Birth & early life
Born at Midhurst, Sussex, the son of John Boxall and his wife, Mary, nee Steer. Baptised on the 17th of August 1834.
He was the third of eight children known to have been born into the family between 1830 and 1853.
A "John Boxhall (baseborn)" [i.e. illegitimate], the son of Mary Boxal [sic], was baptised at Midhurst on the 19th of January 1806, and was possibly his father.
1841 Census
James Row, Midhurst.
John Boxall [father], 35, Painter, born Midhurst.
Mary, 30.
Alfred 10, William 9, John 7, Fanny, 4, Edward, 1.
1851 Census
Mint, Midhurst.
John Boxall, 45, Plumber, born Midhurst.
Mary Boxall, 40, born Petworth.
William, 19, Plumber.
John, 16, Shoemaker.
Fanny, 13, Dressmaker.
E. Boxall, 10, Scholar.
C. Boxall, 8, Scholar.
C.Boxall, 7, Scholar.
Ruth, 3.
Service
Volunteered into the 4th Light Dragoons, "By Authority from the Horse Guards", dated the 14th of January 1853.
Taken prisoner of war at Balaclava after his horse was shot under him and he himself was severely wounded.
Horse Guards,
18th June 1855,
Sir, I am directed by the General Commanding-in -Chief to acquaint you that it appears by a communication from the Admiralty to the Military Secretary that the man named in the margin (Private John Boxall) who was taken prisoner by the Russians has been released in consequence of his wounds disabling him from further military service and that he will be conveyed to Scutari.
I am, etc, etc,.
J.E. Addison.
[To:] Officer Commanding 4th Light Dragoons, Crimea.
Returned to England from Scutari aboard the "Lord Dalhouse." on the 7th of December 1855.
On "furlo" to Tillington, near Petworth, Sussex, 6th-31st of December 1855. [dates don't quite tally with above]
Went to London, "on sick furlo until discharged", on the 21st of May 1856.
Discharge & pension
Discharged from Chatham Invalid Depot on the 26th of May 1856:
"Unfit for further service. Suffers from a very oblique union of the fractured end of the right femur broken a little below the centre by a rifle bullet at the battle of Balaclava, when lying upon the ground.
He also had twelve lance wounds.
In falling from his horse he also had a very serious contusion of the right side of the body, from the effects of which he now has much pain when walking any distance.
He was taken prisoner and removed to Simpheropol, and removed from thence to Odessa, where he was exchanged."
Aged 25 years on discharge.
Served 4 years 60 days.
In Turkey and the Crimea: 1 year.
Conduct: "a good soldier".
In possession of one Good Conduct badge.
He was awarded a pension of 10d. per day on discharge, but this was increased to a Special Pension of 18d. per day from the 22nd of September 1897.
Commemorations
Attended the first Balaclava Banquet in 1875.
Member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society in 1879.
Signed the Loyal Address to the Queen in 1887.
Attended the Annual Dinners in 1895 and 1906.
Named on the list of Balaclava Survivors in 1907.
Present at the Jubilee celebrations held in the Fleet Street offices of T.H. Roberts in June 1897 and signed the testimonial given to Mr. Roberts on that occasion. (See copy of this in the "Memoirs" file.) He also appears in the photograph taken at this time.
His portrait appeared in the Answers magazine, 30th of October 1912. (See copy of this in the 4th Hussar file and also the file of the 11th Hussars for copies of photographs in which he appeared in the company of others.)
Life after service
To live at Portsmouth after discharge.
1861 Census
Bramdean, Hampshire.
Henry Boxall, 30, Servant Gardener, unmarried, born Easebourne.
[Employed by spinster Mary Gomm]
[CP, March 2014: I have rendered "Eastbourne" as Easebourne in these transcriptions. Census adjudicators seem to have heard one for the other, which has caused much confusion to researchers ever since. Midhurst to Eastbourne is c. 50 miles, whereas Easebourne is just above Midhurst – about 1 mile. The latter seems more plausible. It may save people a lot of time if we make a brief note of this for others who follow.]
Marriage registered
Henry Boxall to Sarah Hackman, June Quarter 1861, Havant.
Births registered
Emily Boxall, March Quarter 1858, Westbourne.
Sarah Jane Boxall, June Quarter 1862, Westbourne.
Ellen Boxall, September Quarter 1868, Westbourne.
Alma Boxall, September Quarter 1870, Westbourne.
Alice Boxall, March Quarter 1876, Westbourne.
[CP, March, 2014: I cannot find a birth registration for his eldest child, Emily, or on the 1861 or 1871 Censuses. I assume some sort of unmarried relationship before he & Sarah were married. [PB: Ask Chris to clarify.]]
1871 Census
Aldworth, Westbourne.
Henry Boxall, 40, Domestic Groom Gardener, born Easebourne.
Sarah Boxall, 35, born Hermitage.
Emily Boxall, 13; Sarah, 8; Ellen, 2; Alma, 1 month..all born Westbourne.
1881 Census
Greenlands, Hambleden, Buckinghamshire.
The 1881 Census Return show him as a Gardener (Domestic), aged 52, born at Petworth, Sussex, with his wife, Lucy, 52, born at North Chapel, Sussex, and a son, Edward, 19, a Butcher's Shopman.
(From his then-wife's given name he would appear to have been married twice, his wife's name being given as Susan at the time of his death.)
1881 Census
Sea Field Cottage, Havant Road, Warblington, Havant.
Henry Boxall, 49, M. Gardener, Born Easebourne.
Sarah Boxall, 46, born Hermitage.
Ellen Boxall, 12, born Aldworth.
Alma, 10, born Aldworth.
Alice, 5, born Westbourne.
1891 Census
3, Down Vale Cottage, Droxford.
Henry Boxall, 59, Domestic Gardener, born Easebourne.
Sarah Boxall, 56, born Hermitage.
Alice Boxall, 15, born Westbourne.
Marriage registered
Alma Boxall [daughter] to William George Hounsom [Printer's labourer], June Quarter 1899, Tunbridge.
1901 Census
63, Rochdale Road, Tunbridge Wells.
Sarah J.O. Callaghan, 38, married, laundress, born Aldworth.
John Boxall, father, 69, Pensioner, born Easebourne.
Sarah Boxall, mother, 65, born Hermitage.
Alice Boxall, sister, 25, born Westbourne.
including one visitor.
(Click on image to enlarge)
1911 Census
63, Rochdale Road, Tunbridge Wells.
John Boxall, 79, Army Pensioner, born Easebourne.
Sarah Boxall, 75, born Prinsted [near Southbourne, W. Sussex].
Alice Boxall, 35, single, born Westbourne.
Census note: Married 49 years with 5 children.
Death registered
Sarah Boxall, aged 78 years, December Quarter 1912, Tonbridge.
Towards the end of his life, by which time there were very few survivors of the Charge, he was feted throughout the world, as shown in this item from Sydney, Australia (1913):
(Click on image to enlarge)
FIFTEEN BALACLAVA SURVIVORS
Reduced by one by the recent death of Lord Tredegar, the following are now the survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade:
Sir George Wombwell, 17th Lancers.
Major Phillips [8th Hussars]
Alderman Kilvert, 8th Hussars [actually, 11th Hussars]
J Mustard, 17th Lancers
T. Boxall, 4th Hussars [formerly 4th Light Dragoons]
J. Whitehead, 4th Hussars [formerly 4th Light Dragoons]
H. Wilsden, 4th Hussars [formerly 4th Light Dragoons]
J. Olley, 4th Hussars [formerly 4th Light Dragoons]
W.S.J. Fulton, 8th Hussars
J. Parkinson, 11th Hussars
T. Warr, 11th Hussars
G. Gibson, 13th Hussars [formerly 13th Light Dragoons]
E. Hughes, 13th Hussars [formerly 13th Light Dragoons]
W. Ellis, 11th Hussars
W.H. Pennington, 8th Hussars [actually, 11th Hussars]
[Source: Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW), 20 April 1913 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/126459695 (accessed 15.2.2014) [PB].]
Death & burial
Death registered
John Boxall, aged 83 years, September Quarter 1914, Tonbridge.
He died at No 63 Rochdale Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on the 18th of August 1914, and was buried in the Tunbridge Wells Borough Cemetery on the 23rd of August 1914. (See photograph of his home at Tunbridge Wells in the 4th Hussar file.)
See the report of his death and funeral which appeared in the Gazette for the 26th of August 1914 and in the Kent and East Sussex Post for the 29th of August, in the 4th Hussar file.
He was buried, with his wife, Susan, in Grave No. 13/374 Con., in the Hawkenbury Cemetery, Benhall Road, Tunbridge Wells. The grave is unmarked. (See photograph of this gravesite in the 4th Hussar file.)
Extract from an article that appeared in the Kent and Sussex Courier in 1979:
"Henry [sic] Boxall lived until August of 1914 and died, aged 88 years, just as the country was preparing to plunge into the Great War. As a result, the passing of this hero of the "Charge" was over-whelmed by greater events.
Mr Boxall's home was at No 63 Rochdale Road, Tunbridge Wells. (He had also lived at one time at No. 3 Downvale Cottages, Droxford, Hampshire [PB: is this bracket in the original?].)
He was a lively personality, and often told how his horse was shot under him at Balaclava.
He was stabbed fourteen times as he lay on the ground and left for dead, but Russian medical orderlies found him, dressed his wounds and set his broken leg.
All this was undone by a jolting ride in an un-sprung baggage wagon and when he was exchanged for a Russian prisoner some three months later his leg was still not set. He was a cripple for the rest of his life.
Because of the outbreak of war the War Office had to refuse a request by Colonel Sydney Staden, the President of the Tunbridge Wells Veterans Association, for a military funeral for Henry Boxall.
The coffin, draped in the Union Jack, was carried through streets lined with people. Amongst the mourners was ex-police sergeant Spratt, a veteran of the Crimea and the Indian Mutiny and the Mayor of Tunbridge Wells, Cllr. C.W. Eason.
After the funeral service had been read by the Revd. W.R. Andrews, Vicar of St. Barnabas Church, ex-Private Boxall was lowered into his last resting place as he had requested, clad in the uniform he wore when he charged at Balaclava."
Following this article the then Regimental Secretary of the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars wrote to a local historian saying that:
"It is the earnest hope of the Queen's Own Hussars Committee, that when the present economic and inflationary period is over and they can allot resources from their present priority of assisting those in desperate financial circumstances, to erect headstones for such heroes as Henry Boxall, who without doubt, certainly deserves this tribute."
The newspaper added that:
"Local efforts may pre-empt the Hussars. Already it has been suggested that a public subscription might replace the bleak marker on Boxall's grave with a proper memorial. It really needs someone, preferably an old ex-Hussar, to come forward as treasurer-organiser."
[EJB, 1985: Nothing further is known if anything was done.]
Extract from a letter written by an E.C. Jenkinson of Tunbridge Wells re 1581 James E. Dray, 4th Light Dragoons. (See his record.)
"P.S. – Since writing the above, and as a result of my enquiries, I have found another old veteran who was also in the same company and "One of the Six Hundred."
His name is John Boxall and he resides at No. 23 Rochdale Road, Tunbridge Wells. He and his wife are now acting as caretakers in a large house close by where the writer lives.
He has eleven pence a day pension and still retains the coat which he wore when he was wounded in the famous charge."
