Mess dress waistcoat : Major T B Robinson, Moreton Regiment, Queensland Defence Forces

Black wool superfine fronted open vest style waistcoat, edged with gold Russia braid that extends down front to form an eye and continues along lower edge to side seams. Two welt pockets at front are edged with gold Russia braid forming a crowsfoot at each end and crowsfeet in the centre. Front fastened with brass hooks and eyes and left front decorated with gilded studs. Back of waistcoat made from black cotton sateen with self fabric belt and metal two pronged buckle. Lined with white cotton twill.

Worn by Lieutenant Colonel Sir Thomas Bilbe Robinson as a major in 1886. Worn under his mess dress jacket and probably with a white shirt front and a black bow tie. Sir Thomas was born in England in 1853 and was sent to Rockhampton, Queensland in 1881 as a shipping manager. He soon joined the Queensland Volunteer Force and was commissioned as an acting lieutenant in 1883, a captain in the Moreton Regiment in 1885, and a major in 1886. He moved to the unattached list in 1888 and retired in 1893. In 1910 Robinson was appointed Queensland agent general in London. For his services he was made a Knight commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1913. In late 1914 he was appointed director of meat supplies for the allied armies, a position he held until the end of the First World War. For these services he was appointed a Knight of the Order of the British Empire in 1917, followed by a Knight Grand Cross of the Order in 1920. He was also made an honorary lieutenant-colonel in the British Army in 1919. His other decorations included a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur from France in 1917, a Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy, 1918, and a Commander of the Order of the Crown of Belgium in 1919. Robinson died in England in 1939.