Following the sanctioning by the Government of the formation of Volunteer Corps, on 12 May 1859, there was an immediate rush of volunteering. The date on which the first company in a county was formed determined County precedence. Following is an aphabetic list of counties with their respective ranking in the acknowledged order of seniority:

Aberdeenshire (33) Anglesey (94) Argyll (62) Ayrshire (59) Banffshire (84) Bedfordshire (80) Berkshire (19) Berwick-on-Tweed (87) Berwickshire (53) Brecknokshire (21) Bucks (24) Buteshire (66) Caithness (76) Cambridgeshire (47) Cardigan (63) Carmarthen (75) Carnarvonshire (72) Cheshire (8) Cinque Ports (35) Clackmannan (88) Cornwall (37) Cumberland (68) Denbighshire (43) Derbyshire (6) Devonshire (1) Dorsetshire (16) Dumbartonshire (70) Dumfries (60) Durham (64) Edinburgh (City) (11) Elgin (61) Essex (12)

Fifeshire (79) Flintshire (86) Forfar (46) Glamorgan (27) Gloucestershire (20) Haddington (57) Hampshire (44) Haverfordwest (56) Herefordshire (69) Hertforshire (51) Huntingdon (71) Inverness-shire (40) Isle of Man (92) Isle of Wight (58) Kent (26) Kincardineshire (55) Kinross-shire (93) Kirkcudbright (77) Lanarkshire (25) Lancashire (3) Leicestshire (31) Lincolnshire (42) Linlithgowshire (82) London (49) Merionethshire (29) Middlesex (2) Mid-Lothian (32) Monmouthshire (36) Montgomeryshire (73) Nairn (90) Newcastle-on-Tweed (81) Norfolk (17)

Northamptonshire (15) Northumberland (13) Nottinghamshire (28) Orkney (74) Oxfordshire (7) Peeblesshire (91) Pembrokeshire (5) Perthshire (52) Radnorshire (85) Renfrewshire (14) Ross-shire (38) Roxburgh (34) Selkirkshire (83) Shetland (95) Shropshire (48) Somersetshire (45) Staffordshire (18) Stirlingshire (23) Suffolk (22) Surrey (4) Sussex (10) Sutherland (54) Tower Hamlets (89) Warwickshire (41) Westmorland (78) Wigtown (65) Wiltshire (9) Worcestershire (39) Yorkshire (E.Rid.) (50) Yorkshire (N.Rid.) (67) Yorkshire (W.Rid.) (30)