1444, Private David ANDREWS – 11th Hussars

Birth & early life

Born at Taplow, Bucks [or Maidenhead, Berks (just across the Thames)], c.1830-1831.

He was christened at Cookham, Berkshire, on the 17th of April 1831. His father's name was Edward and his mother Ann. [PB]

1841 Census

Maidenhead Bridge, Taplow, Bucks.

Edward Andrews, 52? [see note below], Fisherman, born Bucks.

Ann, 51?

Ann, 21.

Edward, 18, Fisherman.

Robert, 15.

James, 14.

William, 13.

George, 12.

David, 9.

Elizabeth, 8.

Frederick, 7.

Louisa, 4.

Henry, 3.

Jane, 1.

All born Bucks. [CP/PB]

[RM: He could perhaps be a relation of 1447, James Andrews, 11th Hussars. The 1841 Census does not suggest he was a brother, so more likely a cousin? They lived nearby, enlisted at much the same time, and have close regimental numbers.]

[PB, March, 2014: Ancestry.co.uk transcribes Edward and Ann's ages as 32 and 31, not 52 and 51, which is understandable given the unclear writing on the Census. This would mean they are not DA's parents (the 1841 Census does not record relationships). However I feel fairly confident that they are indeed his parents, and they were in their 50s at this time. This is supported by DA's christening, which records his parents' names as Edward and Ann. In short, David Andrews is shown within what appears to be a large family, made up of parents (Edward and Ann) and twelve children aged from 1 to 21 years. (Though the presence of very young children could imply more complicated relationships.)

It might be possible to make the relationships clearer by seeking further family information e.g. David's elder brother Edward (who will be a Fisherman all his life), appears in the 1851 Census as born in Cookham [only a couple of miles north of Taplow and Maidenhead], with his wife Mary, born Bray [a mile or so south of Maidenhead], and three young children born Maidenhead. There are 7 children in 1861. Hs death is recorded in the Cookham district in the October Quarter of 1863.]

Photograph of Maidenhead Bridge, built 1772-7. The Andrews family fished the Thames here. David Andrews's occupation at enlistment was given as "Fisherman".

[Source: www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/view-upstream-of-maidenhead-bridge-and-cliveden-reach-maid27269 (accessed 26.3.2014).]

(Click on image to enlarge)

View upstream of Maidenhead Bridge and Cliveden Reach (painted after 1777 by an unknown artist). Oil on canvas, 42.5 x 53.5 cm. In the collection of the Windsor & Royal Borough Museum.

David Andrews's home in 1841 was at the Taplow end of the bridge, right.

[Source: www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/view-upstream-of-maidenhead-bridge-and-cliveden-reach-maid27269 (accessed 26.3.2014).]

(Click on image to enlarge)

[PB, March 2014: The fine road bridge that David Andrews would have known in 1841 is still in use (it carries the A4). Designed and built 1772-7, its thirteen arches of Portland stone crosses the Thames between Maidenhead, Berkshire, and Taplow, Bucks. See e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidenhead_Bridge. An important stop on the route between London and Bath, Bristol and South Wales, there were numerous coaching inns nearby – DA's family are likely to have found a market there for the fish they caught, and hence a source of income to sustain their large number. However, this market may well have declined rapidly with the arrival of the railway in David's childhood.









Brunel's great red-brick railway bridge, completed in 1838, and first used in 1839, was built a few hundred yards downstream when DA was a child. See e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidenhead_Bridge.

Both bridges, and indeed what appear to be fishermen in a small boat, are depicted in Turner's Rain, Steam and Speed – the Great Western Railway, of 1844. See e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidenhead_Bridge. David Andrews's home would presumably have been situated in the mid-left of the scene.

J.M.W. Turner's Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway (first exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1844, now National Gallery, London). Could David Andrews be one of the figures in the boat?

The painting depicts an early locomotive crossing the River Thames on the recently completed Maidenhead Railway Bridge, a few hundred yards from Maidenhead Road Bridge [left] and David Andrews's family home.

Given the nature of their boat, with its single rear-mounted oar, and the heavy rain, it is likely the figures in the left foreground are fishing commercially rather than out for sport or pleasure.

An even larger image can be viewed here.

(Click on image to enlarge)

[Source: Wikipedia (accessed 26.3.2014).]

Enlistment

Enlisted at Hounslow on the 15th of October 1849.

Age: 19.

Height: 5' 7".

Trade: Fisherman.

Service

1851 Census

Pockthorpe Cavalry Barracks, Norwich.

David Andrews, soldier, unmarried, 20, Private, born Taplow Bucks.

[PB, March, 2014: The 1851 Census shows a large number of men in the 11th Hussars, all aged 19-21, from this part of the Thames – Cookham, Maidenhead, Taplow, Bray, etc. For example 1430 Edward Blissett, also 11th Hussars, who was born in nearby Cookham and enlisted at Hounslow in April 1847. This is worth following up.]

Service

Slightly wounded in action at Balaclava, 25th October 1854.

From Private to Corporal: 15th of September 1857.

1861 Census

Hulme Cavalry Barracks, Lancs.

D[avid] Andrews, Unmarried, 30, Soldier, b. Maidenhead, Berks.

[PB]

Discharge & pension

Discharged, "by claim", from Dublin on the 3rd of August 1861.

Conduct: "good". In possession of one Good Conduct badge.

Further detailed medal information archived.

Medals

Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman, and Sebastopol, and the Turkish medal.

Commemorations

Attended the first Balaclava Banquet in 1875.

Member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society in 1879.

Life after service

After leaving the Army he seems to have returned briefly to his old work: he is recorded as a Fisherman on his marriage certificate in 1862.

Marriage

Marriage registered.

David Andrews to Jane Smith, December Quarter 1862, Manchester.

The Cathedral and Parish Church, Manchester.

On the 13th of October 1862, after banns, David Andrews, 31, Bachelor, a Fisherman, married Jane Smith, 24, Spinster [no occupation shown]. Both were living at 85, Ward Street, Hulme.

His father was named as Edward Andrews, Fisherman, and hers as William Smith, Packer.

It is not known how they met, and how David Andrews came to be living in Manchester [PB: He was at Hulme Barracks in 1861], but given his subsequent employment as a Packer it seems likely his father-in-law helped him to find the job.]

He later worked for Messrs S. and J. Watts of Portland Street, in Manchester.

[PB, March, 2014: This must be the textile firm of S & J Watts whose huge and ornate warehouse, built 1851-56 in Portland Street, Manchester, helped make the city into "Cottonopolis". The S & J Watts warehouse is now the Britannia Hotel. See e.g.

www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/mangnall/1.html,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Warehouse,

ragpickinghistory.co.uk/tag/watts-warehouse (accessed 27.3.2014).]

1871 Census

9, Clyde [?] Street, Gorton, Lancashire. [Gorton is an area in the south-east of Manchester.]

David Andrews, Head, 40, Packer [?], born Maidenhead, Berkshire.

Jane Andrews, Wife, 32, [Chorlton on Medlock, Lancashire?].

David Andrews, Son, 7, Manchester.

Albert Edward Andrews, Son, 3, Gorton, Lancs.

Margret Knowles Andrews, Daughter, 3 Months, Gorton, Lancs.

Death registration

Jane Andrews [wife], aged 36 years, March Quarter 1872, Chorlton.

1881 Census

14, Amy Street, Gorton, Lancs.

The 1881 Census shows him as a Widower, aged 52, a Warehouseman, born at Maidenhead, Berkshire, with two children, Albert C.C. [?] Andrews, 13, [born ?], Lancashire, and Margaret E.K., 9, born Gorton, both Scholars. [RM]

Death & burial

Death registration

St. Catherine's House records for the January-March Quarter of 1884 show the death of a man of this name, aged 52 years, in the Chorlton, Lancashire, District.

David Andrews, aged 52 years, March Quarter 1884, Chorlton.

David Andrews died at 12, Amy Street, Gorton, Manchester, on the 22nd of February 1884 from "Pneumonia (2 months)", aged 52 years. His occupation was described as a "Packer" and his son, D.W. Andrews, of 11, Gorton Street, was present at, and the informant of, his death. (There is a copy of his death certificate in the "Certificates" file.)

He was buried with military honours in Weaste Cemetery, Salford, Manchester, on the 27th of February, the cortege creating great interest as it moved through the city.

"Funeral of One of the 'Six Hundred'" (David Andrews), Manchester Courier, 28th February 1884 [CP]

(Click on image to enlarge)

[PROOFREAD AGAINST ORIGINAL]

FUNERAL OF ONE OF THE "SIX HUNDRED"

On Wednesday one of the few remaining heroes of the famous charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava was borne to his last resting place Salford Cemetery, Weaste. The funeral attracted many persons in and near the cemetery, the approaches to which were lined by large crowds. The name of the deceased was David Andrews. He was in his 53rd year, and while very young joined the 11th Hussars. At the age of 20 he was engaged the memorable charge of the Light Brigade under Lord Cardigan, and he took part in the battles of Alma and Inkermann. gallant soldier, who was a native of Maidenhead, near London, received his discharge about 20 years ago, and had been employed for long period Messrs. S. and J. Watts and Company, Portland-street, in this city. For the past nine months had been in enfeebled health, and died in his residence, 16, Amy-street, West Gorton, on Friday, leaving two sons and daughter. The obsequies yesterday took the form of a military funeral, a procession being formed near where the deceased lived. First came the band of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, now stationed at Hulme barracks; the hearse; Sergeant Green, of the 11th Hussars, which regiment at Leeds and another of the "six hundred," on foot; four coaches containing relatives and friends of the deceased, while a detachment of some 20 Dragoon Guards, under Lieutenant Todd, brought up the rear. The route taken was Stockport-road, Downing-street, Portland-street, Peter-street, Chester-road, Dawson-street, and Regent-road, all which thoroughfares were thronged with people. The band played the "Dead March" on the way, and two funeral marches from Beethoven. The deceased was laid by the side of his wife, who died some four years ago.

[Source: Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser — Thursday 28th February 1884 and Saturday 01 March 1884. An abbreviated version appeared in the Dundee Evening Telegraph — Friday 29 February 1884.]

The Cemetery records show that he was buried in Grave No. 108419 on the 27th of February 1884, aged 52 years, by the Revd. G. Hayden. No section of the cemetery in which the grave is situated is recorded, the whole "public" area in which he was interred having now been "landscaped" and "lawned" over.

It is now known that he was buried in a Church of England common grave in Section F2228 of the cemetery, alongside his wife, who had died four years earlier.

From the Naval and Military Gazette, 8th of March 1884:

"David Andrews, late of the 11th Hussars and one of the heroes of the great historical Charge at Balaclava, died at his residence in Amy Street, Gorton, Manchester on Friday week at the age of 53. He was one of the youngest men in the Light Brigade present in that remarkable charge under Lord Cardigan, and was also present at the battles of Inkerman, Alma and Sebastopol".

In early 1988, following a letter sent to the Manchester Evening News regarding the condition of the Weaste Cemetery and the fact that a V.C. winner and a Balaclava "Charger" were buried there in unmarked graves, Mr. Derek Andrews of Chorlton-cum-Hardy wrote [to EJB] to say that it was his great-grandfather, David Andrews of the 11th Hussars, who was buried there.

Following contact with him [by EJB] it transpired that he [DA] knew little about his ancestor, possessing only a copy of a newspaper report of his death and funeral and a photograph of him as a young man (in uniform but not wearing any medals, so it was presumably taken before the Crimean period). His greater family also possessed the spurs once worn by him.

[PB: I'm not so sure about the dating. Photographs were unusual before the Crimean War, and DA looks quite old. Or did old soldiers always wear their medals in photographs?]

On being sent copies of what was known of David Andrews, and a copy of his death certificate, copies of both the newspaper report and the photograph were sent in return. (See both in the 11th Hussars file.)

See also

• Wikipedia: Weaste Cemetery refers to four (unnamed) survivors of the Charge buried there (accessed 5.3.2016). These were James Cameron, Ferdinand Stanley, Joseph Ireland and David Andrews.
• weasteheritagetrail.co.uk/about/the-history-of-weaste-cemetery (accessed 5.3.2016).
• weasteheritagetrail.co.uk/about/explore-the-cemetery/charge-of-the-light-brigade/index.htm (accessed 5.3.2016).
• cemsearch.co.uk/weaste/weaste.html (accessed 5.3.2016).
• findagrave – Weaste cemetery (accessed 5.3.2016).
• aircrashsites.co.uk/air-raids-bomb-sites/weaste-cemetery-salford/ (accessed 5.3.2016).

Further information

In 1891, David William Andrews [son] was living at 11, William Street, Gorton. [RM]

A local historian has also published the World War One Diary of one of DA's grandsons, Albert William Andrews, which describes his service on the Somme in 1917 with a Manchester Regiment "Pals" battalion. [RM]

David Andrews in Roy Dutton, Forgotten Heroes, p.131.

(Click on image to enlarge)

References & acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Derek Andrews for copies of DA's death certificate, portrait photograph, and a cutting from the Manchester Evening News . Newspaper cutting from the Manchester Courier kindly provided by Chris Poole.