The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry has its origins in the various troops of light horse raised in the eighteenth century in the county of Lancaster, the earliest of which was the Bolton Light Horse formed in 1798. In June 1828 the Lancashire Corps of Yeomanry Cavalry assembled and by special act, the king, William IV, granted the title Duke of Lancaster’s Corps of Yeomanry Cavalry in 1834, and the Sovereign, as the Duke of Lancaster, has traditionally been Colonel-in-Chief. The regiment sent mounted infantry for service in the Boer War as the Imperial Yeomanry, between 1900 and 1902.