Simple question above. My confusions described in painful detail as well as some follow up questions below.

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I read on Wikipedia that: *By the end of 17th century in Great Britain, the "colonel of a regiment" was often a titled person who had been given Royal Assent to raise it for service and command it in battle. As such, he was required to cover all costs of the regiment's equipment, uniforms and wages as well select its officers. Until the late 18th century most British regiments were commonly known by the name of the colonelcy, for example Lord Churchill's Dragoons (1683–1685) or Elliot's Light Horse (1759–66).*^1 *On 1 July 1751 a royal warrant was issued declaring that in future regiments were no longer to be known by their colonel's name, but by the "Number or Rank of the Regiment".*^2 *By the start of the American Revolutionary War most English and Welsh regiments in the standing army of Great Britain were named numerically, although some independent Highland regiments — such as MacLeod's Highlanders — were raised in the name of their colonel for service in West Africa and India.*^1

All is fine, until the paragraph continues with: *The change from a colonelcy based on patronage was because the British Army's administration had been reformed into three administrative bodies.*^1 I don't see what that has to do the naming convention (bad writing on the article's side confuses me), but I understand that at a certain point the patronage system was reformed. What did the changing of the naming convention for regiments have to do with patronage colonelcy?

*The reforms meant that the British government was now financially responsible for the pay, clothing and equipment of the troops in the service of the British Crown. Colonels were also no longer permitted to profit directly from the sale of officer commissions in their regiments. A lieutenant-colonel commanded the regiment in battle. By the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, the title "colonel of the regiment" had become a sinecure appointment for distinguished generals and members of the royal family or British nobility.*^1 So did the change take place before the Napoleonic wars?

*From 1798 onward, structural, training and logistical reforms implemented or authorized by the Duke of York.*^4 Was this the reform that got rid of colonelcy by patronage?

In another page I found: *The system of Sale of commissions determined the selection and promotion of officers in the infantry and cavalry. Once officers gained their first commissions through a combination of recommendation and purchase, subsequent promotion was nominally determined by seniority, with officers purchasing their successive ranks.*^3 So was the sale of commissions a different practice from the colonelcy by patronage, and was still done until the Cardwell and Childers Reforms?

*By the end of the 19th century, the reorganisation of the British Army through the Cardwell and Childers Reforms had established a colonel as a professional rank with senior administrative responsibilities in regiment or brigade.*^1 OK, so something else changed during these reforms. Between them and the one I presume took place before the Napoleonic Wars, Colonel was not a military rank?

^1 [Colonel (United Kingdom)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_(United_Kingdom))
^2 [30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30th_(Cambridgeshire)_Regiment_of_Foot)
^3 British Army during the Victorian Era
^4 Recruitment in the British Army