A framed mid 19th century bronze gilt plaque of James Guidney (1782-1866), also known as Jemmy the Rock Man.
 
English, circa 1840
 
Dimensions

Framed
Height: 28cm / 11”
Width: 23cm / 9”

Jemmy the Rock Man was an eccentric English character who became a soldier and later a street pedlar in Birmingham. He was born and raised in Norwich where he worked as an errand boy. In 1797 he joined the British army as a drummer boy. He served with the 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment in Gibraltar and Malta. While in Malta he had a severe inflammation in his right eye which he sadly lost. In 1809 Guidney transferred to the First Royal Veteran Battalion, which was an early 19th century unit made up of soldiers who were no longer fit for front line service. These units were previously and rather shockingly known as “invalid battalions” which was deemed derogatory after soldiers had been injured serving their country and were therefore rightly changed to the Royal Veteran Battalions. In later years Jemmy the Rock Man claimed he had been promoted to sergeant and Drum Major to the battalion, however there is no record on paper to prove this, just his word! After leaving the army he settled in Birmingham where he became a well known character on the streets in the latter years of the Georgian and into the early Victorian era. Jemmy would sell medicated rock candy on the streets, which he called his “Composition - good for coughs and colds”. Jemmy died on the 28th September 1866 and is buried in the Witton Cemetery in Birmingham.