Thank you so much for responding. I recently spent 4 days in Ruabon/Wrexham, including hours of painfully going through microfiches of the regional and local papers. The situation is that, in 1902, very very few photographs were printed in newspapers because the printing processes couldn't reproduce then well enough. Thus it is that photographs are likely to be in private hands or museums, or with people who are interested in military history, hence my writing to the RWF archivists. Unfortunately, whilst everything to do with the 88th and the 89th used to be held at the museum in Carnaervon, presumably with that of the other regiments/units which made up the MIY, they had to return it all a few years ago to their respective home towns when MOD required use of the building.
The 88th stuff is back at Wrexham BUT it's not on public display - which is a shame as I'd have thought it would be quite important locally. Sir William Watkins Wynne owned almost all of mid and north Wales when he raised the MIY. His 'seat' was Wynnstay Hall in Ruabon, where much of the training and also the assembly for embarkation took place, and the name Wynnstay still appears on pubs, hotels and businesses all over the eastern mid-Wales and North Wales area, so historically, even for only a short period of time, the units which made up the MIY were important. My G Grandfather lived in one of the cottages immediately outside the entrance to the enormous Wynnstay Hall and estate. I now have to wait for the RWF to get back to me, which could take a couple of months (it's now Week 6) and, if there is anything hidden away of interest to me, based on the information I've given them, I will then have to send £30 and make an appointment to go back to Wrexham and view it.
You are coming upon the same issue which has dogged me for a while - the 88th is almost like a ghost unit! Hey ho - something will turn up eventually. I hope that there may be someone else with a particular interest in them who might be able to come up with something tangible.
Thank you so much for replying - everything helps and, even if the result isn't overwhelming, the knowledge gained along the way is marvellous.
Warmly
Jo
