Born at Henly-in-Arden, Warwickshire.
"Samuel William Hunscott was the third child of William and Sarah Hunscott and he was christened in Ullenhall Church (in the parish of Wootton Wawen, Warwickshire) on 2 January 1831. The parish record gives the surname as 'Hunscut'.
William Hunscott had married Sarah Dillam in St.Michael's Church, Coventry, on 2 July 1820, and they had three other children: Pheobe Maria (christened 14 November 1824, Ullenhall), Mary (born about 1828 according to the Census — no christening record found), and Eliza (christened 10 January 1836, Ullenhall).
In 1841 Samuel was living with his family in Chappel Yard (sic), Ullenhall. He was 10 years old."
[Source: Ian Jeavons. See Further information, below.]
Enlisted at Birmingham on the 24th of January 1848.
Age: 19.
Height: 5' 9".
Trade: None shown.
At the Scutari General Depot from the 22nd of September 1854 and sent to rejoin the regiment on the 3rd of October 1854.
The Regimental "Casualty Returns" for the period show him as having been born at Henly-in-Arden, Warwickshire, a servant by trade. His next of kin was then shown as his father, William Hunscott, living in Henly-in-Arden. He left no will, his credits being £24/15/5d.
Sent money from the Crimea to his father, William Hunscott, living at Henly-in-Arden.
A Return of men at the Cavalry Depot, Scutari, records him as 904 Samuel Hunscote, arriving there on the 21st of July 1855, his employment being specified as "General's Orderly" — but not to whom. The muster rolls of the regiment only show him on a No. 1 Return as being sent to Scutari on the 17th of July 1855 and rejoining the regiment on the 19th of November.
Those of the General Depot at Scutari confirm the date of his rejoining the regiment as the 19th of November.
On the rear party when leaving the Crimea, being attached to the 8th Hussars and returning with them to England. 25th of April — 1st of May 1856.
Embarked for India from Cork aboard the S.S. "Great Britain" on the 8th of October 1855.
The muster rolls for the July-September 1858 period show him as "On Detachment at Sholapoore"during the whole of the period.
In action against the rebels at Zeerapore on the 29th of February 1859 and at Baroda on the 1st of January 1859.
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman, Sebastopol and the Turkish medal.
Mutiny medal without clasp.
The Returned medal book states "Crimean, Mutiny and Turkish medals returned to the Mint. No trace of issue."
RM: See MJ Trow's book, "The Pocket Hercules" a biography of Morris published 2006 which shows that Hunscott swore an affidavit in support of Morris's claim for a VC. From this it can be deduced that Hunscott charged with the 17th and should therefore be included among their survivors.
Died at Ghanzi, India, on the 22nd of October 1859.
Next of kin: Wife, Bridget Hunscott. Living in Dublin.
He is shown in the India Office records as having died at Ghanzi, India, from "dysentery" on the 22nd of October 1859, aged 28 years. He was buried on the same day by the Revd. Samuel H. Beaumont, Chaplain.
In 2012, Peter Dyke, a correspondent living in Australia, alerted the EJB Archive to a very interesting account of Hunscott's life by Ian Jeavons published on www.ullenhallhistory.org.uk, a website devoted to the history of Ullenhall, Warwickshire:
Samuel Hunscott (1831-1859): A Death or Glory Boy
"Samuel William Hunscott was the third child of William and Sarah Hunscott and he was christened in Ullenhall Church (in the parish of Wootton Wawen, Warwickshire) on 2 January 1831. The parish record gives the surname as 'Hunscut'. William Hunscott had married Sarah Dillam in St.Michael's Church, Coventry, on 2 July 1820, and they had three other children: Pheobe Maria (christened 14 November 1824, Ullenhall), Mary (born about 1828 according to the census — no christening record found), and Eliza (christened 10 January 1836, Ullenhall).
In 1841 Samuel was living with his family in Chappel Yard (sic), Ullenhall. He was 10 years old...
Samuel Hunscott enlisted in the 17th Lancers in January 1848 (regimental number 944). He would have been 18. His occupation is given as a servant. He could have worked at Barrell's Hall in Ullenhall, for the Knight family, where his aunt and uncle Sarah and Joseph Dutton worked. The Knight family owned large estates in and around the area inherited through marriage to Lady Luxborough. By 1861 Samuel's uncle, Joseph Dutton, was the gamekeeper on the estate and was living at Barrell's Hall with his wife Sarah (née Hunscott or Hunscote), who was, almost certainly, the sister of Samuel's father, William...
What happened to the rest of Samuel's family?
His mother, Sarah, died in 1851 (March Quarter, Stratford-upon-Avon). She would have been 60. His father, William, died on 5 February 1858 in Ullenhall. He was 62 and the cause of death was general debility. Of his sister Pheobe Maria there is no record after her christening in 1824 and she probably died in infancy.
His sister Mary died on 23 August 1859 in Clinton Lane, Kenilworth of diarrhoea and fever (2 weeks). She is described as a domestic servant, aged 32. The informant was Ann Betts of Clinton Lane. The youngest sister, Eliza, married John Sumners, an agricultural worker of Kenilworth, on 2 November 1857 in Holy Trinity Church, Coventry. They had a daughter, Eliza Elizabeth, born in 1858 (September, Warwick, transcribed as 'Sumner'). Unfortunately Eliza, the mother, died on 9 October 1859, in Clinton Lane, of fever (one month). She is described as the wife of John 'Sumner', a farm labourer, and she was 23.
The particular sadness of this family is that 2 sisters and Samuel Hunscott himself all died within 3 months of each other in 1859, leaving only Eliza Elizabeth Sumners behind as a two-year-old niece to Samuel; the last of the Hunscotts of Chapel Yard, Ullenhall. As we have seen above, there will be descendents of Eliza Elizabeth alive today."
[Source: http://www.ullenhallhistory.org.uk/blog/index.php/people/111-samuel-hunscott-1831-1859, accessed 8th August 2012. This includes further information about his family members and an outline of his military career in the Crimea and the Indian Mutiny. The complete text is archived here.]