749, Private William BAKER — 17th Lancers

Alias of William Bacon.

Birth & early life

[RM: Born at Collingham, Nottinghamshire c.1825. Brother of 828, John Baker [real name Bacon], 17th Lancers.]

Enlistment

Enlisted at Leicester on the 6th of November 1843.

Age: 18.

Height: 5. 8".

Trade: None shown.

Brothers John and William Bacon enlisted in the 17th Lancers under the false name of Baker, allegedly ... because William Bacon was fleeing from the police for a violent crime in Nottingham. John apparently took on the name Baker merely to retain the family connection. The two apparently met George Broom in the regiment and William subsequently married George's sister in Dublin, where their first child was born. All three men rode in the Charge of the Light Brigade and two of them (William and George) were killed in the Charge.

[See below for source and further information.]

Service

Killed in action at Balaclava on the 25th of October 1854.

Next of kin: Wife, Ann Baker.

Medals

Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava and Sebastopol.

Further detailed medal information archived.

Commemorations

Death & burial

Killed in action at Balaclava on the 25th of October 1854.

No information about burial.

[RM: In 2005, it was found that there is a headstone erected in the village churchyard at All Saints Church, Collingham, Nottinghamshire, to "William Bacon", his brother "John Bacon", and their brother-in-law "George Broome", all of the village. William and George were killed in action at Balaclava. This gives a lot of information concerning these men and their relationships, from which it would appear that Bacon was their real name, Baker an assumed one.










(Click on image to enlarge)

There is another photo of the gravestone in the file.

See entries for 486 George Broom/Broome, 749 William Baker/Bacon, and 828 John Baker/Bacon.]

"In memory of
William Bacon, a native of this parish
who fell in battle Oct. 25th 1854.
Aged 30 Years.

And of George Broome, his brother in law,
who met a soldier's death at the same time and place.
Aged 35 Years.

They were Privates in the 17th Lancers and fell in
the Death Ride at Balaklava. John Bacon their
Brother of the same Regiment escaped unhurt from
the same Desperate Charge:

"Charge! was the Captain's cry;
"Theirs, was to make reply;
"Theirs, not to question why;
"Theirs but to do or die;
"Into the Valley of Death rode the Six Hundred.

"Honour the Brave and Bold;
"Long shall the Tale be told,
"Yea when our Babes are old,
"Holy [How?] they rode onward."

"Thou hast guided me with strength unto the Battle."

[PB: Check the transcription. It is hard to be certain about the placing of commas and quotation marks, and "Holy" for "How".]

[PB: The grave, including photograph and transcription, is noted on the Southwell & Nottingham Church History Project website, which refers briefly to Hughes and Trigg's essay on Charge memorials.]

It is not only the directly deceased who are commemorated on the memorials covered in this paper. For example, a memorial stone in All Saints' Churchyard, North Collingham (Nottinghamshire) not only marks the death of two related individuals who died in the CLB (William Bacon and George Broome), but also records the safe return of a third family member (John Bacon) who had taken part in this battle. Interestingly, at the base of the stone is a poem which is clearly based on Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade" but with significant differences.

[Source: G. Hughes & J. Trigg, "Remembering the Charge of the Light Brigade: Its Commemoration, War Memorials and Memory", 2008, p.30.]

[PB, 14.7.2019: The grave text does indeed vary from the poem as usually seen, but seem to be Tennyson's own words (all of them?). See Edgar Shannon & Christopher Ricks, "The Charge of the Light Brigade": The Creation of a Poem", Studies in Bibliography, Vol. 38 (1985), pp. 1-44: e.g. "Captain's cry" is discussed on p14, etc. Are they from the "Soldiers' version" as sent to the Crimea? Follow up.]

[PB, date?: "Holy"? In an article in the War Correspondent (October 2007) Douglas Austen argues that the word "Holy" at the end of the second verse (which is not in any of Tennyson's many drafts) is in fact "How" (which is). This he thinks may be a confusion caused by the low resolution of the published photograph. I'm not so sure. It definitely looks like "Holy" to me, which also fits with the sentiment of the last line. It would be good to look at other photographs, and of course the actual headstone. [PB: 14.7.2019: when I came to following this up, I couldn't immediately find DJA's comment.]]

[PB, 14.7.2019: There was an article about this memorial in the War Correspondent vol.25 no.3, October 2007: "Bacon, Baker & Broome — 3 Related Chargers", based on info. provided to Laurence Crider by Helen Warwick, ]

(Click on image to enlarge)

BACON, BAKER AND BROOME: THREE RELATED CHARGERS

INFORMATION FROM & DESCENDANT

Courtesy of Helen Warwick

[PIC][PIC]

Two Generations of Descendants pictured at graveside Pictured above from left to right: Walter Warwick (Bacons' G-G-Grandson) and Paul Warwick (Bacons' G-G-G-Grandson)

Last May I was contacted by Helen Warwick regarding some material I had posted on a genealogical website. She asked if | had any information on John Baker (Bacon), William Baker (Bacon), or George Broome. | shared what I knew, and Helen, in turn, provided me with some fascinating information about these men, which follows. — Ed. [Laurence Crider].

Brothers John and William Bacon enlisted in the 17th Lancers under the false name of Baker, allegedly, according to family tradition (as related by Ken Bacon, former Mayor of Kettering) because William Bacon was fleeing from the police for a violent crime in Nottingham. John apparently took on the name Baker merely to retain the family connection. The two apparently met George Broom in the regiment and William subsequently married George's sister in Dublin, where their first child was born. All three men rode in the Charge of the Light Brigade and two of them (William and George) were killed in the Charge.

John Bacon/Baker, the only survivor of the trio, returned to England and 'may have' later served in the Indian Mutiny. He was discharged from Dublin in early 1861. A family member is in possession of a letter which denies his request to have his name changed on his papers to the correct one. After his discharge, John returned to North Collingham where he worked as a labourer. His oldest son became a railway signalman. John Bacon, as John Baker, was invited to attend the 21st Anniversary Celebration and the family retains a copy of the event programme.

The headstone commemorating the participation of the three in the Charge may be found in All Saints' churchyard in Collingham, with a close up picture below:

[PIC]

Medal at auction, Baldwin's, date?

[PB: None of the above was stated when William Baker's Crimea medal came up for auction at Baldwin's in [date? I coudln't find it again on the Baldwin website when I tried to check in 2019]. However there is a comment in Roy Dutton's Forgotten Heroes about WB's wife and children.]

The footnote to his entry states 'Two years after William died his wife Anna passed away leaving two children, Joseph aged 7 and William aged 9. Joseph was placed in the care of his uncle whilst William was admitted to the Birmingham Free Industrial School, and was subsequently maintained by the Royal Patriotic Fund, as of the 31 December 1859.'

Medal at auction, Hanson's, Lot 5036, 27 July 2019

[PB: 14.7.2019: Very sparse information.]

(Click on image to enlarge)

Lot 5036: A CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE CASUALTY CRIMEAN WAR MEDAL WITH SEBASTOPOL...

A Charge of the Light Brigade Casualty Crimean War Medal with Sebastopol, Balaklava and Alma Clasps to W. Baker, 17th Lancers. Officially impressed. Complete with ribbon. Private William Baker enlisted for service with the 17th Lancers in 1842 and was killed in the Charge of the Light Brigade on Oct 25th 1854. His death is confirmed by four major sources as having been killed on that day.

Auctioneer's estimate: 14,000 GBP — 15,000 GBP

[Source: Medal to be offered at forthcoming July Medals and Militaria Auction, Hanson's, Etwall, Derbyshire, 27 July 2019 (accessed 14.7.2019).