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

1121, Private Henry ASH — 11th Hussars

Birth & early life

Born in Linlithgow around 1820-1823. (The 1851 Census shows his birthplace as Edinburgh, which is about 15 miles from Linlithgow.)

His father, also Henry Ash, was serving in the 10th (Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars. He later became a Cornet in the 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Regiment of Dragoon Guards.

Henry Ash [father] and siblings

The following is based on correspondence with Peter Cave in 2014 (see Acknowledgements below), and additional research made possible by leads he provided.

Henry Ash was the son of a soldier (also named Henry Ash) serving in the 10th (Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars [Army Births & Baptisms].

Henry Ash senior became a Cornet in the 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Regiment of Dragoon Guards on the 18th of October 1831, of which, still as a Cornet, he was the Adjutant in 1840 [ Hart's Army List 1840, p. 102].

Although Henry Ash senior probably never served abroad, his regiment seems to have been constantly touring the country.

Four Ash children were born into the 10th (Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars:

Eliza Ash, 1821, in Kingston [presumably Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey].

Henry Ash, 1822, in Linlithgow [near Edinburgh].

James Ash, 1824 in Gort [Galway].

Andrew Ash, 1826 in Sheffield [Yorkshire, or Co. Westmeath, Ireland?].

According the regimental history, the 10th Hussars travelled widely around the country in the 1820s, which explains the different birthplaces of the children [http://archive.org/stream/cihm_48346#page/n23/mode/2up (accessed 19.3.2014)]:

1821: Stationed in Hounslow and Hampton Court. On duty for the coronation of George IV in July.

1822: In June the regiment was sent to Ireland, stationed initially at the Cahir Barracks in Tipperary, so the Linlithgow connection is an oddity, but perhaps Henry's first wife was Scottish.
1824: Still in Ireland where they were to remain until May 1825 when they removed to Exeter.

1826: The family were on the move, but settled for a time in Nottingham. However, it is possible that Andrew was born in Sheffield, Co. Westmeath, Ireland: the family may have stayed behind until the regiment was settled for a period.

1841 Census

Brigghill Lane, Basford, Notts.

Henry Ash [father], 40 [born c.1811], Ind[ependent]. not born Notts.

Eliza Ash, 20 [c.1821], not born Notts.

James Ash, 15 [c.1826], born Ireland.

Andrew Ash, 9 [c.1832], born Ireland. [PB]

[PB: Where is Henry Ash junior at this time? His mother was presumably dead?]

The 1841 census is the first reference to the Ash family in Basford, Notts, although the ages are at odds with the army record (even allowing for the rounding of ages in the 1841 census). These should have made Eliza 20, Henry 19 [not with the family in this Census], James 17, and Andrew 15. Perhaps it is a second Andrew or there has been a mistranscription?

The first association with Ilkeston appears to be when Henry Ash senior married a local girl and settled in Cotmanhay. The exact date and circumstances have not been confirmed.

The Ash family had developed strong links with the Ilkeston area more than twenty years before Henry Ash junior moved there permanently. For example, his brother James and sister Eliza married their respective partners on the same day, 23rd December 1845, at St Mary's Ilkeston:

Marriages

James Ash [brother], a bachelor of full age [i.e. over 21], a Clerk living in Cotmanhay, the 2nd son of Henry Ash, Yeoman, married Catherine Winifred Parkinson, also of full age, a spinster living in Ilkeston, the 2nd daughter of William Parkinson, a Surgeon.

Eliza Ash [sister], a spinster of full age, living in Cotmanhay, the only daughter of Henry Ash, Yeoman, married John Buxton, a bachelor of full age, a Grocer living in Ilkeston, the eldest son of John Buxton, deceased, a farmer late of Bradbourne.

[Source: http://www.oldilkeston.co.uk/st-marys-marriages-1837-1881 (accessed 19.3.2014). [PB]]

1851 Census

Cotmanhay.

Henry Ash, Head, 52 [born c.1799], Land Proprietor, born Guildford, Surrey.

Caroline Ash, Wife, 36 [c.1815], Wollaton, Notts. [PB]

[PB: CA must be HA's second wife.]

1861 Census

Beers Lane, Ilkeston.

Henry Ash, Head, 62 [born c.1799], Retired Adjutant, born Gilford [Guildford], Surrey.

Caraline [sic] Ash, Wife, 47 [c.1814], Wollaton, Notts. [PB]






This rather impressive photograph of Henry Ash senior, who became prominent in local politics in Ilkeston after a career in the Army, was probably taken in the 1860s, when his son 1121 Henry Ash came to live nearby. The quotation marks around Captain presumably imply it was an honorary rank. It is taken from from Trueman and Marston's History of Ilkeston, published 1899 [i.e. a later edition of the work excerpted above].

(Click on image to enlarge)

In 1866 Henry Ash [senior] was a member of the Local Government Board when the foundation stone was laid for the new Ilkeston Town Hall. His son also participated in the celebration of this event (more below).

According to www.oldilkeston.co.uk/the-local-boards-formation, Henry Ash [senior] was a retired army adjutant, land owner and "proprietor of houses", who lived at Hope Cottage, Cotmanhay, and died aged 70 on the 11th of January 1869.

The Cotmanhay parish records show he was buried on the 16th of January 1869. [Source: England, Derbyshire, Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1910," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KB6C-HZ3: accessed 18 Mar 2014), Henry Ash, 16 Jan 1869; citing Burial, Cotmanhay, Cotmanhay, Derbyshire, England, Record Office, Matlock; FHL microfilm 1041452.]

Enlistment

Enlisted at Hounslow on the 27th of January 1842.

Age: 19 years 3 months.

Height: 5' 6".

Trade: Clerk.

Appearance: Sallow complexion. Grey eyes. Lt. brown hair.

Service

From Private to Corporal: 16th of November 1845.

Tried by a Regimental Court-martial, reduced to Private, and imprisoned 18th — 20th of February 1845.

1851 Census

Cavalry Barracks, Pockthorpe, Norfolk.

Henry Ash, 28, Unmarried, Soldier, born Edinburgh, Scotland. [PB]

Orderly to the Earl of Cardigan in October 1854.

Orderly to Lord Raglan, 1st — 30th of June 1855, and to General Simpson from July to September 1855.

From Private to Corporal: 10th of September 1857.

Corporal to Sergeant: 5th of February 1858.

1861 Census

Fulwood Barracks, Lancashire.

H. Ash, unmarried, 38, Sergt 11th Hussars, born Scotland.

Discharge & pension

Discharged from Colchester, "Free, after 24 years service", on the 30th of June 1866.

Aged 45 years 1 month on discharge.

Served 24 years 152 days.

In Turkey and the Crimea: 2 years.

Conduct and character: "very good". Would have been in possession of five Good Conduct badges if not promoted to N.C.O.

Medals

Entitled, according to the medal rolls, to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Inkerman, and Sebastopol, and the Turkish medal. The medal rolls do not show him as being entitled to the Balaclava clasp.

On the Alma/Inkerman roll (of which there are two) there is an entry close to his name, but it is bracketed with that of 1028 William Andrews, 11th Hussars. (See his record and clasp entitlement.) as "B" clasp sent on Colonel Douglas's certificate, dated the 10th of September 1857.

His documents confirm the award of all four clasps and also that of the Long Service & Good Conduct medal.

Awarded the Long Service & Good Conduct medal on the 4th of June 1866.

His name appeared (along with that of John Thomas Bambrick (shown as "J.T Bambriele") and two other men of the 4th and 5th Dragoon Guards, in a Confidential Memo from the Horse Guards dated the 31st of December 1855: "It being intended to distribute a certain number of Decorations of the French Legion of Honour to Non-Commissioned Officers and men of the Cavalry Regiments they have been proposed as the most deserving of the Fifth Class." The Memo ended with the request that "seven further names of N.C.O.s or Privates as considered most deserving be transmitted as soon as possible".

Of the four names mentioned, John T. Bambrick was awarded the medal, as were the two Heavy Brigade men, but there is no record of Henry Ash being so. Others of the Light Brigade who did so are shown (where known) in separate letters of recommendation from their Commanding Officers and form part of their records.

Further detailed medal information archived

This application was unsuccessful, and it is difficult to see why it was proposed in the first place as he is not known to have done anything worthy of such an award.

He was granted a pension of 1/9d. per day.

He was intending to live at Nottingham after discharge.

Commemorations

The horse which Henry Ash rode in the Crimea was said to have been presented to him when he left the regiment. (This horse was, it seems, called "Kitty". See below, for its role in the ceremony accompanying the laying of the foundation stone for the new Ilkeston Town Hall in 1866, its death, and its later prominence in at least one of the obituaries for Henry Ash.)

Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, [date illeg — 21 March 1878? Check.]

(Click on image to enlarge)

Life after service

As soon as Henry Ash arrived in Ilkeston after discharge, he married the widow Eliza Cross [nee White], ten years his junior. He would have been about 44 and she 34.

Marriage registered

Henry Ash to Eliza Cross, December Quarter 1866, Basford.

According to Peter Cave, Henry Ash married Eliza Cross (nee White) in 1866 (recorded in the October Quarter), thereby becoming stepfather to her daughter Annie (who was about 13 at the time). She must have come to think of him as her father since she described herself on the headstone she erected to Henry and Eliza as "their only child".

Birth registered

Annie Catharine Cross [step-daughter], June Quarter 1853, Basford.

Around this time, Henry Ash featured prominently in the inauguration of the new Ilkeston Town Hall, when he was introduced to the Duke of Rutland. According to the Ilkeston Pioneer, 4th of October 1866:

"On leaving the Church his Grace's attention was directed ... to Sergeant Ash, who was mounted on his favourite charger, which had served him at Balaclava, Inkermann, &c, &c. The Sergeant wore his good conduct medal in addition to medals for service."

Given the numerous military personages, references and exhortations in this event [on which, more below], this must have rendered Henry Ash junior's appearance as a (supposed) Charger, on a Charger, even more eloquent.

[PB, March 2014: It would be good to follow this up.

The festive scene is vividly described in Edwin Trueman's History of Ilkeston, published 1889:

"The visit of His Grace the Duke of Rutland, E.G., to his manor of Ilkeston, on Wednesday, the 26th September, 1866, in order to lay the foundation-stone of the Town Hall, will not easily fade from the recollection of those who witnessed the enthusiastic reception which the noble Duke experienced at the hands of all classes of the inhabitants.

In point of gaiety, the demonstration eclipsed anything the town has ever seen. Persons of every rank, and of every shade of political opinion, came forward to join the cavalcade which left the Market-place at four o'clock to meet His Grace, who was received near Gallows Inn by upwards of one hundred horsemen, together with a number of ladies. The cavalcade escorted His Grace into the town, preceded by the Ilkeston Brass Band, playing lively airs. The streets through which the procession passed were crowded with admiring spectators.

His Grace arrived in the Market-place exactly at six o'clock. The Churchyard and top of the old Butter Market were lined with gaily-dressed people, and the windows of all the houses were crowded with ladies, by whom the noble Duke was heartily cheered. The bells of the Parish Church rung forth merry peals, and a large cannon (belonging to Mr. William Ball), stationed on the Rutland Cricket Ground, boomed forth at intervals.

Arches and festoons of evergreens were erected at the entrance to the Vicarage (where His Grace was entertained), across the road at the Market Hotel, and at the Harrow corner, in the Market-place; near the Post Office, at the Toll-bar, Gallows Inn, the Rutland Hotel, and other parts of the town. Flags, banners, and numerous fancy devices, ornamented most of the principal houses and shops in the parish. In the evening, illuminations were displayed in front of several hotels and other buildings. [More details follow...]

[Source: Edwin Trueman, History of Ilkeston: together with Shipley, Kirk Hallam, West Hallam, Dale Abbey, and Cossall, published 1889, pp.55-6 .This is available to various formats at https://archive.org/details/historyilkeston00unkngoog (accessed 17.3.2014).]

There is also a colourful, lengthy and detailed account of what was clearly a highly theatrical event in the Derby Mercury, 3rd October 1866, though Henry Ash junior's role is not mentioned (more here).

Notice, incidentally, the numerous military personages, references and exhortations in this event, even though the context is a celebration of the improvement of local public health through the creation of a local Health Board and the construction of a Town Hall. For example in the Chairman's toast to:

"'The Army, the Navy, British Volunteers, and Yeomanry,' saying the reason that England holds such a happy position is because she has willing hearts ready to take up arms whenever she is threatened, and to stand in the gap where England needs them. (Cheers.)."

Another possible source is www.oldilkeston.co.uk/the-local-boards-formation.

The death of Henry Ash's horse "Kitty" that he rode at Balaclava, recorded in the Ilkeston Pioneer, 4th February 1870.

[PB: The image referred to cannot be in the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, which only started in 1874.]

(Click on image to enlarge)

1871 Census

Village, Cossall, Notts.

Henry Ash appears on the 1871 Census as a "Chelsea Pensioner", aged 48, born Scotland.

Eliza, 38, Wife, Cossall.

Annie C Cross, Step-daughter, 18, 1853, Cossall.

Joseph White, Father-in-law, Widower, 88, Retired Farmer, Loscoe, Derbys. [RM]

Death & burial

Death registered

Henry Ash, aged 58, December Quarter 1880, Basford, Notts.

His death certificate shows that he died at Cossall, Nottingham, on the 5th of December 1880, aged 58 years, a Yeoman, from "Pneumonia, 7 Days". A J. J. Fritchley, also of Cossall, was present at, and the informant of, his death. [PB: This would appear to be Henry Ash's step-daughter's husband. What would "Yeoman" have meant at this time?]

(There is a copy of the death certificate in the 11th Hussars "Certificates" file.)

From the "Deaths" column of the Ilkeston Pioneer, 16th of December 1880:

"On the 5th inst. at Cossall, Mr. Henry Ash, late Sergeant in the 11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars, aged 58 years."

In memoriam card [RM]

(Click on image to enlarge)

On Saturday 8th January 1881 the Derby Daily Telegraph and the Nottingham Evening Post carried virtually identical notices of Henry Ash's death (though the former, shown above, slightly garbled the story by misplacing the word "rode").

(Click on image to enlarge)

ILKESTON. DEATH OF A DERBYSHIRE VETERAN

The death is announced of Sergeant Henry Ash, of Cossall, Ilkeston. Deceased attended at Colchester upon Earl Cardigan at a review of his regiment, the 11th Hussars, as orderly, and was mounted on his favourite charger, which heat the battle of Balaclava. The sergeant, since his rode retirement from the army, has been in delicate health, and ultimately succumbed to pleurisy and inflammation. He embarked for the Crimea in 1854, and was present at the taking of Sebastopol. He was in the army 24 years, and the mare on which he had ridden so often was presented to him by the officers of the regiment on his retirement.

[Source: Nottingham Evening Post, 8th January 1881.]

He was buried in St. Catherine's churchyard at Cossall, near Ilkeston. A substantial headstone was erected, with a relief carving of crossed sabres [partly draped by ?].

Henry Ash's headstone in St. Catherine's churchyard, Cossall, near Ilkeston. (Photograph (left) by EJB 1980s? (right) by Peter Cave, 2014?)

(Click on image to enlarge)

"In loving & affectionate remembrance of

Henry Ash, of Cossall, Late Sergeant in the 11th Prince Albert's Own Hussars.

Also Orderly to Lord Raglan through the whole of the Crimean War who died Dec. 5th 1880, aged 58 years.

Also Eliza, wife of the above, who died March 14th 1882, aged 49 years.

"Not my will, but thine be done."

Erected by their only daughter, wife of J.J. Fritchley."

There is a photograph (by EJB) of Henry Ash's gravestone in the 11th Hussar file (above).

Further information

On the south wall of the church there is a row of slate headstones, all to the Fritchley family, although that for J.J. Fritchley himself is not among them. The stone at the end of the line has the inscription:

"In loving memory of Richard, the beloved son of J.J and A.C. Fritchley, who died December 24th 1881, aged 5 years and 3 months. 'I am only a little soldier, I am only five years old. I mean to fight for Jesus, and wear a crown of gold.'

Presumably the "A.C. Fritchley" is Annie Catharine, in which case this is almost certainly Henry and Eliza Ash's grandson, who died on Christmas Eve almost exactly a year after Henry himself.

According to her headstone (above), Henry Ash's wife Eliza died a few months later on the 14th of March 1882.

References & acknowledgements

In March 2014, the EJBA was contacted by Peter Cave, website manager of Ilkeston & District Local History Society (www.ilkestonhistory.org.uk). We are very grateful to him for providing a considerable amount of information that has enabled a more vivid and precise reconstruction of the lives of Henry Ash, both father and son — and indeed for the obituary for "Kitty".

Additional marriage, birth and death registrations, and Census information for 1861 kindly provided by Chris Poole.