Hey Historians! Long time subscriber here to ask my first question!
This is a picture of one of my Girlfriend's (probably English) ancestors from the later 1800s. As you can see he is wearing a military uniform, with various medals and decorations.
My question to you all is: What is the significance of his uniform, medals, and sword? Is it true military, and if so what unit is he from? What do his sash, sword, and medals mean? WHAT WAS THIS MUSTACHIOED GENTLEMAN UP TO???
http://imgur.com/B4Y6olU The Gentleman in question
Help me askhistorians, you're my only hope!
Can confirm what you have here is most certainly not a British military uniform, a short google led me to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
I don't think that's a military uniform. The sword looks very much like a ceremonial freemasons sword (a question in /r/SWORDS couldn't do any harm).
ETA: Interestingly enough, the Gentleman's belt buckle has been sold on Ebay a few days ago.
Go ahead and submit this to /r/uniformporn. They'll have a good shot at answering your question.