ABSTRACT
The initiative to form a corps came from someone other than the Lord Lieutenant. Occasionally the professions organised themselves in their different corps. All these were exclusively middle-class corps. The most common way to raise a corps was to call a public meeting. In Oldham there was little support for the Volunteers until 'some of the influential men in the district gave in their adhesion to the movement', and in Scotland as late as 1867 the number of Volunteers in any area was thought to be proportionate to the amount of upper-class support. The support of the wealthy was indeed essential, particularly if the working class was to join. They began to organise their dependents or employees in corps, and it was generally by this means that working-class men entered the Force. The Volunteer Force came to be seen as more than symptomatic of better class relationships; it was believed to have helped bring about those relationships.
