Service
1851 Census
Pockthorpe Barracks, Norwich.
He appears in the 1851 Census with the regiment as William "Humphriss", aged 20, a Private, born Aylesbury, Bucks.
He is shown in the musters as being at the Varna Depot on the 31st of September 1854, but still being paid by the regiment from the 1st of October.
(Some 12-15 men of the regiment remained behind there when the Brigade sailed for the Crimea, but apart from those who are shown under some other detail there is nothing to indicate just when they actually rejoined the regiment in the Crimea proper.)
Re-engaged at Fermoy for a further 12-year period of service on the 11th of March 1863.
Discharge & pension
Discharged from the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, on the 31st of March 1874, "As an indulgence, after 21 years' service".
Served 22 years 342 days.
In Turkey and the Crimea: 2 years
In India: 7 years 7 months.
Conduct: "very good. Never tried by Court-martial.
Aged 42 years 10 months on discharge.
Awarded a pension of 1/2d. per day.
To live at "The Churchyard", Aylesbury, Bucks.
Medals
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for (according to the medal rolls) Inkerman and Sebastopol only, and the Turkish medal.
Awarded the Long Service & Good Conduct medal on the 2nd of August 1869, with a gratuity of £5.
Documents confirm the award of the Crimean medal with clasps for Inkerman and Sebastopol.
Further information
In his "Narrative of the Charge,"Regimental Sergeant Major George Loy Smith,11th Hussars (See the Regimental History) claimed that: "a bullet passed through the back of Private Humphries, just missing the spinal column".
However, Humphries did not have the clasp for Balaclava, nor does he ever appear to have taken part in any of the veterans' functions. He does not appear on the lists of those who were wounded and his obituary notice in the 11th Hussars Journal for 1912 makes no mention of his having taken part. (There is a copy on the 11th Hussar file.)
A Sergeant Major Hockey of the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry, who attended the funeral of Humphries, stated that he was an officer's servant, and did not ride in the Charge. However, no trace of his ever having been so can be found in the muster roll for the period.
[RM: Moreover, how Hockey knew this about Humphries is unknown as no one of the name Hockey served in the Crimea with the regiment.]
Further detailed medal information archived.
Life after service
He became a gardener to a Major Calvert, and later to Lord Strathallen. He was living in the Northampton Pension District in 1875.
Birth registered
Florence Lavinia Humphreys [daughter], September Quarter 1876, Buckingham.
1881 Census
30, Main Street, Maids Morton, Buckinghamshire.
The 1881 Census shows him as a Gardener (Domestic Servant) and Chelsea Pensioner, aged 50, born Aylesbury, Bucks, with a daughter, Amelia, a Scholar, aged 12, a British Subject born in India.
1881 Census
2, Cintra Terrace, Cambridge.
Jane Humphreys [wife], 46, visitor, Gardener's wife, born Timsbury.
Lilian Humphreys [daughter], 7, visitor, born Mutra, India.
Amy Humphreys [daughter], 2, visitor, born Maids Moreton.
They are visiting Reginald Calvert, Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire, and his wife and daughter.
1891 Census
Main Street, Maids Moreton, Buckingham.
William Humphreys, 62, Gardener Domestic Servant, born Aylesbury.
Jane Humphreys, 56, born Timsbury
Lilian, 19, born Mutra, India; Florence, 14, born Maids Moreton; Amy, 12, born Maids Moreton.
1901 Census
32, Main Street, Maids Moreton, Buckingham.
William Humphreys, 73, Army Pensioner Private, born Aylesbury.
Jane Humphreys, 66, Born Timsbury.
Amy Humphreys, 21, born Maids Moreton.
__________
1, Tilney Street, St Georges Hanover Square.
Amelia Humphries [sic] [daughter], 31, unmarried, Head Nurse Domestic, born India.
Employed by Francis A Newdigate, Member of Parliament, and his wife and family.
11 other servants are included.
1911 Census
Maids Moreton, Buckingham.
William Humphreys, 83, Army Pensioner Private, born Aylesbury.
Jane Humphreys, 76, born Timsbury.
Amy Humphreys, 31, born Maids Moreton.
Notes: "46 years married" and "6 children, 4 still living".
Death & burial
Died at Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire, on the 20th of September 1912 in his 85th year, and buried (as "William Humphreys") in Maids Moreton churchyard on the 24th of September (See the full report of his death and funeral taken from theBuckingham Express for the 28th of September 1912.)
Deaths registered
Jane Humphreys, aged 76, September Quarter 1911, Buckingham.
William Humphreys, aged 84, September Quarter 1911, Buckingham.
Funeral of William Humphries in Maids Moreton churchyard on the 24th of September 1912.
(Click on image to enlarge)
In a report of his death taken from theArmy and Navy Gazette for the 23rd of September 1912, no reference was made to his having been present at Balaclava:
"11th Hussars — Mr. W Humphreys, who died at Maids Morton in Buckinghamshire on the 20th inst., aged 83 [sic], enlisted in the Regiment in 1850 and served during the Crimean War, including the battles of Inkerman and the siege of Sebastopol. On leaving the regiment in 1874 he took up service as a gardener to Major Calvert at Maids Morton Lodge and then with Viscount Strathallen. Humphreys was a native of Aylesbury and his wife's father was a veteran of Waterloo."
