Born in the parish of St. Lawrence, Reading, Berkshire, c.1820.
Enlisted at London on the 30th of May 1838.
Age: 18.
Height: 5' 6".
Trade: Labourer.
Appearance: Fresh complexion. Brown eyes, Brown hair.
Embarked for the Crimea aboard the H.T. "Wilson Kennedy" on the 2nd of May 1854.
Wounded and taken prisoner of war at Balaklava, 25th October 1854.
[PB: See the letter from Private Perry to his mother and sisters in Reading, reprinted in Anthony Dawson, Letters (2014), pp. 161-2. Notice how direct he is in describing his wounds.]
Exchanged at Odessa on the 29th of August 1855 [i.e. some months before most of the other British prisoners], and landed from H.M.S. "Furious" at Constantinople on the 2nd of September."Simpheropol Dec.22. [1854]
My Dear Mother and Sisters,
I have taken this first opportunity of writing to you, to inform you that I am a prisoner of war in Russia, at a place named Simpheropol. I am in hospital here.
I suppose you have seen by the English newspapers there was a battle fought on the 25th of October, at Balaclava, near Sevastopol, and the Light Brigade of Cavalry, that my regiment was in, charged the Russian lines, and we were very much cut up by the enemy's cannon.
I have since heard tell that about 160 were killed, and about the same wounded, but I cannot tell you much about them, as I myself was shot through both thighs, and through the right shoulder, at the top part of the arm, two sword cuts in the head, and two lance wounds, one in the hand and one in the thigh; so I have you to think I was in a bad state.
I was taken up almost dead by the Russians; but after I got a doctor's attendance I began to do well. I am still in hospital, but I am happy to say I am enjoying as good health as I can expect.
The Russians are very kind to us, as well as we can understand them; and I make myself as happy as I can, waiting for the time to come that I may see you all again, as I hope it will be the will of Almighty God to spare me, and send me safe back to you again in a few months.
We have in attendance at the hospital some ladies who are very kind to us; they are what we call in England Sisters of Mercy or Charity.
[Source: ]
He was in Scutari General Hospital from the 15th of September 1855 (the musters showing him as "Prisoner-of-war from Odessa and Ordered to be taken on pay from the 29th of August"), and was invalided to England on the 14th of October 1855.
Tried by a District Court-martial at Dundalk on the 5th of January 1856 for "allowing himself to be taken prisoner", and sentenced to 84 days' imprisonment.
Although other men are known to have been court-martialled on their return from Russian captivity, this is the only known instance of a man being actually sentenced to some form of punishment. And this, notwithstanding the fact that he had been severely wounded.
Why was he court-martialled separately? Perhaps because he was exchanged to rejoin the regiment before other POWs, and arrived earlier arrival in England. (See later memo relating to some men being exchanged at Odessa, being unfit for further service — Thomas Perry may have been one of these).
Extracts from the London Gazette, Friday 1st of June 1855:
"Lord Panmure has received a despatch and its enclosures, of which the following are copies, addressed to his Lordship by Field-Marshal Lord Raglan, G.C.B.:
Before Sebastopol, May 19th.
My Lord,
I have the honour to enclose the copy of a letter from Captain Montague of the Royal Engineers, Prisoner of war, dated Simpheropol, April 28th, transmitting a list of British prisoners who died either there or on the road from Sebastopol. I beg to forward this return in duplicate.
Your Lordship will see with satisfaction that the British prisoners who are sick in Hospital at Simpheropol receive equal, if not greater attention than the Russian soldiers from the authorities, and are constantly receiving presents from visitors.
Raglan.
Enclosure (1)
Simpheropol, April 28th.
Sir, — I have the honour to enclose the accompanying list of prisoners who died either here, or on their road from Sebastopol.
There are some others dead, but Thomas Berry [sic] 8th Hussars, who furnished me with this list, could not remember the names of the rest.
I have, etc., etc.
H. Montague, Captain.
Royal Engineers.
[To:] Major General J.B. Bucknall Estcourt, Adjutant-General.
I have been given to understand that the prisoners who are sick in hospital have received equal, if not even greater attention from the authorities, and are constantly receiving presents, etc., from visitors.
There are some five or seven men who will be sent at the first opportunity to Odessa, for the purpose of being forwarded to England, they being incapable of serving again.
[See also records of 1550, John Boxall, 4th Light Dragoons, and 1061 Matthew Keating, 11th Hussars.]
Return of Non-commissioned Officers and Men, Prisoners of war, who have died either at Simpheropol or on their road there,-
4th Light Dragoons. Troop Sergeant Major William Fowler; — Privates, Thomas Fletcher — James Normoyle and George Linser.
8th Hussars. Corporal William Taylor.
11th Hussars. Corporal J. Wilson [sic] and Private John Berry.
13th Light Dragoons. Trumpeter William Howarth and Private William Bainton.
17th Lancers. Corporal James Hall; Privates Henry Young — Robert Edge — William Kirk and Alfred Jenner.
[Some 14 other men from various Line regiments are also named on the list.]
Discharged from Dundalk on the 4th of July 1856, as "Unfit for further service". The medical report states he was:
"Taken prisoner at the battle of Balaclava and also present at the battle of the Alma. Received two sword cuts on the head and ten other wounds.
Suffers from Vertigo caused by the two sword cuts received on the head in the Balaclava charge."
Served 18 years 36 days.
In Turkey and the Crimea: 1 year 4 months.
Aged 36 years on discharge.
Conduct: "good".
In possession of three Good Conduct badges. Once tried by Court-martial.
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava and Sebastopol.
His portrait appeared in the Illustrated London News, 30th of October 1875. (There is a copy in the 8th Hussar file.)
Member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society in 1877 and 1879. He served on the committee of both. [CP].
1851 Census
Ellen Bennet [future step-daughter], 11, born Heckfield, with her sister Ann, 12, living with grandparents William (Ag Lab) and Sarah Foster and their three children Joseph, Henry and Emma at Bisely Common, Heckfield.
Birth registered
Caroline Seymour Perry [daughter], September Quarter 1858, Marylebone.
1861 Census
6, York Terrace Hackney.
Thos Perry, 40, Messenger & Chelsea Pensioner, born Reading.
Mary Ann Perry, 40, born Heckfield, Hants.
Ellen Bennett, 20, step-daughter, Dressmaker, born Heckfield.
Caroline L Perry, daughter, 2, born Middlesex.
Including an aunt, Mary Ann Woodford 62 and 2 lodgers. [CP].
Death registered
Mary Ann Perry [first wife], aged 51 years, December Quarter 1870, Hackney. [CP].
1871 Census
387, Kingsland Road, Hackney.
Thomas Perry, 49, widowed, Messenger, born Reading.
Caroline L Perry, 12, scholar, born Hackney.
An aunt (Mary Ann Woodford), niece, & lodger are also shown [CP].
1881 Census
63, Forest Road, Hackney, Holy Trinity Parish, Dalston
The 1881 Census Returns show him as living with his wife Elizabeth and an unmarried daughter, Caroline S., 22, born in Hackney.
Then aged 59, he was described as a Pensioner and Clerk, born at Reading, Berkshire, and his wife as 55 years of age, born at Foxcote, Gloucestershire.
(From what is later known he must have been twice-married, the daughter being from the first marriage.)
He died at 63, Forest Road, Hackney, London, on the 24th of September 1884, and was buried at Abney Rd Cemetery (now generally called Abney Park) on the 1st of October 1884.
Death registered
Thomas Perry, aged 62 years, September Quarter 1884, Hackney. [CP]
From The Times, Tuesday 26th of September 1884:
"Death of a Veteran"
"There has just died at Forest Road, Dalston, London, Mr. Thomas Perry, in his 63rd year.
The deceased passed through the Crimean campaign and was one of the 600 who rode at Balaclava; in which fatal struggle he was wounded in both thighs, on the head, hands and body, and taken prisoner by the Russians.
At the close of the campaign he was transferred to an English man-of-war and afterwards received his discharge, with a pension.
In Britain, Mr. Perry, who was a member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society, caught a cold last week after attending one of the meetings prior to the forthcoming banquet."
"Mr Perry belonged to the 8th Hussars, and that regiment was represenetd by Sergeant-Major Dawn, Sergeant Brown, and Corporal Bird. Sergeant Loysmith [sic], late of the 11th Hussars, and many private friends of the deceased were also present. The coffin was literally covered with floral emblems, conspicuous amongst which was a large triangle of white roses bearing the words 'One of the Six Hundred.'"
In recording his death the United Services Gazette added:
"On Wednesday, in the presence of a large number of comrades of the deceased, the remains of Mr. Thomas Perry, late of the 8th Hussars and one of "Six Hundred" who rode in the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava were interred in Abney Park Cemetery.
Many personal friends of the deceased were also present to pay a last tribute of respect to the man who both as a soldier and a civilian had gained the respect and esteem of all who knew him.
The coffin was covered with floral emblems, conspicuous amongst which was a large triangular one of white roses, bearing the words, 'One of the Six Hundred'."
From the report in The Times, 2nd of October 1884:
"Funeral of a Balaclava Hero"
Yesterday, the remains of Mr. Thomas Perry of Dalston, formerly of the 8th Regiment, Royal Irish Hussars, were interred at Abney Park Cemetery — several of his former comrades accompanying the procession.
Born in 1833, his military career was most remarkable. He was with his regiment at the siege of Sebastopol, having previously taken part in the battle of the Alma, and was One of the Six Hundred who rode in the memorable charge at Balaclava.
In this terrible encounter he was shot through both thighs, in the right shoulder and receiving also two sword-cuts on the head, two lance-wounds on the body, and one in the left hand.
He was taken prisoner of war and remained several weeks in a Russian hospital in Simpheropol, afterwards being sent to Odessa, exchanged, thence in one of her Majesty's ships was forwarded to Scutari, whence he came to England and was discharged in 1856.
The gallant gentleman was known and much respected in the neighbourhood in which he lived and died."
The Abney Park Cemetery records state that he was buried on the 1st of October 1884 in Grave No. 66498, Plot 16, aged 62 years. His wife, Mary Ann, who died on the 6th of October 1870, aged 51 years, is buried in the same grave. Also interred in this is a "M.A. Hurford" but what relationship he, or she, is to the deceased couple is not known.
The Abney Park Cemetery records show all three interments in Grave No. 46698, but a check of the grave-site plans show no trace of this number. The cemetery authorities state that there is a possibility of the plans having been re-drawn at a later date and not all the original grave numbers entered.
Photograph by EJB, probably late 1986. Is that the derelict chapel in the background that is currently (2016) being restored?)
[PB: His funeral was attended by a number of former Light Brigade soldiers (including Dawn, Glendwyr, Brown, Bird and Loy Smith) at Abney Park Cemetery in 1884.]
Most of the dividing plot pathways have been re-positioned and some of the other graves and gravestones destroyed. A check of Plot 16, now [early 1986] a veritable jungle, is virtually impossible, many of the standing stones being completely covered in brambles and shrubbery, or have fallen down.
A headstone is shown as having been erected after the second interment, that of Mary Ann Hurford, aged 79 years, and probably his mother-in-law, Both the first and second interments took place from No. 397 Kingsland Road.
It has now [late 1986] been to some degree partly explained why there is no memorial stone to him in Abney Park Cemetery.
A close study of the grave-site plans and of the grave area reveals that on one side of his grave a stone had been placed to a member of the Phillips family in 1884, and in 1951 another stone and kerb to a person of the same surname was placed immediately next to this. In order to do so Perry's stone almost certainly must have been removed and the grave partially re-opened.
There is only one person interred in the second Phillips' grave, and that for Perry having been originally dug deeper than for the three known interments was probably not actually disturbed. There was not enough room for Perry's memorial to be replaced between the second new stone and that already in position on the other side of Perry's family grave.
(There is a photograph of the grave-site in the 8th Hussar file.)
[PB, December 2013: There is an unresolved query about a Thomas Perry, 8th Hussars, on Ancestry.co.uk at http://boards.ancestry.co.uk/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=7572&p=localities.britisles.england.cam.general. A family researcher wanted to know whether "their" TP could have been "ours". In August 2014 I wrote to say that they seem to be different men.]
Marriage registered
Caroline Seymour Perry [daughter] to Charles T Dickenson, June Quarter 1889, Hackney.
1891 Census
34, Foulden Road, born Hackney.
Charles G Dickenson, 36, Commission Agent-General, born Weston, Somerset.
Caroline S Dickenson, 31, born Kingsland.
Charles G Dickenson [grandson], 1 month, born Stoke Newington.
Also a sick nurse.
Birth registered
Charles Goodall Dickenson [grandson], June Quarter 1891, Hackney.
1901 Census
5, Lealand Rd, Tottenham.
Charles G Dickenson, 46, Commercial Traveler, born Weston, Somerset. Caroline S Dickenson, 42, born Shoreditch. Charles G Dickinson, 10, born Stoke Newington.
1911 Census
64, Dongola Rd, Tottenham.
Charles G Dickenson, 56, Agent Children Millinery, born Weston, Somerset.
Caroline S Dickenson, 52, born Kingsland.
Charles G Dickenson, 20, Warehouseman Drapery, born Stoke Newington.
Death registered
Caroline S Dickinson [daughter], aged 81 years, December Quarter 1940, Edmonton.
Census information for 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891, 1911, birth, marriage and death registrations, further information about the Balaclava Commemoration Society, and a newspaper clipping, kindly provided by Chris Poole.