Born in Glasgow, c.1833.
Enlisted at Dublin on the 28th of July 1853.
Age: 20.
Height: 5' 8".
Trade: Bucket-maker.
On Letter-Duty in the Crimea, attached to the H.Q. of the Cavalry Division, from the 1st of April — 30th of June 1855.
From Private to Corporal: 7th of December 1861.
Discharged, "by claim, time expired", from the Curragh Camp on the 1st of August 1865.
Served 12 years 3 days, but only 11 years 343 days, to count.
Conduct: "very good". In possession of one Good Conduct badge.
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sebastopol, and the Turkish medal.
Said by Lummis and Wynn to have attended the first Balaclava Banquet in 1875, but no trace of him can be found on the list of those present.
Member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society in 1879.
According to the Manchester Evening News he was one of the 17 survivors of the Charge who appeared at the Free Trade Hall there in an entertainment organised by the Hulme Committee to raise funds. This event took place on the 21st of May 1890.
1871 Census
10, Balfour Street, Port Glasgow.
Samuel Jamieson, 40, Hammerman, born Ireland.
Margaret, 41.
Seven children shown: Agnes, 13, Esther, 11, Maryann 9, Jane 6, Margaret 4, Samuel 1, Eliza 4 months.
1881 Census
10, Balfour Street, Port Glasgow.
The 1881 Census shows this man as living at the same address, an Iron Labourer, aged 51, born in Ireland, with his wife, Margaret aged 47, also born in Ireland and 7 children, aged from 19 to 6 years.
The place of birth of the eldest child, a girl, being Ireland in 1862 and the event of the carbine being struck by lightning said to have been towards the end of 1867, it is very doubtful if the men are one and the same. See "further information". [RM]
1891 Census
41, Duncan Street, Barrow in Furness.
Samuel Jameson, 61, Blacksmith's striker, born Ireland.
Margaret, 60, born Ireland.
Five children shown and a lodger are shown.
A man of this name died at No. 41 Duncan Street, Barrow-in-Furness, on the 22nd of March 1894 from "Pneumonia, Exhaustion" aged 63 years and a "Shipyard Labourer". His son, James Jamieson, of the same address, was present at, and the informant of his death. (There is a copy of his death certificate in the 4th H. "Certificates" file.)
He was buried in the Thorncliffe Cemetery, Devonshire Road, Barrow-in-Furness, on the 24th of March 1894 in Grave No. 337-4-B, aged 65 years (sic.). His wife, Margaret, was interred in the same grave on the 15th of April 1908, aged 78 years, she being also the plot owner. A headstone and kerb was erected on the grave. (See photographs of the stone and a close-up of the inscription on it in the 11th Hussar file.)
From the book, "Five Years a Cavalry-man" by H.M. McConnell, 6th U.S. Cavalry:
"The sentry on post "Number One" in front of the guard-house when the rain came up, continued on his beat without putting on his overcoat or "poncho", and not apprehending much danger as there were no trees within some distance, and keeping his carbine at the "carry" as he strode back and forth. The position of the weapon probably saved his life for presently the lightning, which was very vivid, was seen to strike him to the ground and he was thought to have been killed by those witnessing it. On examination the lighting appeared to have struck the muzzle of the gun, about two inches of which was welded and fused into a shapeless mass, as if a stick of sealing wax had been subjected to a flame, passed down the barrel, burning off the hammer and part of the lock, down the man's leg, and through his right foot into the ground. The sleeve of his jacket was split open, his pants were torn and two little holes burnt through his boot as if a red-hot wire had been passed through them. His hand was badly burned, also his foot, and he was stunned, remaining unconscious for hours, but was, in the course of a few days, again fit for duty.The carbine is now in the military museum in the city of Washington, it being a curiosity on account of the way the muzzle was fused off, and furthermore the cartridges, of which there was one in the chamber and seven in the magazine, were none of them exploded. This had occurred towards the end of 1867."
Footnote. * "This man, "Joe" Jamieson, was, in my opinion, the finest-looking man in the Regiment. He was an old English Dragoon, and had belonged to the Eleventh Hussars, and rode as one of the Six Hundred at Balaclava, having had the Victoria Cross [sic] conferred upon him for services in the Crimean War."
Census information for 1871 & 1891 kindly provided by Chris Poole.