Home Search Index of men A-Z

LIVES OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
The E.J. Boys Archive

Added 30.9.11. New information added 2.11.11, 26.2.15.

1308, Private Robert ASHTON – 11th Hussars

Birth & early life

Born at Bury, Lancashire, c.1828-32 [4th May 1830?], the son of John Ashton, a Bricklayer.

Members of the family have provided a considerable amount of information about Robert Ashton's background.

The family resided in Heap Township, east of Bury itself. So far as is known, Robert Ashton was the youngest of John Ashton's three children: John, born c.1816-21; Mary, born c.1821-26; and Robert, born (according to the Family Bible), 4th May 1830, but certainly c.1828-32. This information comes from the 1841 Census. It is not established who their mother was.

1841 Census

Top [?] of Heap, Bury, Lancs.

John Ashton, 20, Farmer, b. in Lancs.

Mary Ashton, 15, b. in Lancs.

Robert Ashton, 13, b. in Lancs.

[PB]

Enlistment

Enlisted at Manchester on the 15th of November 1846.

Age: 18.

Height: 5' 7".

Trade: Labourer, on enlistment, but described as Servant on discharge.

Appearance: Fresh complexion. Grey eyes. Brown hair.

Service

Tried by a Regimental Court-martial, and imprisoned 28th of November 1850 – 12th of January 1851.

1851 Census

Pockthorpe Barracks, Norwich, Norfolk.

Robert Ashton, Soldier, Unmarried, 22, Private, B. Bury, Lancs.

[PB]

Robert Ashton's account of the Charge



Robert Ashton's account of the Charge, article of unknown date or origin, but almost certainly C19 or shortly after (clipping in EJBA 11H File vol.5).

(Click on image to enlarge)

Robert Ashton, of the 11th Hussars, says:

The name of my officer was Colonel Douglas, and the captain of the troop Major Cooke. I was present at the Turkish campaign, and was through the whole of the Crimean war, and I never received a single wound. I had two horses shot under me and on one occasion my busby was shot off my head. I certainly consider myself very fortunate. On the day preceding the renowned charge we had been waiting all night in expectation of an attack, and knew that the Heavy Brigade had been engaged in a skirmish with the enemy.

Afterwards came the order from Captain Nolan to capture the guns. This gallant soldier, in leading the men down the valley, was the first man shot, receiving a bullet in his chest. Some say that he screamed, but I never heard it at the time. You did not know how the deuce you felt when you saw the enemy and the guns on every side; but picture to yourself what your sensations would be on the occasion.

The order given, to the best of my knowledge, was "Walk, trot, gallop – charge!" My first horse was shot under me a very short time after we started.

After being dismounted, Sergeant Fleming was near me, and I caught hold of the bridle of his horse. He said, "Leave go, or we shall both be killed." The bridle slipped out of my hand, and as the horse passed me I managed to catch his tail, to which I held on for a few yards; but the pace at which he was going was too much for me, and I was obliged to let go. Shortly afterwards I saw a horse belonging to the 4th Light Dragoons coming towards me, which, after some difficulty, I succeeded in catching, and, mounting it, I proceeded down the valley.

We captured the guns, and killed as many of the gunners as we could; but of course we could not hold the battery – the odds were too much against us. Colonel Douglas gave the order to re-form the line, and join the 17th Lancers, with the object of recharging the guns; but, upon finding out that he had made a mistake in thinking they were our comrades, the colonel said, "Gallop, men, for your lives!" I was close to him when he said it; and we galloped away as fast as we could, for the enemy was surrounding us on every side. The plain was strewn with dead horses and wounded and dying men.

When we returned – I can hardly tell how we came back – the "rollcall" was read over, and then we got an idea how fearful had been the slaughter, and of the number of comrades missing. We were dreadfully cut-up, and felt sorry for our brave companions-in-arms, whom we could not bury in consequence of our being beaten off the valley. Our camp was afterwards shifted. The officers were very brave, and urged the men forward in every possible way, and everybody did their best.

One of the principal incidents connected with the charge was the interchange of horses that was going on both up and down the valley. If a man was dismounted, which was a most common occurrence, he caught the first horse that presented itself. Of course riderless horses were numberless, and many of the poor creatures were almost mad, the blood pouring out in great profusion from many of them, owing to the bullet wounds they had received. They rushed up and down the valley, sometimes even to the very mouth of the cannons, not knowing where to go or what to do; and this, as might be expected, added greatly to the confusion of a scene which was indescribable.

[Source: Unknown publication, clipping in EJBA 11th Hussar File vol.5. ]

There are several photographs of RA in the archive (see above), including one (said to have been taken soon after the return of the regiment from the Crimea) in which he appears in uniform with two other men of the regiment. Ashton is seated on the right.



Robert Ashton with two unknown men of the 11th Hussars, said to have been taken shortly after RA returned from the Crimea (1856?0). He is on the right.

(Click on image to enlarge)

He is shown as "In Hospital" at the time of the muster taken on the 31st of October 1854 and "In Hospital" at Scutari until the date of his being invalided home.

Out of the 92 days in the October-December period he was 6 days on board ship and 73 days on land being paid by the regiment.

Joined the General Depot at Scutari on the 19th of December 1854 and invalided to England on the 19th of May 1855.

The muster roll for the Scutari Depot shows him as only being there from the 19th of December 1854 and the time spent there from the 19th to the 31st of December would add up to the 92 days in the quarter.

There is no indication where he was for the October muster-checkin, whether in the Regimental Hospital or elsewhere; and there is the added discrepancy of his being shown at Scutari when he was actually still with the regiment.

He is shown under Voucher 3, which was the nominal roll of men going from the Crimea to Scutari. While not conclusive, it would seem that the clasps noted on the medal rolls were those actually awarded to him and he was not entitled to that for Balaclava.

1861 Census

Hulme Cavalry Barracks, Lancs.

R[obert] Ashton, Unmarried, 32, Soldier, b. Bury, Lancs.

[PB]

Sent to the Depot at Canterbury when the regiment went to India. 25th of July 1866.

1871 Census

Cavalry Barracks, Heston, Middlesex.

Robert Ashton, Head, 42, Bury, Lancashire.

Elizabeth Jane Ashton, Wife, 36, 1835, Exeter, Devon.

Elizabeth Ashton, Daughter, 5, 1866, Portobello, Dublin, Ireland

Frederick Rd [Richard?] Ashton, Son, 1, 1870, Canterbury, Kent.

[RM]



Robert Ashton and his first wife, unknown date. Click to enlarge.

Robert Ashton and his first wife, Elizabeth Jane nee Piccard or Pickard (EJBA, unknown date).

(Click on image to enlarge)


Discharge & pension



Robert Ashton's Discharge papers 1871. Click to enlarge.

1308 Robert Ashton's Discharge Papers, Canterbury, 31st of July 1871

(Click on image to enlarge)


Discharged from Canterbury on the 15th of August 1871 at "Own request, after 24 years' service".

Served 24 years 211 days. In Turkey and the Crimea: 11 months.

Conduct: "been very good". "In possession of five Good Conduct badges, with medal for Long Service and Good Conduct with a gratuity of £5.

Thirteen times entered in the Regimental Defaulter book. Once tried by Court-martial.

Next of kin (1867): Wife, Elizabeth Ashton.

To live in Carlisle Place, Victoria, London, after discharge.

Medals

Entitled (according to the medal rolls) to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Inkerman, and Sebastopol, and the Turkish medal.

Awarded the Long Service & Good Conduct medal on the 25th of July 1870, with a gratuity of £5.

Further detailed medal information archived.

Commemorations

He signed the illuminated address from survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade that was presented to T. H. Roberts on the occasion he invited them to his offices in Fleet Street to view Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee procession in 1897.

At the Lord Mayor's Show on the 9th of November 1890, Robert Ashton is shown travelling in the 16th carriage in the procession.

Confusion exists over his (seemingly wrongful) claim to have ridden in the Charge. Was he perhaps aware of the previous death (in 1860) of his namesake 828 Robert Ashton (see his record), and did he take advantage of the opportunity offered, a deception that lasted until the end of his days?

Just before the Dinner in 1875 he was interviewed by a newspaper (possibly the Daily Telegraph) in which he gave an account of his experiences in the Charge. (There is a copy in the 11th Hussar file, transcribed above.) He does not appear to have been present at the 1875 Dinner, but he was accepted as a member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society in 1877 and is also shown on the revised list of 1879 – a list from which all the "doubtfuls" are said to have been removed and only those proven to have taken part included.

He signed the Loyal Address to the Queen in 1887 and was present at the Fleet Street offices of T.H. Roberts for the Jubilee celebrations he gave there in June 1897. He is shown on the list of those invited as being "from London".

(The invitation card sent to him is still in the possession of the family. There is a copy in the "Memoirs" file.)

Here, again, the list of those invited is said to have been strictly "vetted".

He also signed the testimonial given to Mr Roberts on that occasion. (There is a copy in the "Memoirs" file.)

In January 1897 the Sergeants' Mess of the 2nd. Bn. Coldstream Guards held their Annual Dinner in Chelsea Barracks. In his opening speech the chairman of the proceedings, Sergeant Major Wright, welcomed, among others:

"'Mr. Ashton, who was a private in the 11th Hussars, and a Mr. Martin [1337, Private Robert Martin] who was also a private in the same regiment. They rode side by side in the Charge. Mr Martin had his left [it was his right] arm shot off at that time.'

Many of the old soldiers present at the time rose to make suitable replies and eventually Mr Ashton arose to reply to the toast. He said,

"'My friend, Mr Martin, and I joined the Army together [they did not], we belonged to the same troop, we lived in the same room, and we rode side by side together in the Charge, but he had his arm shot off. I had my horse shot under me in less than half a minute, and my busby was shot off my head. I don't want to brag about it, but I can tell you that I have taken part in the battles of the Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sebastopol'. (Loud applause.)"

[SOURCE: Report from the Household Brigade Magazine of the period [ADD FULL REF.].]



Click to enlarge.

Robert Ashton [left] and Robert Martin, photographed together presumably in January 1897 at the time of the Annual Dinner at Chelsea Barracks.

(Click on image to enlarge)


Life after service

1881 Census

2, Carlisle Place, parish of St Andrew's, Westminster.

Robert Ashton, Hall Porter, aged 50 years, born at Bury, Lancashire

Elizabeth, Wife, 45, Housekeeper [scored through in pencil], born at Exeter, Devon. [She was deaf]

Three children are shown:

Elizabeth, daughter, 15, Bookbinder, 15, born Ireland.

Frederick, son, 11, Scholar, born Canterbury, Kent.

Ellen, daughter, 8, Scholar, born London.

[PB: This must have been a large establishment, with several high-ranking military men in occupation, and numerous servants and others. Although all at the same address, they are listed in distinct households, so Robert Ashton, for example, is described as "Head". Presumably his family lived in one of a number of flats in the building. He continued there for many years, until his death in 1901.]

1891 Census

2, Carlisle Place, Westminster.

Robert Ashton, 64, House Porter, born Bury.

Elizabeth, 44 [sic – this is Robert Ashton's second wife], b. Devonport.

Frederick, 21, Son, Single, Clerk and Cashier, b. Canterbury, Kent.

Violet M, 7, Daughter, Scholar, b. Westminster, London.

Albert E., 5, Son, Scholar, b. Westminster, London.

Arthur, 1, Son, b. Westminster, London.

[CP/PB]

Death & burial

Death registration

Robert Ashton, aged 73 years, March Quarter 1901, St George's Hanover Sq.

According to his family (see below), Robert Ashton ended his days at 2, Carlisle Place, Victoria Street, London.

Robert Ashton died on the 22nd of February 1901 and was buried in Brompton Cemetery, Compartment A.A. A stone was erected over his grave, but is now [1986] very worn.

(There is photograph of the stone in the 11th Hussar file.)



Click to enlarge. Click to enlarge.

Robert Ashton's headstone in Brompton Cemetery, photographed (probably by EJB) in 1986.

(Click on images to enlarge)


The upper part of the stone, much of which is now indecipherable, refers to his first wife, Elizabeth, and a reference to "Dear Fred, who passed away."

The inscription on the lower part of the stone reads:

"In loving memory of Robert Ashton, who fell asleep February 22nd 1901, aged 74 years. One of the survivors of the Light Brigade, late 11th Hussars. Loved and respected by all who knew him."

See also:

Further information

The youngest of Robert Ashton's children, Arthur Henry Kerr Ashton (1889-1971), wrote to a local newspaper just before the Balaclava Centenary Dinner of 1954 was announced, telling them that his father had actually been in the Charge and had survived. From then on this was said to be confirmed (by whom, it does not say), and he was invited to Deene Park (the former home of Lord Cardigan) and there presented to the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of Gloucester, who at first doubted it. It was then seemingly established he was the only living child of any person who was in the Charge. [In fact, this was not true; there were several others at this time.]

On the 6th of March 1961 there appeared a news item in the Daily Telegraph saying that a Mr. A.K.H. Ashton, a 73-year-old London chemist, was the only man alive whose father had ridden in the Charge. In a letter sent to Canon Lummis about the same time he claimed to have his father's medals. In December 1961 the same gentleman wrote to the then Regimental Secretary of the 11th Hussars and received a reply from a Major Sutton which, unfortunately, contained the details of the record of service of 828 Robert Ashton.

He [who?] also quoted an extract from The Regiment, in which Mr. T.H. Roberts, after giving a description of a concert which he had organised for the Balaclava veterans in Queen's Hall, London, in October 1899, referred to Ashton:

"I was, of course, present at the Dinner which always preceded the concert, and was shocked to find that only about thirty of the sixty-odd living were able to be present. Even of these, many were more fit to be at home than there. One of these – Ashton, late 11th Hussars – said to me, 'I'm very nearly blind, Mr. Roberts, and God knows what I'd do without the help from your Fund. I'm breaking up fast, and feel sure this will be the last time I'll see you and all my comrades of the past, so weak as I am, I felt bound to get here'"

The family also possess photographs of Robert Ashton with his first wife and another of him with an unidentified man. In both he is in uniform. (There are copies in the 11th Hussar file.)



Robert Ashton with unknown man, uncertain date (EJBA).

(Click on image to enlarge)

In their book Honour the Light Brigade, Lummis and Wynn reproduce a photograph of 1308 Robert Ashton in civilian clothes, in which he is wearing his medals. His Crimean medal has four clasps, but the one he is wearing in the uniform-clothed pictures only appears to have three. However, they attribute this photograph to 828 Robert Ashton. (See copy of this photograph in the 11th Hussar file.)

So did 1308 Robert Ashton add the clasp for Balaclava in order to make everything look correct? He was known in the family for having a tendency "to draw the long bow", by which it must be assumed he was something of a romancer. To add to the confusion, Lummis and Wynn also credit 828 Robert Ashton with having attended all the veterans' functions and died in 1901.

Younger members of Ashton's family have recently [PB: i.e. some time before 2002] been told that Major Sutton was incorrect in his original letter and that there were two men of the same name serving in the regiment and that the Regimental number of their 11th Hussar ancestor was 1308 and not 828 as they had been told.

Which of these two men (or whether both) rode may never be known. 828 Robert Ashton was entitled to all four clasps, yet may not have been actually present in the Charge down the valley. 1308 Robert Ashton is not shown as being so entitled, or at least not as far as the medal roll indicates, to the Balaclava clasp, and neither can any trace of its being awarded subsequently on a "Commanding Officer's Certificate" be found, as has often been seen. Perhaps neither did.

Likenesses



Photograph said to be of of Robert Ashton, unknown date, probably late 1850s. Click to enlarge. Photograph said to be of Elizabeth Jane Ashton, nee Piccard or Pickard. Unknown date, probably late 1850s. Unverified and unknown source. Click to enlarge.

Photographs, said to be of Robert and his first wife, Elizabeth Jane nee Piccard or Pickard, found on a number of Ancestry Family Trees (including "Ashton of Heap Family Tree" = MAndrew47 and "Henderson family Tree" = "mail7372") in March 2015. PB is trying to verify the sources.

(Click on image to enlarge)


Further information



Click to enlarge.

Photograph said to be of Elizabeth Ann (Kerr) Ashton, Robert Ashton's second wife [Ashton of Heap Family Tree]. PB is trying to verify the sources.

(Click on image to enlarge)


1901 Census

Grooms Basement, 2, Carlisle Place, Victoria St, Westminster.

Elizabeth Ashton, Head, Widow, 53, Housekeeper, worker, b. Devonport.

Violet, Daughter, Single, 16, Tailoress, worker, b. Westminster, London.

Albert, Son, 15, Silver Engraver [out of work since 11 Jan 1901?], worker, b. Westminster, London.

Arthur, Son, 11, b. Westminster, London.

There was also a visitor, Ethel Sicknell [?], Single, 26, Dressmaker, b. Gibraltar (British Subject).

[PB]



Click to enlarge.

Robert Ashton's home in 1901 and his widow's in 1911: Groom's Basement, 2 Carlisle Place, Victoria, London (assuming house numbers have not changed) (photo: Google Maps, 2016, hence the distortion of perspective).

(Click on image to enlarge)


1911 Census

Grooms Basement, 2, Carlisle Place, Victoria St, Westminster.

Elizabeth Ashton, Head, 64, Widow, 29 years married, 4 children, 3 still living. 1 died. b. Devonport.

Arthur Ashton, Son, 21, Single, Dental Mechanic, b. Westminster.

One (unidentified) source says "Living in 2 rooms."

[PB]

References & acknowledgements

Census information for 1891 and death registration kindly provided by Chris Poole.

To follow up

PB: Roy Dutton, Forgotten Heroes, rvsd edition 2015, states that Robert Ashton was formerly Arthur Lyttelton Annesley's Orderly, and was later Hall Porter at 2, Carlisle Place, Victoria, one of ALA's homes (RD cites Kelly's Directory 1872, which I have yet to consult).

He credits "Photographs and information courtesy of Jill K Andrew RGN (nee Ashton)."

Dutton asserts that RA definitely rode in the Charge, and could not have impersonated 828 Robert Ashton, because he would have been vetted by his comrades in the Balaklava Commemoration Society in and after 1879.

But see Crider p149 for view that 1308 RA did not charge.

__________

Find the image of RA's invite from THR to the Jubilee celebration in 1897, said by EJB to be in the "Memoirs" files.


New on the site Search Index of men A
For further information, or to express an interest in the project, please email the editors, Philip Boys & Roy Mills, via info@chargeofthelightbrigade.com