The regiment was originally raised by Colonel James Abercrombie as the 52nd Regiment of Foot in 1755 for service in the Seven Years' War.[2] It was re-numbered as the 50th Regiment of Foot, following the disbandment of the existing 50th and 51st regiments, in 1756.[2] The regiment's first action was when it embarked on ships and took part in the Raid on Rochefort in September 1757 during the Seven Years' War.[3] In its early years the regiment wore a uniform of black facings and white lace; when they wiped sweat away with their cuffs the dye stained their faces, giving rise to the nickname the "Dirty Half-Hundred" ("half-hundred" equals fifty).[4]"
The regiment was posted to Jamaica in 1772, and then to New York in 1776.[11] At this point, troops were transferred to other regiments and the officers returned to England to raise a new force; as such, the regiment did not see action in the American Revolutionary War. The men of the regiment served on various ships of the Royal Navy as marines and saw action at the First Battle of Ushant in July 1778.[11] The regiment adopted a county designation and became the 50th (West Kent) Regiment of Foot in 1782.[2]
A second battalion was raised in 1804 to increase the strength of the regiment.[2] The 1st battalion embarked for Copenhagen in July 1807 and saw action at the Battle of Copenhagen in August 1807 during the Gunboat War[19] before returning home in November 1807.[20] It then embarked for Portugal in May 1808 for service under General Sir Arthur Wellesley in the Peninsular War and saw action at the Battle of Roliça in August 1808[21] and the Battle of Vimeiro later that month.[22] In January 1809 the battalion took part in the Battle of Corunna, commanded by Charles James Napier, carrying out successive bayonet charges to keep the French at bay, at which General Sir John Moore shouted "Well done, 50th! Well done, my Majors!".[23] The battalion was subsequently evacuated from the Peninsula.[24] Both battalions then embarked from the Downs in July 1809 and saw action in the disastrous Walcheren Campaign.[25] It was the last regiment to leave Holland in December 1809.[26]
The regiment was deployed to the West Indies in January 1819 and landed in Jamaica in March 1819.[37] It was renamed the 50th (or Duke of Clarence's) Regiment of Foot, in honour of the future King William IV in 1827.[2] It then became the 50th (the Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot in honour of the King's wife, Queen Adelaide in 1831.[2] The regiment travelled to Australia in detachments as escorts to prisoners in 1834,[38] with detachments then stationed at Sydney, Norfolk Island, and Tasmania, before being relieved and transported to India in 1841.[38][39] It fought in the Gwalior campaign in December 1843[40] and were prominent at the Battle of Mudki in December 1845,[41] the Battle of Ferozeshah later that month[42] and the Battle of Aliwal in January 1846[43] as well as the Battle of Sobraon in February 1846 during the First Anglo-Sikh War.[44] Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Ryan, who had commanded the regiment in the early battles of the campaign and then commanded the 2nd Brigade at Sobraon, died two months later from the wounds he had received in that battle.[45] The regiment arrived back in England in July 1848.[46]
The regiment landed in Auckland in November 1863 for service in the New Zealand Wars.[52] It joined a field force which marched into the interior of the country as part of Lieutenant General Duncan Cameron's West Coast campaign and while encamped at Nukumaru near Whanganui came under sustained attack from Māori in January 1865 during the Second Taranaki War:[53] a total of 11 private soldiers from the regiment and 23 Māori died in the engagement.[54] The regiment moved to Sydney in June 1867 and then left for England in March 1869.[55]