William Stephen Raikes Hodson, founder of Hodson’s Horse, wearing a crested Ellwood’s helmet c1850s.

Ellwood and Sons were among the first, if not the first, English helmet manufacturers to supply the Indian trade and specialized in felt headgear for officers of the Honourable East India Company’s army and later the British Army in India. Their helmets were in use in India during the 1840s but with the advent of cork helmets, especially those of Hawkes & Co., declined in use from the late 1860s onwards. Continue reading →