Born at Chatteris, near Ely, Cambridgeshire, and christened there on the 20th of April 1817, the son of William and Charlotte Seabrook.
[PB: His birth date is at present unknown. However, the ages he gave in later Censuses, and his age registered at the time of his death (63 in 1875), implies he was born c.1812. It seems unlikely, though not impossible, that he was aged around 5 at his christening. This would also call into question his age at enlistment.]
Kate Dando (2013):
"Michael Seabrook was born 29 March 1814 and baptised on 20 April 1817. The gap is due to his parents' habit of baptising their children in batches — Michael, William and Robert were all baptised in 1817 (just after the birth of Robert), and Charlotte, James & Lewis were all baptised in 1824 (just after the birth of Lewis). The source for this information is familysearch.org."
Enlisted at London on the 15th of June 1839.
Age: 23.
Height: 5' 9".
Trade: Groom.
Features: Fresh complexion. Grey eyes. Brown hair.
Michael Seabrook married Abigail (maiden name, place and date of marriage as yet unknown) and had several sons — born variously in Leeds (William, around 1843), Dudley (Michael, 1844), Leicestershire (James, 1846), and Ireland (John, c.1849) — while in the Army.
Births registered
Michael Seabrook, March Quarter 1844, Dudley.
James Seabrook, June Quarter 1846, Loughboro.
Next of kin (1854): his wife, Abigail Seabrook (to whom he sent money from the Crimea), living in London.
At Scutari 13th of December 1854 — 11th of May 1855. [RM: These dates are disputed. According to Laurence Crider, 2004, they are those of 703 William Saker's entry on the musters. However, there is no mention of this in the 2012 edition]
Sent to England 2Oth of October and on the Depot roll at Brighton from the 12th of December 1855.
Rejoined the regiment at Cahir, Ireland, on the 1st of June 1856
Discharged from Dublin on the 16th of October 1856, as:
"Permanently incapacitated from performing the duties of a dragoon from chronic bronchitis and general debility. His disability results from a cold which became aggravated by his service in the Crimea."
Served 17 years 124 days.
In Turkey and the Crimea: 1 year 6 months.
Aged 40 years 7 months on discharge.
Conduct and character: "good".
In possession of three Good Conduct badges. Granted a pension of 7d. per day.
Batman to Quartermaster John Yates in 1852.
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman, Sebastopol, and the Turkish medal.
His son James entered the Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea on the 26th of June 1857 at the age of 8 years. He is shown as the son of Private Michael Seabrook and his wife, Abigail.
James was "Returned to his Father", on the 10th of June 1860 at the age of 14. Michael Seabrook's address at this time was given as 77, Addison Street [sic], Grays Inn Road, London.
It seems likely that Abigail died around 1857, or soon after, and that his son James returned home after his father remarried a much younger woman, Margaret (maiden name as yet unknown, as are the date and place of the marrriage).
1861 Census
77, Harrison Street, Pancras, Middlesex.
Michael Seabrook, Cab Man, aged 48, born Cambridgeshire, with his wife Margaret, 31, born Ireland [? unclear].
Four sons are shown:
William S, 18, Reader at 'The Times', born Leeds, Yorkshire.
Michael M, 17, Reader at 'The Times', born Dudley, Worcs.
James, 15, Office Boy, born Leicestershire.
John, 12, Scholar, born Ireland.
PB: His probable birthdate given the date of his christening and age given on enlistment implies he was about 44 in 1861, not 48. Or was he born c.1812 — 1813, not 1817?
Marriage and birth registered
His son, Michael Miles Seabrook, married Louisa Gibbs, December Quarter 1865, Pancras.
The birth of their child, Lily Abigail Seabrook, is registered in the December Quarter 1868, Pancras.
1871 Census
32, Henry Street, Pancras.
Michael Seabrook, Cab Driver, aged 57, born Chatteris, Cambs.
His wife is given as Mary, 44, born Ireland.
[PB: The inconsistencies between name and age (Margaret, 31 in 1861 / Mary, 44 in 1871) suggests he must have remarried yet again between 1861 and 1871. This is possible, but unlikely, particularly since both are given as "born Ireland".]
1871 Census
47, Clarendon Square, St Pancras.
Michael M Seabrook [son], 26, Printer's Reader, born Dudley.
Louisa Seabrook, 25.
Lily Fanny A Seabrook, daughter, 2.
A niece and a lodger are also shown.
Marriage registered
Michael Seabrook [son], married either Elizabeth Robbins Bourke or Elizabeth Ellis, June Quarter 1874, Wandsworth.
Died in the East London Pension District (Pancras), aged 63, on the 16th of March 1875.
Death registered
Michael Seabrook, age 63, March Quarter 1875, St Pancras.
1881 Census
15 Latchmere Road, Battersea.
Michael Seabrook [son], 36, lodger, Printer, born Dudley.
Elizabeth Seabrook, 32, born Gosport.
Six children are shown: Lily Fanny, 12, Robert Michael, 9, Tom Hughes, 7, Alfred George, 6, Charles William, 4, and Louise Maud, 1.
Also two lodgers.
Marriage registered
The marriage of a "Louisa Abigail Seabrook" is registered in Pancras in the July Quarter of 1899.
1891 Census
39, Cambria Road, Lambeth.
Michael M Seabrook [son], 50, Printer's Reader, born Dudley.
Elizabeth, 42.
Four children are shown: Frank RM, 20, Charles W, 14, Florence M, 10, Ethel MB, 5.
1901 Census
15, Ingate Terrace, Battersea.
Michael Seabrook, 56, Printer's Reader, born Dudley.
Elizabeth Seabrook, 50.
Three children are shown: Frank MR, 30, Florence M, 19, Ethel MB, 14.
Death registered
Michael Miles Seabrook, aged 57, March Quarter 1905, Wandsworth.
Information from a number of Censuses, and details of several deaths and births, kindly provided by Chris Poole.
In September 2013, the EJBA was contacted by Kate Dando, wife of a descendant:
9 Sep 2013
Dear Mr Boys & Mr. Mills,
I came across your archive today as a result of researching my husband's family tree. My husband's great, great, great grandfather was Michael Seabrook who served in the 17th Duke of Cambridge's Own Lancers and was presumably one of the survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade — his army papers recording that he fought in the Crimean War.
I see that you have information on almost all of the men concerned, albeit unavailable at the moment, so I suspect that I will be unable to add anything. My own research has been on publicly available sites such as Find My Past.
If you have information on Michael Seabrook (b. 1814, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire), would you be willing to share it?
Thank you for the website — most interesting!
Kate Dando
9 Sep 2013
Good to hear from you, Kate
Very happy to share
Much of the information we have in the Archive can be found here:
http://chargeofthelightbrigade.com/allmen/allmenS/allmenS_17L/seabrook_m_618_17L.html
(For the moment it's not public, in the sense of viewable by search engines, as you realised.)
If there's anything you'd like more information about, let me know and I'll try to help.
And if you can add anything, we'd be very pleased!
All best
Philip Boys
Thank you, Philip,
It's fascinating to see the research you have. I can add one or two details from my own research.
Michael Seabrook was born 29 March 1814 and baptised on 20 April 1817. The gap is due to his parents' habit of baptising their children in batches — Michael, William and Robert were all baptised in 1817 (just after the birth of Robert), and Charlotte, James & Lewis were all baptised in 1824 (just after the birth of Lewis). The source for this information is familysearch.org.
Michael Seabrook married Abigail — and I can't find a marriage or maiden name for her either, but I do know when she died: 30 March 1850 from an 'affliction of the heart'. She was buried 2 April 1850 at Arbour Hill Barracks, Dublin. Source: churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords.
What is interesting about this is your information that she is still recorded as his next of kin and that Michael was sending money home to her when he was in the Crimea in 1854. I have no reason to doubt the death/burial information for Abigail Seabrook — the source I've used above has a copy (not transcript) of her death/burial record, including the information that her husband was in the 17th Lancers.
I too have wondered whether the second and third wives, Margaret and Mary, were the same person, but as yet I haven't been able to find any marriage/death information which would confirm this.
The following is the information I have on Michael and Abigail's children:
William Septimus Seabrook
b. 19 May 1842
baptised: 20 November 1842 St. Peter's Church, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire [FreeReg]
parents: Michael & Abigail Seabrook, father's occupation: private th lancers [sic] [FreeReg]
Michael Miles Seabrook
b. 3 February 1844
baptised: 11 February 1844 St. Thomas' Church, Dudley [FamilySearch]
James Seabrook
b. June q. 1846 Loughborough, Leicestershire
John Seabrook
baptised: 10 December 1848 Arbour Hill Barracks (Church of Ireland), Dublin [churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie]
My husband is descended from Michael Miles Seabrook & his second wife Elizabeth Ellis. Their son Alfred George Seabrook was born March q. 1875 Wandsworth. Alfred George Seabrook's son (with wife Maria Twiggs) was Charles Edward Seabrook b. 9 December 1899. Charles Edward was my husband's grandfather — who lied about his age to enlist to fight in the first world war. His daughter is my husband's mother. He died in August 1993.
I'm interested that one of your sources for Michael Seabrook is recorded as being Chris Poole. Is he also a descendant of Michael Seabrook? If he is, would it be possible for you to send him my email address with the idea of sharing any research he may have done?
Thank you for the work on this project, it's much appreciated.
Kate
Hi Philip,
I am glad to be able to add to the archive — it's a fascinating project. My husband was delighted to find that he had an ancestor involved in such a famous historical event — particularly because there had never even been a suggestion of a family story that such a thing had happened. I suppose I am unlikely to find any further information but if I do, I will let you know.
Kate
22 Sep 2013
Hello, Kate
Many apologies for taking such a time to reply. I've been away for a week in Italy and returned to a mound of correspondence that I have scarcely begun to dig into yet.
Thank you so much for sharing your info — it's very interesting indeed. I hope you won't mind if I add it to the online information. Naturally I would credit you as the source, if you would be happy with that.
I'm afraid Chris doesn't have any further info about MS. He's a fellow-enthusiast who has done a lot of work on a great number of men to help us in developing the archive, particularly with census data, and births/deaths & marriages. Sorry!
It would be good to keep in touch. If you find out anything more, we'd be very pleased to add it to the archive, and of course I'll let you know if we come up with anything.
Very best wishes
Philip