1650 — PRESENT

The 1650Legacy

The first permanent digital oral history of the Coldstream Guards, 375 years of service, told in the voices of the men who lived it.

A veteran-led oral history project
For deposit with the National Army Museum
The Story

From Spanish Town to the ranks of the oldest regiment in continuous service

The Coldstream Guards have stood on parade since 1650. In all those years, only a handful of Black, foreign-born soldiers have served in their ranks — and none from Spanish Town, Jamaica, until Sean Hemans.

Sean joined the regiment in 1999. His journey, from the island's historic first capital to one of the most storied regiments in the British Army, is where this archive begins. But it does not end with him.

The 1650 Legacy is a veteran-led project to record, preserve, and exhibit that living memory: filmed interviews with the veterans themselves, gathered into a permanent collection and placed in the care of the National Army Museum, so the regiment's story can be heard first-hand, for good.

375 Years

One unbroken line

1650

The regiment is raised

In 1660, its founder General George Monck marched from Coldstream, Scotland, into England during the English Civil War — an association that would give the regiment its name.

1999

A first in the regiment's history

Sean becomes the first Jamaican from Spanish Town to serve in the Coldstream Guards since 1650, joining a legacy of only a handful of Black, foreign-born servicemen to have served in the regiment.

1650–present

Generations under the Colours

Guardsmen serve at home and abroad across nearly four centuries. Their stories live in regimental record, but rarely in their own recorded voices.

2026

The archive begins

The 1650 Legacy launches — a permanent digital collection linking today's Coldstream veterans to 375 years of regimental heritage.

Coldstream Guardsmen wear their tunic buttons in pairs — the mark of the second regiment in order of precedence, and of a motto held ever since: Nulli Secundus. Second to none.
The Project

A living archive, built to museum standard

Three phases, to the highest standard.

Record

Film the veterans

Professional video interviews with modern Coldstream Guards veterans — their recruitment, their service, their reflections — captured to broadcast and archival standard.

Preserve

Build the collection

Interviews are edited, transcribed, and fully catalogued — the regiment's first oral history collection of its kind.

Exhibit

Deposit with the nation

The finished archive is deposited with the National Army Museum and relevant venues, preserved for researchers, families, and the public — and ready for exhibition.

Where We Are
We're happy to support the 1650 Legacy project and agree to offer a permanent home to any relevant parts suitable for the Museum's collection. Sean's story fills an important gap in the story of the British Army.
National Army Museum
Penny Hutchins
Head of Archives, National Army Museum

Project Status

Museum review

Head of Archives and senior curatorial team keen to exhibit the finished collection.

Veteran-led team

Led by Sean Hemans, retired Coldstream Guard, with veterans ready to take part.

Funding preparation

Building the public support needed to realise the project.

Filming & deposit

Interviews filmed, the archive completed, and the collection delivered to the museum.

Support the Project

Help carry the story forward

A Coldstream veteran with a story to tell? Someone who believes this history should be kept? An organisation that can help? Let's connect below — every message strengthens the funding case.