This court uniform from the 1920s is made with gold braid and black velvet. It consists of a black high-collar jacket with gold oak-leaf embroidery on the chest, cuffs and long tails; black trousers with gold stripes; and a cocked hat with white ostrich plumes.
The uniform shown here belonged to
Sir Francis Floud KCB, KCSL, KCMG (1875-1965), Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (1920-27).
Last updated - 1st February 2010
This court uniform from the 1920s is made with gold braid and black velvet. It consists of a black high-collar jacket with gold oak-leaf embroidery on the chest, cuffs and long tails; black trousers with gold stripes; and a cocked hat with white ostrich plumes. It was required wear on ceremonial occasions, and similar jackets would have been worn by British diplomats as well as Governors and other colonial officials within the British Empire.
This particular uniform – Civil Uniform 2nd Class – was worn by Sir Francis Floud KCB, KCSL, KCMG (1875-1965), Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (1920-27).
Francis Floud had distinguished career at the top of the Civil Service. After leaving the Ministry in 1927 he become Chairman of the Board of Customs and Excise, then Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Labour (1930-1934) before becoming High Commissioner to Canada (1934-1938).
This is in fact an amalgamation of two uniforms – the jacket is from Court dress, but the trousers are from the Levee dress - as shown in the image below, taken from Dress and Insignia worn at His Majesty's Court which was published about the same time as this uniform was worn :
The uniform is displayed in the Permanent Secretary’s waiting room at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
