part in the North West Campaign of 1885. His experience, typical of a soldier's life, involved long stretches of boredom interspersed with short intervals of activity and danger.

Colonel Wadmore's career in the small Canadian regular force proceeded slowly but steadily. He was promoted Captain Dec. 21st, 1888. In 1893 he attended a musketry training course in England at Hythe, was presented to Queen Victoria, met the Prince of Wales and spent some time serving with the Worcestershire Regiment before returning to his former station at Fredericton, N.B.

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