1584, Private Nathan HENRY — 11th Hussars
- Useful Nathan Henry Timeline
Birth & early life
Born at Cawnpore, India.
Nathan Henry was born at Cawnpore, India, on the 28th of March 1829, and christened there on the 15th of April by the Reverend Edward White, Chaplain.
His father was Private (later Sergeant) Abraham Henry of the 11th Light Dragoons and his wife, Mary Ann [possibly previously named Miriam?]. The couple were born into the Jewish faith, but converted to Christianity around 1820, soon after they arrived in India.
Abraham and Mary Ann Henry went out to India on the Indiaman Atlas, departing from Gravesend in 1819. See the passenger list here.
Further information and notes of work in progress on Abraham and Mary Ann Henry, and their children (Nathan Henry's siblings), see here.
[PB: Say more on NH's recollections of early life in India and return to England.]
In the Robson's London & Birmingham Trade Directory for 1839 Abraham Nathan is described as a "Broker" [?] living at 91 Lambeth Walk, Vauxhall, but as an "Ironmonger" two years later.
1841 Census
Lambeth Walk, Parish of St Mary, Lambeth, Surrey
Abraham Henry, aged 45, Ironmonger.
Mary Henry, 50.
Nathan Henry, 13.
Elizabeth Henry, 10.
Kitty Henry, 9.
Mary Batt, 20, Independent Means [?].
Henry Batt, 3.
Abraham and Mary Henry are described as having been born in the county [CHECK PHRASE], i.e. Surrey, but this may not be true as Mary is subsequently recorded as born in St Martin's, Middlesex, and their children elsewhere (in fact, they were all born in India).
[PB: Nathan will be living with Mary when he dies in 1888. Try to find out more about Mary Batt. She's his eldest sister, born c.1821, and her son Henry is Nathan Henry's nephew.]
Lambeth Walk
PB: nearby households in Lambeth Walk in 1841 included Grocers, Butchers, Greengrocers, Bakers &c., so presumably this street of shops, which became a by-word in the mid-20th century for vibrant Cockney street-life, was already thriving at this time. (2013: Lambeth Walk is now very sadly depleted.)
Given his prodigious knowledge and enthusiasm for theatre performance, much in evidence in his autobiography, Nathan Henry would have relished the idea that life in his street would inspire the 1937 musical Me and My Girl, filmed in 1939 as The Lambeth Walk), in which a barrow boy inherits an earldom but almost loses his Lambeth girlfriend. And that the swing jazz dance craze it spawned would be reviled by the Nazi Party as "Jewish mischief and animalistic hopping".
Further notes on Lambeth Walk here.
Vauxhall Gardens
Nathan Henry must also have been influenced by the Vauxhall Gardens, only a few minutes' walk away from the end of his street. Popular with the army (recall the scenes in Thackeray's Vanity Fair), and a popular area for amorous adventures, the Gardens had become somewhat notorious during the period of Henry's childhood. As a visitor once told the owner, he would "be a better Customer of her Garden, if there were more Nightingales, and fewer Strumpets."
Further notes on Vauxhall Gardens here.
1861 Census
31 Harewood Square [?], Marylebone, London
Mary Ann Henry [mother], Head, Widow, 70, Needle Woman, born St Giles in the Fields, Middlesex, London [about 1791]
Mary Batt [sister], Daughter, Married, 40, Monthly Nurse [?], Meerut, East India, British Subject.
Lydia M Batt [niece], Granddaughter, Unmarried, 17, Monthly Nurse [or does it say 7, no occupation?], St George's Hanover Square.
Henry James Batt [nephew], Married, 23, Painter's Labourer / Scene Shifter, Cawnpore, East Indies, British Subject.
Emma Batt, Wife, Married, 22, Parish of Lambeth.
Charles H T [?] Batt, Son, 1, St Andrew's Holborn [?].
[PB: Monthly Nurse:
"A Monthly Nurse was a woman who, in 18th and 19th century England, looked after a mother, and her baby also, for the first few weeks after birth...the delivery of children and care of the mothers was a profession often handed down from mother to daughter, with the daughter spending many years as the pupil or apprentice with midwifery skills being shared from generation to generation [probably as here]...
A monthly nurse could earn more than a midwife as the monthly nurse was employed for periods between 10 days and often much longer and might attend several women on a part time basis. She often "lived in". The midwife's only duty was perceived as "being trained to assist the parturient woman while nature does her own work and able to call upon a surgeon who could step in where nature fails and skill and science are required". Many certified midwives transferred to the ranks of monthly nurses to benefit from an increased income."
[Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monthly_nurse (accessed 2.7.2013).]
NEEDS COMPLETION
[http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/8767/MDXRG9_81_83-0291/8454853?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3findiv%3d1%26db%3duki1861%26rank%3d1%26new%3d1%26MSAV%3d1%26msT%3d1%26gss%3dangs-d%26gsfn%3dmary%2bann%26gsfn_x%3d1%26gsln%3dhenry%26gsln_x%3d1%26msddy%3d1870%26msdpn__ftp%3dlondon%26cpxt%3d1%26catBucket%3drstp%26uidh%3d1se%26cp%3d11%26pcat%3d35%26fh%3d2%26h%3d8454853%26recoff%3d&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord]
Enlistment
Enlisted into the 11th Hussars at London on the 24th of June 1853.
Age: 24.
Height: 5' 8".
Trade: None shown.
Service
According to the archives of the Grenadier Guards, Nathan Henry enlisted at London on the 23rd of December 1844 at the age of 15 years and 9 months. He was 5' 1è [1 and a half?]" in height, with a fair complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. His trade was given as "Labourer".
He was appointed Drummer on the 2nd of June 1845, returned to Private on the 5th of October 1847, and promoted to Corporal on the 24th of July 1849.
By 1851 he was training to be a military schoolmaster at the Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea, in London.
1851 Census
Royal Military Asylum for Children of Soldiers of the Regular Army, Chelsea [also known as The Duke of York's School].
Nathan Henry, aged 21, unmarried, Corporal, Student in the Schools for Training Regimental Schoolmasters, born Cawnpore; East Indies.
__________
Chester Castle Barracks, Chester
John Henry [possibly a brother?], aged 24, Drummer [38th Regiment], born East Indies — Bangalore
[JH: born c.1827.]
Marriage [first]
Marriage registered
Later that same year (July Quarter 1851), Nathan Henry married Joyce Anne Warwick in Westminster. [England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915, vol 1, p.550.]
Further information about Nathan Henry's children
Three children are shown in the Army Chaplains' Baptismal Registers:
- Drusilla Mary Henry in 1852 [?]
Birth registered: January Quarter 1852, St Margaret's Westminster.
[PB notes to check: Drusilla Mary Henry can be found in a number of Ancestry records, e.g. marriage to John William Pawson in Bradford in April Quarter 1877, also 1891, 1901 and 1911 Censuses (all Bradford), and Death registered, aged 74, September Quarter 1926, Bradford.
- Fanny Elizabeth Henry, born at Thames Ditton, 1857.
Birth registered April Quarter 1857, Kingston, Surrey.
[PB note: check the entries for Fanny Elizabeth Henry in Ancestry, e.g. marriage 1877 to Nelson William Noakes, Bradford (Father Nathan Henry is a "Librarian"), Joyce is witness.
1871 Census, 66 North Parade Bradford, Nelson is 37, a Hair Dresser, born London, Surrey. She is 24. 2 daughters Ethel 3 and Elizabeth 10 months. They have a General Servant, Eunice Hudson, 16.
Death, 84, Dec? 1941, Stoke Newington, London.
See her will index:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/1904/31874_222538-00073/684737?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dUKProbateCal%26h%3d684737%26indiv%3dtry%26o_vc%3dRecord%253aOtherRecord%26rhSource%3d7579&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord
- Joyce Ann, born at Nottingham, 1858.
Other children:
- Isabella Martha born October Quarter 1864 in Stepney [why?].
Baptism
Great Horton, St John, West Yorkshire.
January 1 1865, Isabella Martha, daughter of Nathan and Joyce Ann Henry, abode Brighton, Riding Officer Coast Guard.
- William Thomas, born April Quarter, 1867, Christened 9th June 1867, Brighton.
"Discharged by purchase (Payment of £10)" on the 27th of January 1852. (In his account he says it was in January 1851.) His conduct and character were "very good."
He enlisted in the 11th Hussars the following year, 1853.
"Absent": 10th-15th of March 1854.
Tried by a District Court-martial on the 27th of March for "Absence and losing his necessaries". Sentenced to 56 days' imprisonment, with hard labour.
Taken prisoner-of-war at Balaclava, after his horse had been killed under him.
[PB: Dutton (p.163) writes:
"During the Charge he had two horses shot from under him before being captured. Henry states in George Loy Smith's book:
"My horse was killed just before arriving at the guns. On recovering myself I saw Lord Paget leading the 4th but did not see him afterwards. Seeing my regiment a little distance beyond the guns, halted, I ran to them, when I was directed by Sergeant-major Smith to a riderless horse in the ranks, which I mounted. We then pursued the cavalry in our front to the bottom of the valley not far from the aqueduct bridge.
No other regiment was with us or near us, and no word of command was given was given, except by Colonel Douglas. After passing the Lancers that were formed across the valley to intercept our retreat my second horse was killed and I was taken prisoner."
1631 William Pennington, 11th Hussars, later recalled in detail how close to death Henry came at the hands of Russian soldiers. It is worth quoting the scene at some length:
It must have been when about two-thirds of the North Valley had been traversed by the Light Brigade, that my mare received a bullet, which lamed her very badly. This, of course, decreased her pace, and I found myself at some distance in the rear of my regiment, and quite alone. The enemy's fire seemed for a time to slacken.Finding myself quite unable with my crippled mare to proceed in the direction of the still advancing Light Brigade, I was about dismounting, with, as it may be imagined, considerable reluctance, when Providence decided for me. The smoke and dust raised by the heavy fire and trampling horse, had partially cleared away; thus rendering me, in the open, a more distinctive mark for the enemy's attention.
I received a ball through the calf of my right leg from the infantry concealed on the Causeway ridges, succeeded immediately by a grape shot, which, just clearing the top of my skull by a hair's breadth, tilted my busby to the right side; "Black Bess" fell prone to earth without a struggle; she having accepted the coup-de-grace with a bullet through her head.
As I stood for the moment perplexed in the extreme with the bullets still making dust spots on the green (for the wound in my leg was bleeding somewhat freely), and was scrutinizing the ground in every direction, with intense and anxious gaze, I observed on my right front several parties of the enemy's lancers engaged in the cruel and cowardly work of maltreating and murdering some of our dismounted men.
One man of my own regiment, whose face was streaming with blood (I knew him to be one of ours by the colour of his overalls), was, in his wounded condition, which might have evoked the pity of the hardest heart, ruthlessly attacked and slain by some half-dozen of these butchers. The wretches were at no considerable distance from me.
I was also collected enough to observe with more distinctiveness, another man of the [11?]th left dismounted and unarmed.
Nathan Henry had lost his sword, and was of course quite at the mercy of these fiends; but, in his case, from some unexplained cause, they desisted from their murderous practice, and made him a prisoner.
I think it is probable that the appearance of an officer may have acted upon these ruffians as a deterrent; for I believe there were but few cases in which the enemy evinced unnecessary harshness when their officers were present."
[Source: quoted in "From the Fleet in the Fifties; a History of the Crimean War", [add date, links, etc] p.198.]
Lummis and Wynn state that Nathan Henry was "kept" by a Russian lady until some time after the Armistice and was not very anxious to return to our lines. [PB: what was their source?] This may be true of events before the Armistice, but he rejoined the regiment from Odessa with three others on the 26th of October 1855.
[PB: Dutton says "repatriated from Odessa by steam ship "Columbo" and another of her Majesty's ships (ERJ).]
From Private to Corporal: 10th of September 1857.
Corporal to Sergeant: 19th of January 1859.
Discharge & pension
Discharged, "by claim", from Manchester on the 19th of October 1860.
Medals
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava and Sebastopol.
Further detailed medal information archived.
Commemorations
Member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society in 1879.
[PB: Photograph from this?]
In the 1880s, he was in charge of the "Balaclava Panorama" in Leicester Square, London. (See a copy of the Explanatory Booklet and Panorama sold at this Exhibition in the "Memoirs" file.)
Likenesses
[PB: Is there of him taken at the Balaclava Commemoration Society in 1879?]
There is a a copy in the 11th Hussar file of a photograph taken of him in the 1880s, when he was in charge of the "Balaclava Panorama" in Leicester Square, London.
[PB: Remarkably, Nathan Henry is mentioned in Cecil Roth's Presidential Address, "The Jews in the Defence of Britain, Thirteenth to Nineteenth Centuries", delivered at Magdalen College at the start of the Second World War:
"Nathan Henry, who rode in the charge of the Light Brigade and was captured" [p.20].
Brief, yes, but intriguing. How did he know about Nathan Henry? What were Roth's sources?
It is perhaps interesting to quote a little more for context, and perhaps for spreading a little light on why the Henrys, father and son, found themselves in India: excerpts from Roth's Address.
Life after service
1861 Census
Cannon, Parish of Ash, Farnborough, Surrey
Nathan Henry, Head, Married, 32, Labourer in Camp Forage ["Stour"?], born East Indies, British Subject.
Joyce A[nn] Henry, Wife, Married, 35, Little Hadham, Herts.
Drusilla M[ary] Henry, Daughter, 9, Scholar, Westminster, Middlesex.
Fanny E[lizabeth] Henry, Daughter, 4, Scholar, Thames Ditton, Surrey.
Joyce A[nn] Henry, Daughter, 1, Aldershott, Hants.
[PB: William Thomas Henry was christened 9 June 1867 in Brighton, the son of Nathan and Joyce Ann Henry.]
[PB: Nathan Henry writes in his memoir that he worked as a "Sub-Warder" at Coldbath Prison [see the record of 1064 Charles Aldous, 17th Lancers, for more information about this prison], and then in the Mounted Branch of the Coast Guards in Sussex. For more, see his autobiography, excerpted here, and EJB's annotations.]
[EJB: The chance finding of an entry in the Coast Guards Record of Service shows NH was appointed to the Mounted Branch as a Private on the 27th of October 1862. This was at Brighton, Sussex, the details showing him as being from Cold-Bath Prison [sp?], in London.
He was discharged from the service, still stationed at Brighton, on the 31st of March 1864. No reason was shown, but added details showed his original rank of Private as crossed out and Corporal substituted (but no date as to when this promotion occurred, he was 33 years of age, late 11th Hussars, his rate of pay was 4/- per day, and that his conduct had been very good. ]
[PB: 16 July 1868: There is a "Nathan Henry" who, with an Elizabeth Hall, was committed to appear for trial at Lewes Assizes for "Forging a Receipt for Money". Both appear to have been sentenced to "6 Cal. leos" [illeg. what could this be? Cal(endar) Months? Others receive sentences of e.g. 1 year. But presumably no fine, whipping or hard labour, as were handed out to many others in nearby entries.
Is it possible this is our NH? Lewes, where Brighton's criminal cases would have been tried, makes this a possibility (though very remote, since, had his conviction been known, he would subsequently not have been able to find work from which a convict is likely to have been excluded.]
Death registered
Joyce Ann Henry [first wife], aged 42, June Quarter 1868, Brighton.
Marriage registered [2nd]
Nathan Henry married Mary Elizabeth Domine at Westminster, St Margaret's in the July Quarter of 1869.
1871 Census
10 Town Square, St Margaret, Knightsbridge, Westminster.
Nathan Henry, Head, Married, 42, Vaccination Officer, born Bengal, B.S. [British Subject].
Mary E Henry, Wife, Married, 22, Sussex, Brighton.
[PB: Ancestry.co.uk suggests this was "Mary Elizabeth Domaine, born 1849, Sussex".
NB also, his mother is said to have died in 1870 in Montpelier Place, Knightsbridge.
1871 Census
Mary Elizabeth Henry (nee Domine) [second wife].
Her birth is recorded in 1849 (England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915, vol. vii, p.301), where she is named as "Mary Elizabeth Domine, born Brighton".
Mary Elizabeth Domine was christened on the 15th April 1849 at Brighton, Sussex. Her father is named as John Domine and her mother as Elizabeth. It would seem her mother was Elizabeth Masterman.
1851 Census
13 Manchester Street, Kemp Town, Brighthelmstone, Sussex.
John Domine, Head, Married, 41, Beer House Keeper, Hants, Bishops Waltham.
Elizabeth Domine, Wife, 36, Berks, Cumnor.
Mary Domine, Daughter, 2, Sussex, Brighton.
Harriet French, Servant, Unmarried, 30, House Servant, Sussex, Rodmill.
1861 Census
7 Manchester Street, Kemp Town, Brighton.
John Domine, Head, Married, 49, Publican, Hants, Bps Waltham [presumably Bishops Waltham].
Elizabeth Domine, Wife, Married, 45, Berks, Cumnor.
Mary E Domine, Daughter, 12, Scholar, Sussex, Brighton.
Harriet Plowman [?], Servant, Unmarried, 18, Servant, Sussex, Chichester.
But note also
1871 Census
Star Inn, 7 Manchester Street, Kemp Town, Brighton, Sussex.
Elizabeth Masterman [why is she called "Masterman" again, not Domine, i.e. has she reverted to her maiden name?], Head, Widow, 55, Licensed Victualler, Berkshire, Ch?.
Maria Domine [sister-in-law, his wife Mary Elizabeth's younger sister?], Daughter, Unmarried, 18, Licensed Victualler, Sussex, Brighton.
Emily Wood, Servant, Unmarried, 32, General Servant, Sussex, Brighton.
[PB: who is Maria Domine? The ages don't match: she is c. 4 years younger than Mary E. Presumably she is Mary Elizabeth's sister? There is a Maria Domine, age 28 [i.e. born c.1853], in the 1881 Census.
In 1881 Mary [This must be Maria. So is she named as Maria?] Domine, 28, can be found as a Servant, Book Keeper, at the Queens Hotel, Kings Road, Brighton.]
1901 Census
26 Ontario Street, St George Martyr, Southwark.
[More than 20 people in 6 households are recorded at this one address.]
Mary Henry [wife], aged 52, Head, Widow, Charwoman, Worker, born Brighton, Sussex.
Amelia Henry [presumably daughter, born c. 1885], 16, Daughter, Single, Printer [?], Southwark, London.
[PB: But is this Nathan Henry's second wife? This Mary would have been born c. 1849, which fits. But in A Chequered Life, I recall he says his second wife died [in Africa? with a number of children?]. I have not been able to locate any more info about this Mary or Amelia.]
Booth writes of Ontario Street, just north of Elephant & Castle, in 1898-99:
"Ontario Street late [i.e. formerly] London Street rather better that Earl St, nearly on a par with Mansfield Street. Skirt and tailoring homeworkers. Some evident effort at cleanliness in the matter of windows and curtains. Rather poorer W than E of Dantzig St. Bread and potato parings in the street. Purple..."
[B363 pp.92-93. Booth's map colours the street purple: "Mixed. Some comfortable, others poor."]"
[Source: http://booth.lse.ac.uk/notebooks/b363/jpg/93.html]
]
Meanwhile, in Bradford, at the home of Nathan Henry's first wife's sisters:
1871 Census
116 Leeds Road, Bradford.
Fanny Warwick [presumably sister-in-law], 43, Head, Stationer, born Little Hadham, Herts.
Martha Warwick [sister-in-law], 41, Sister, Mantle Maker, Little Hadham, Herts.
John W? Reynolds, 22, Nephew, Clerk (Stationers), Dundalk, Ireland.
Drusilla M Henry [daughter], 19, Librarian, Pimlico, London.
Fanny E Henry [daughter], 13, Niece, Thames Ditton, Surrey.
Joyce Anne Henry [daughter], 11, Niece, Unmarried, born Aldershott, Hampshire.
Isabella M Henry [daughter], 6, Niece, Unmarried, born Brighton, Sussex.
William T Henry [son], Nephew, 3, born Brighton, Sussex.
A male boarder, John Archer, 25, A Brewer's Traveller, born Yorkshire, is also shown.
[PB: Why are all the children in Bradford? Why are they staying with Fanny Warwick and her sister Martha? What relation are they? They do not appear to be guests on holiday.
Actually, according to his memoir, these must be his unmarried sisters — his two sisters-in-law, who looked after his children when his wife died. But are they also estranged from his new, young wife?]
1881 Census
58 Kings Cross Rd, Clerkenwell, London
N. Henry, 52, Head, born India, Cawnpore.
E. Henry, 24, Wife, Northampton.
No occupations shown. There are several other households shown at the same address.
[PB: Who is "E. Henry"? She would have been born c. 1857. Is this a third, very much younger wife — much the same age as his daughter Joyce? Were they actually married? Did he marry bigamously? Is she mentioned in "A Chequered Life", or does it end earlier? Why such scant information?
Dec, 2013: Yes, she is mentioned (but not named) in A Chequered Life as his third wife. Marriage registration?
And what happened to her after Nathan Henry's death?
An "E.Henry", Female, Single, 44, No profession, Unknown place of birth, was in the Essex County Lunatic Asylum (near Brentwood) in 1901. The name and ages fit, though not "single", but no other supporting evidence has been found to link them. ]
__________
25 Park Gate, Bradford.
Fanny Warwick [sister-in-law], 53, Head, Sempstress, born Little Hadham, Herts.
Joyce Anne Henry [daughter], 21, Niece, School Governess, Aldershott [sic?], Hampshire.
Isabella M Henry [daughter], 16, Niece, Milliner (unemployed), Brighton, Sussex.
"Meg's Family Tree (nutmeg138)" [presumably on the Ancestry website?] claims Joyce Anne Henry [daughter] married "unknown" on May 4th 1881 at St Peter (Bradford Cathedral), Yorkshire, England.
This was Philip Stansfeld Rawson, aged 22, "Stuff [?] Warehouseman", son of Jeremiah Rawson, Estate Agent.
Her father's name was given as "Nathan Henry", and his rank or profession as "Librarian" [!].
I have made an image of the marriage certificate.
[PB: INSERT IMAGE]
The marriage certificate of Nathan Henry's daughter Joyce Ann and Philip Stansfield Rawson in Bradford, 1881
(Click on image to enlarge)
As mentioned above, in the 1880s Nathan Henry was in charge of the "Balaclava Panorama" in Leicester Square, London. (See a copy of the Explanatory Booklet and Panorama sold at this Exhibition in the "Memoirs" file.)
See also a copy of a photograph taken of him at this time in the 11th Hussar file.
[PB, December 2013: Also different versions of an advert for the show, which names Nathan Henry, in Bridgman, V&A collections (in hand).
Death & burial
Nathan Henry died at the age of 58 at 54, Robert Street, Regent's Park, London, on the 21st of March 1888. The cause of death was given as "Cancer, Exhaustion." His occupation was given as "Late Sergeant 11th Hussars".
His sister, Mrs Mary Batt, of the same address, was present at, and the informant of, his death. (There is a copy of his death certificate in the "Certificates" file.) [PB: she was already Mary Batt when they were living together with their parents in Lambeth Walk in 1841.]
Death registration
Nathan Henry, 58, January Quarter 1888, Pancras, London.
The burial records of the St. Pancras and Islington Cemetery, in East Finchley Road, London, show that he was interred there at 10 a.m on the 29th of March 1888 in a common grave, No. 29 Plot "E", his being the second interment of a total of six, all buried on the same day. (See photograph of his grave area in the 11th Hussar file.)
EJB, 1985: Finding the actual grave-site is an impossibility in view of the "jungle-like" condition of this part of the cemetery. It seems unusual to have kept his body for so long before burial, but he was possibly "buried by the parish" and kept until there were a sufficient number to fill a grave.
Further information
Sometime in the 1880s Nathan Henry wrote an account of his eventful life and experiences which he entitled "A Chequered Life". This manuscript was acquired by EJB sometime in the 1980s [PB: date? acquired from?]. He transcribed and annotated this document, which, although very detailed, was also frustratingly evasive about names and dates (indeed Henry signs himself out merely as "Harry" — he does not name himself, or the regiments in which he served, or the full names of e.g. his wives and children). EJB spent a considerable time establishing as many of these names and dates as he could, and PB has continued this work.
Some brief extracts can be read here.