70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot, officer's gilt button made between about 1840 and 1875.
The regiment LXX is the Roman numeral 70, and the 70th was the only line regiment titled "Surrey" in this period. It was re-designated the 70th (Surrey) in 1782, reverted to its Glasgow title in 1812, and took back the Surrey title in 1825.On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms merged it with the 31st to form the East Surrey Regiment, the 70th becoming the 2nd Battalion.So a "SURREY / LXX" button can only date from 1825 to 1881.
The date
Backmark: it reads "Firmin & Sons, 153 Strand, London" with no "Ltd". Firmin became a limited company in 1875, and later buttons carry "Ltd" in the backmark. Before the "& Sons" style, the firm traded as P & S Firmin for a short period, dated between 1837 and 1841.
Putting those together: roughly 1840 to 1875.
Narrowing it further Most surviving 70th officer buttons of this kind are from the tunic era, worn circa 1855 to 1881 for line regiments, which would put this at about 1855 to 1875. It measures about 22mm.
