LIVES OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
The E.J. Boys Archive
Amended 18.5.2011. Minor edits 17.2.2014, 13.2.2019.
1540, Private Edward HINDLEY — 13th Light Dragoons
Also recorded as "William", and as "Hendley".
Birth & early life
Born c.1835.
Enlistment
Enlisted at Liverpool on the 22nd of December 1853.
Age: 18 years 6 months.
Height: 5' 7".
Trade: None shown.
Service
[PB: According to Laurence Crider, In Search..., p.365, EH sailed on the Negociator (2nd muster). He was on Outpost Duty at Varna (3rd muster).
His presence at the Balaclava Commemoration in 1879 supports the assumption that he rode in the Charge.
"On Command" at Scutari from the 1st of April 1855 (1st muster) and rejoined the regiment in the Crimea on the 24th of May 1855 (in Crimea 2nd and 3rd musters). Then at Eupatoria (1st muster), aboard Jason (2nd muster), and Scutari (3rd muster), and all 3 musters 1856. (CHECK — I may have misinterpreted LC's abbreviations.)]
"On Command" at Scutari from the 1st of April 1855 and rejoined the regiment in the Crimea on the 24th of May 1855.
Transferred to the 7th Hussars on the 1st of September 1857. Regtl. No. 151.
From Private to Corporal: 5th of January 1858.
Corporal to Sergeant: 18th of September 1858.
Discharge & pension
Discharged in India (reason not stated) on the 7th of October 1859, but WO25/3859 shows that he purchased his discharge at Umballa, India, paying £25. Only two other men of the regiment purchased their discharge while it was in India during the period from 1857 up to 1861. Both are shown in the Casualty Returns, but not Hindley.
Served 5 years 289 days. In Turkey and the Crimea, 1 year 10 months.
Conduct: "very good". In possession of one Good Conduct badge when promoted to Sergeant.
Served in the field in Oude, East Indies, 4th of February — 14th of May 1858, including the siege of Lucknow, 2nd — 16th of March 1858.
Next of kin (in 1854): Mother, Elizabeth Hindley, living at 14, James Buildings, Oak Street, Liverpool.
Medals
[EJBA neg files: 487_16. This image is 400px. There is a larger version in EH's folder.]
(Click on image to enlarge)
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sebastopol and the Turkish medal.
A supplementary roll (undated) signed by Major Henry Holden shows him as being issued with the Crimean medal (with clasps for Alma, Balaclava and Inkerman) on the 7th of October 1855.
Mutiny medal with clasp for Lucknow.
After his death his widow gave his medals to the Roberts' family. They are contained in a glazed frame along with a photograph of him and his wife and the original letter sent with them. Dated the 10th of May 1912, it reads as follows:
"Dear Sir,
My promise I have fulfilled and herewith send you the medals of my dear late husband. I feel sure they will be cared for and will always remain in your family. It was his wish that if anything happened to him you was to have them — he did so pride himself with them when he was coming up to London. Trusting you are keeping well.
With kind regards,
Emma Hindley."
With the medals were a number of items, including an original photograph of Hindley wearing his medals and in the uniform of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the illuminated presentation manuscript given to T. H. Roberts signed by sixty-nine survivors on the occasion of his inviting them to watch Queen Victoria's Jubilee Procession from his Fleet Street offices (see here). The document has water-damage but with partial restoration.
Other items included Annual Dinner Menus for 1910 and 1913, an Invitation Card to the 59th Anniversary Dinner (the last of these, and the reverse having photographs of the six survivors who were able to be present on that occasion), Programmes for the Annual Balaclava Matinee Concerts of 1910 and 1912, and five letters sent to T. H. Roberts relating to the arrangements for the 1911 Coronation Procession. Also telegrams from Sandringham expressing the thanks of the King and Queen for the loyal message sent by the survivors on the occasion of the 59th Anniversary.
There was also a letter from The Balaclava Fund's accountants, Bourner, Bullock and Andrews, confirming the closure of the Fund, to Will Roberts and dated the 19th of December 1923. (This was T. H. Robert's son, who had only fleetingly carried on his father's interest in the survivors after the former's death.)
The last items listed were a copy of the Balaclava Heroes Supplement taken from Illustrated Bits (1897), a biography of T. H. Roberts published in a Croydon newspaper in July 1912, and obituary notices for him dated the 25th of September and the 2nd of October 1915.
A pensioner at the Chelsea?
Enquiry of the Royal Hospital Chelsea shows that they have no knowledge from any records they may still hold that he was ever an In-Pensioner there. A search of an original Admission Book (covering the years from 1858 to 1933 and also containing dates of death, etc) formerly belonging to the Hospital and now in the National Archive shows no trace of him either. He was not known to be an Pensioner of any kind to warrant him being admitted there. So, was the photograph of wearing the uniform a "staged" one, he being photographed in studio "props", as others were known to have been photographed in other regimental uniform than they had previously worn?
EJB: His being shown as an Army Pensioner cannot be explained. He may have served in one of the local Militia units and had enough service in this to have qualified for one. Service in this, or one of the classes of the Army Reserve Forces (Service in the latter only counted as half), and was added to the time served in a regular unit to complete a total of 21 years and although either would have classed him as an Out-Pensioner, would not have given him the right to have worn the uniform of an In-Pensioner.
His name cannot be found among the Militia Attestation Forms for the King's (Liverpool) Regiment, for the period during which he might have served.
The only possible explanation for his being classed as an Army Pensioner could be that the was granted the "Special Campaign Pension" awarded in the early 1890s to men who had seen campaign service prior to 1860.
Further detailed medal information archived.
Commemorations
Member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society in 1879.
Attended the Annual Dinners in 1895, 1897, 1906, 1909 and 1910.
Likenesses
[EJBA neg files: 550_17. This image is 400px. There is a larger version in EH's folder.]
(Click on image to enlarge)
[EJBA neg files: 488_18. This image is 400px. There is a larger version in EH's folder.]
(Click on image to enlarge)
Life after service
1881 Census
52, Crown Street, Liverpool
The 1881 Census Returns show him as Edward Hendley [sic], aged 46 years, a Coachman (Domestic Servant) born at Liverpool, living with his wife, Emma, 31, a Dressmaker, born at Bury St. Edmunds, and two nieces, both Assistant Dressmakers but with different surnames.
Present at the Fleet Street offices of T.H. Roberts for the Jubilee celebrations in June 1897 and signed the testimonial given to Mr. Roberts on that occasion.
EH was present at the Coronation parade of King George V in June of 1910, where, with twelve other veterans, he stood in a place of honour in front of the troops. He was aged 80 at this time, and died shortly after.
Archibald Standish Hartrick (1864 — 1950), Celebratory scene. Lithograph. As seen at a Barneby's auction, 21.2.2017.
"About the object: A S Hartrick Celebratory scene. Lithograph. The characters portrayed are the remnants of the Charge of the Light Brigade saluting the King George V on the occasion of his Coronation on the Strand in June 1911. This was published in The Daily Chronicle the next day. See the description of this on page 219 of Hartrick's book "A Painter's Pilgrimage Through 50 years" (Cambridge University Press, 1950)." [Source: https://www.barnebys.co.uk/auctions/lot/438419489/a-s-hartrick-celebratory-scene-lithograph-the-characters-portrayed/ (accessed 21.2.2017).]
It appears there are names identifying the men beneath, but they are illegible at this resolution. RM says it is based on a photograph which also names the men, so it should prove possible to identify at least some of the men.
(Click on image to enlarge)
EH was present, with his wife, at the funeral of 1452 William Sewell, 13th Light Dragons on the 13th of January 1910. The two men were then described as "the only survivors of the Charge living in Lancashire".
He lived at one time at 17, Granby Street, Princes Street, Liverpool, and later died on the 20th of November 1911 at 2, Woodcraft Road, Wavertree, Liverpool.
He received help from the Roberts Fund,
to a total of £201/6/6d. The Fund also paid for his funeral and afterwards supported his widow.
Death & burial
Contrary to what is stated in Honour the Light Brigade (and also in the 1912 Souvenir Book of the Balaclava Commemoration Society), that he had died on the 16th of December 1911, Edward Hindley actually died at 2, Woodcraft Road, Wavertree, Liverpool, aged 80 years, on the 20th of November 1911. He was buried in Park Cemetery, Smithdown Road, on the 25th of November in Grave No. H789. C. of E. Section. No memorial stone was erected.
His death certificate (where he is named as "Hindley"), besides confirming his known place, date of death, and age, shows that he died from "Heart failure". His occupation shows him as a "Retired Car Proprietor and Army Pensioner". His wife, Emma, was the informant of his death.
Further information
[PB: I have also come across this image, unspecified source, which states that it is of EH's medals but this needs to be confirmed. However, it appears very like the photographs in the EJBA neg files (shown above).]
(Click on image to enlarge)
