Born on the 23rd of September 1828 at Gunthorpe Hall, Norfolk, the son of Henry John Sparke, Canon of Ely, who was also both Patron and Vicar of Gunthorpe, and his wife, Agnes, daughter of Sir Jacob Astley, of Melton Constable, Norfolk.
Cornet in the 4th Light Dragoons: 29th of October 1846.
Lieutenant: 5th of October 1850.
Lieutenant Sparke served the Eastern campaign of 1854, including the battles of the Alma, Balaclava and the Siege of Sebastopol. (Medal and Clasps.)
Killed-in-action at Balaclava, and said to have been buried by the Russians.
[PB: Roy Dutton writes that 1510 John Brewington, 4th Light Dragoons "witnessed the death of Lt. Sparke in the Charge, however his account has been lost" (Forgotten Heroes, p.20). He does not give a source.]
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, and Sebastopol and the Turkish Medal.
George Paget wrote of him:
"Supposed to have been sabred in the melee at the end... He was a bad rider and rode a fractious animal. I heard afterwards that he was seen in difficulties with it... And Henry Adlington [PB: why is HA included here?]... Poor little fellow, he was a Norfolk man, and a nephew of Lord Hastings."
[1975] Mrs. Elizabeth Sparke, of Holt, Norfolk, whose late husband was his great-nephew, is in possession of letters written by Henry Astley Sparke to his mother, and also one from a Russian, returning a ring which he had found on the body. His brother, John Francis Sparke, was an officer in the 68th and 84th Regiments of Foot, and also served in the Crimea. He was later a Major in the Oxfordshire Militia.
Killed-in-action at Balaclava, and said [PB: by whom?] to have been buried by the Russians.
[PB: There is said to be a memorial to him (as an ex-Etonian) in Portsmouth. See info. from Wendy Leahy below.]
[PB: See also Wendy Leahy, Shadows of Time, "Henry Astley Sparke".]
Henry Astley Sparke
TITLE: Gent
BORN: 28 12 1828, eldest son
AT: Gunthorpe Hall, Gunthorpe, Norfolk.
SCHOOL: Eton
FATHER: Rev. John Henry Sparke M.A. [c1894-1870]
MOTHER: Agnes Astley [1805-1872]
SIBLINGS: [2] Edward Bowyer Sparke, [1832-1910] of Gunthorpe Hall, Gunthorpe, Norfolk. m. 1872, Annie Marcon
[3] Agnes Sparke [1835-1892] m. 1870, Robert Arbuthnot Law
[4] John Francis [Frank] Sparke, [1837-1888] 68th Light Infantry, 84th Regiment and Oxfordshire Militia, served in the Crimea. m. 1870 [1] Mary Adela Taunton [div] and m. 1884 [2] Ada Emily Forster
OTHER RELATIONS: Grandparents:
Right Rev. Bowyer Edward Sparke, D.D., Dean of Bristol 1804, Bishop of Chester 1809, Bishop of Ely 1812,
and Hester Hobbs.
Sir Jacob Henry Astley, 5th Bart. of Melton Constable, Norfolk, and Hester Browne
COMMISSIONED: Cornet 29 12 1846
APPOINTED: Cornet 4th Light Dragoons 29 12 1846 by purchase vice Cornet Conrad Montgomery
Lieutenant 4th Light Dragoons 15 10 1850 by purchase vice Lieutenant Gordon promoted
NOTES: Officer's March Allowances:
Dublin to Uxbridge, Lt. H.A. Sparke, 20 04 1851 to 05 05 1851, total 16 days, with the rest of HQ staff and officers.
Norwich to Ipswich, Lt. H. Sparke, 15 06 1853 to 16 06 1853, total 2 days, along with Messrs. Keith, Brown, Hutton and Marshall.
Ipswich to Hounslow, Lt. H. Sparke, 21 06 1853 to 24 06 1853, total 4 days, along with Messrs. Keith, Brown, Hutton and Marshall.
Chobham to Canterbury, Lt. H.A. Sparke, 20 08 1853 to 25 08 1853, total 6 days, along with a large number of other officers.
OTHER DUTIES: Attended Her Majesty's Levee at St. James's Palace on the afternoon of Tuesday 28 May 1851. He was accompanied by Captain Wallington and Lt. Col Lord George Paget. Both Sparke and Wallington were presented to the Queen by Paget.
MEDALS: Crimea: Alma and Balaklava. Sent to Relatives
DIED: 25 10 1854 in action, Balaklava
BURIED: By the Russians
NOTES: Captain Clarke of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers returned Sparke's sword to the Regiment in 1911, having found it in a market in Moscow. On the hilt, faintly engraved in Russian, is `Balaklava, 25th October 1854.'
The sword and scabbard can be viewed at the Regimental Museum housed in the Eastbourne Redoubt.
There is a memorial stained glass window dedicated to Sparke in St Mary's Gunthorpe Norfolk, where his father was once rector.
NOTES: Unmarried
TNA SOURCES: WO/12/659
WO/180/24
SOURCES:
LONDON GAZETTES: No. 20687, 29 12 1846
No. 21144, 15 10 1850
No. 21635, 01 12 1854
HART'S ARMY LISTS.
PRESS/ALMANACKS: The Morning Post, 1851
The Standard, 1851
OTHER SOURCES: Honour the Light Brigade
LINKS: http://www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/churches/royal_garrison/etonians.htm
[Source: Wendy Leahy, Shadows of Time, "Henry Astley Sparke": http://shadowsoftime.co.nz/4ths/dragoons/sparke1.html (accessed 25.7.15). The editors are very grateful to her for allowing us to reproduce information she has collected. I have not yet compared the information shown.]