What is "imperial yeomanry"

Yeomanry \Yeo"man*ry\, n.

1. The position or rank of a yeoman. [Obs.] ``His estate of yeomanry.''
   --Chaucer.

2. The collective body of yeomen, or freeholders.

   The enfranchised yeomanry began to feel an instinct for dominion.
   --Bancroft.

3. A British volunteer cavalry force, growing out of a royal regiment of fox hunters raised by Yorkshire gentlemen in 1745 to fight the Pretender, Charles Edward; -- calle dalso yeomanry cavalry. The members furnish their own horses, have fourteen days' annual camp training, and receive pay and allowance when on duty. In 1901 the name was altered to imperial yeomanry in recognition of the services of the force in the Boer war. See Army organization, above.

   Yeomanry cavalry, certain bodies of volunteer cavalry liable to service in Great Britain only. [Eng.]

The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer cavalry regiment of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Officially created on 24 December 1899, the regiment was based on members of standing Yeomanry regiments, but also contained a large contingent of middle or upper class English volunteers. In Ireland 120 men were recruited in February 1900. It was officially disbanded in 1908.