Born at Manchester, c.1813.
Enlisted at Hulme Barracks on the 13th of September 1831.
No other enlistment details are shown.
An article entitled "The 8th Hussars and the last Gibbeting in England" in a Seaby's Coin & Medal Bulletin (March 1971) referred to Henry Harrison as being one of the detachment of 54 men of the 8th Hussars (and the 15th Foot) who had marched from Manchester to Newcastle in 1832. They had been sent as an escort to the execution and gibbeting of William Jobling, a miner. This execution took place on the 3rd of August 1832.
One of the officers sent with them was Rodolph De Salis, who was a Cornet at this time.
The article's author [PB: name?] said that he was then in possession of the Crimean medal of Henry Harrison and had come across this fact while carrying out research.
[PB: It is possible there is a copy of this article in the archive, but if not there is a copy of the March 1971 edition of the Seaby Coin & Medal Bulletin in Glasgow [CHECK as link did not work 17.11.2017, and a search of the Hunterian in October 2018 was fruitless.]
[PB: I have begun to collect sources on this event, with a view to adding a webpage.]
From Private to Corporal: 1st of August 1838.
Corporal to Sergeant: 11th of June 1843.
Appointed to Troop Sergeant Major on the 7th of February 1847.
Embarked for the Crimea aboard the H.T. "Echunga" on the 15th of May 1854.
Gazetted as Cornet on the 5th of November 1854.
Promoted to Lieutenant on the 1st of August 1856.
Retired "by the sale of his commission," on the 19th of June 1857.
Harrison had the nickname in the regiment of "Old Bags" because of his habit of wearing his overalls loose and easy.
1631 Private William Pennington, 11th Hussars left a vivid account of being helped by T.S.M Henry Harrison in the Charge when his horse had been killed. Harrison, who was leading a spare riderless horse, told Pennington to mount up, so he continued down the valley, in spite of being wounded. After being halted by Colonel Shewell Pennington returned with the 8th Hussars to the British lines. Pennington and Harrison met again years later.
... as I still stood dismounted, the sight of the atrocities in front of me, gave me nerve, and steeled my beating heart. I had but faint hope of ever reaching the British lines; but I resolved to make something like a stand. I disencumbered myself of my waist-belts and scabbard, of course retaining my sword, for our carbines were attached to the saddlery and not available.
My situation seemed desperate, for no one appeared in sight but these blood-thirsty Cossacks. I had not yet been seen by them, but could hardly expect, as I stood there detached and solitary, much longer to escape their observation. I had abandoned all hope of escaping with life, though resolved to sell it dearly, when I heard behind me the "thudding" of cavalry, and to my infinite and indescribable relief, I discovered it was the good old 8th, who had, I assume, remedied their mistake in losing their original alignment with the 4th Light Dragoons.
But the position of the 8th at this crisis shows how rapidly the drama of war was passing before us. The regiment was led by Colonel Shewell; Troop-Sergeant-Major Harrison ("Old Bags" the men called him, for he would wear his overalls loose and easy), took in my situation at a glance. He was leading a riderless grey mare, in the belief that she might presently prove of use. He reined up close to me, and cried, "Come on, my boy, mount her!" I needed but
[200]
slight instigation, and contrived, wounded as I was, to scramble into the saddle; and it was by the side of "Old Bags" that I continued to advance with the 8th Royal Irish Hussars. He lived to receive Her Majesty's commission; and twenty-five years after, I had the pleasure of dining with him; the renewal of our acquaintance having arisen in consequence of a letter I had written to the Daily News, which he had read, and in which I had related the story of my rescue.
My deliverer was much gratified when we recalled the incident, for it had been almost as strongly impressed on his memory as upon mine. He had then retired from the service, and was in a very good position in one of the Australian Banks, where his late chief (Colonel De Salis) was upon the directorate. "Old Bags" has long since been gathered to his fathers. May he rest in peace!
[William Pennington, in From the Fleet, pp.186-207.]
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sebastopol.
The medal rolls show him as a TSM on the Alma/Inkerman roll, but the duplicate Alma/Inkerman roll which also has a "B" (presumably as being entitled to the Balaclava clasp) does not have this by the side of his entry. That of the separate rolls for the Balaclava and Sebastopol clasps show him as a Cornet.
Member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society in 1879.
Likenesses
There is a photograph of HH in seemingly civilian clothes and wearing what would appear to be two miniature medals, in the 8th Hussar file.
[Source unknown. From negative 455-2 in EJBA, slightly retouched to reduce dark blots.]
After his retirement he obtained a post at one of the Australian Banks in London of which Colonel De Salis was a director [PB: An obit. states this was the London Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China.]
1871 Census
35, Nelson Square, Christchurch, Southwark.
Henry Harrison, lodger, 50 [sic], Bankers Clerk, unmarried, born Manchester.
Henry Harrison died on the 1st of July 1880, his address at the time being 2, Edingale Villas, Melbourne Grove, Champion Hill, Camberwell, London.
Death registered
Henry Harrison, aged 72 years, September Quarter 1880, Camberwell.
His estate (of under £300) was given over for probate to Joseph White, of Blackfriars, London, a manufacturer's clerk, and Henry Prosser Knitt, of Blackfriars, London, an optician.
He was buried in Grave No. 18127, Square 101, in the London Metropolitan Cemetery, West Norwood, on the 7th of July 1880, aged 72 years.
No records exist to show if it was a purchased plot or that a gravestone was placed over it, but only one other person, an Emma White, aged 68 years, was also buried in it, on the 2nd of October 1897.
An intensive search of the area shows no trace of a headstone being erected. It has also been impossible to confirm the grave as being in any particular place, and in fact the most likely area for it to be in (about twenty yards square according to the grave-site plan) has been left alone and is now [1980s?] completely covered in trees and shrubbery. Although some of the tombs and stones can be seen, most are covered in ivy and other creepers. (There is a picture of the area in question in the 8th Hussar file.)
Extract from the Morning Advertiser, 5th of July 1880:
"Lieutenant Harrison, whose death in his 72nd year took place on the 1st inst. at Champion Hill, rode in the Charge as a non-commissioned officer and was the squadron marker of his troop.
He escaped without an injury and was specially promoted to a commission as a cornet whilst serving in the Crimea, his commission being dated the 5th of November 1854 and being gazetted in recognition of the valour of our soldiers at Inkerman when a non-commissioned officer of each regiment engaged against the Russians was selected for promotion.
Lieutenant Harrison sold out after the campaign and accepted a clerkship in the City. He was a regular attendant at the annual Balaclava banquets."
[PB: His medals were auctioned by Spink in 2007 and again on July 22, 2010, lot 999. I am grateful to Tony Margrave for bringing this to my attention.
TM wrote:
Lieutenant Henry Harrison, 8th Hussars
The four bar Crimea medal earned by Harrison as a Troop Sergeant Major, in the 8th Hussars has been catalogued for sale by Liverpool medal Company, July 2010 (item GB237) at £4,200. It was auctioned two years ago by Spink, on April 27, 2007, lot 999. The follow data is from that Spink auction catalogue.
Lieutenant Henry Harrison, 8th Hussars
The Well Documented Crimea Medal to Regimental Character Troop Sergeant-Major, Later Lieutenant H. "Old Bags" Harrison, 8th Hussars, Who Charged with the Light Brigade at Balaklava, 25th October 1854, and Was Commissioned in Recognition of Valour at Inkermann Crimea 1854-56, four clasps, Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol (H. Harrison, Lieut. 8th Hussars.), contemporarily engraved in medium serif capitals, rank corrected from Cornet to Lieutenant following the recipient's promotion in 1856, toned, good very fine, with contemporary silver riband buckle.
Lieutenant Henry Harrison, enlisted 8th Hussars, at Hulme Barracks, Manchester, 1831; embarked for the Crimea in H.M. Echunga, 15.5.1854; rode in the Charge of the Light Brigade, 25.10.1854; Cornet 5.11.1854, 'whilst serving in the Crimea, his commission being dated the 5th November 1854 and being gazetted in recognition of the valour of our soldiers at Inkermann when a non-commissioned officer of each regiment engaged against the Russians was selected for promotion' (Obituary in the Morning Advertiser, dated 5.7.1880, refers).
Harrison was known as "Old Bags" because of his habit of wearing his overalls loose and easy; after the Charge he was returning up the Valley leading a riderless horse, which he gave to Private Pennington (11th Hussars), who then managed to regain the British Lines as a result, 'My situation seemed desperate, for no one appeared in sight but these blood thirsty Cossacks... I had abandoned all hope of escaping with life, though resolved to sell it dearly, when I heard behind me the thudding of cavalry... Troop Sergeant-Major Harrison took in my situation at a glance. He was leading a riderless grey mare, in the belief that she might presently prove of use. He reined up close to me, and cried, "Come on, my boy, mount her!" I needed but slight instigation, and contrived, wounded as I was, to scramble into the saddle; and it was by the side of "Old Bags" that I continued to advance with the 8th Royal Irish Hussars.
He lived to receive Her Majesty's commission; and twenty-five years after, I had the pleasure of d1ining with him; the renewal of our acquaintance having arisen in consequence of a letter I had written to the Daily News, which he had read, and in which I had related the story of my rescue.
My deliverer was much gratified when we recalled the incident, for it had been almost as strongly impressed on his memory as upon mine. He had then retired from the service, and was in a very good position in one of the Australian Banks, where his late chief (Colonel De Salis) was upon the directorate. "Old Bags" has long since been gathered to his fathers. May he rest in peace!" (From the Fleet in the Fifties, A History of the Crimean War, T. Kelly, refers); Lieutenant 1856; retired by sale of his commission 1857; Member of the Balaklava Commemoration Society, 1879; died 1880, then a resident of Camberwell, London, and is buried in the London Metropolitan Cemetery, West Norwood.
[PB: Source of Pennington's account?]
HH is mentioned in relation to Viscount Fitzgibbon's alleged reappearance in 1870 after years in Russian captivity, e.g. Trewman's Exeter Flying Post or Plymouth and Cornish Advertiser, 21 November 1877.]
If Lord Fitzgibbon is really in this country, as alleged, the officers and men of the 8th Hussars who knew him wish to know why he has been so backward in calling upon them. They would be glad to see him; and he must know he was beloved by all of them. The officers who would readily recognise him, and receive him with open arms, are — General de Salis, Colonel Mussenden, and Lieutenant Harrison (late of the 8th Hussars).
Two clippings (5th and 12th July 1880) relating to HH's death were kindly provided by Chris Poole.