Ken Ray's Soldiers: Corporal George Ball

Ken Ray, a long-time researcher into the lives of local soldiers has assembled an impressive list of North Staffordshire men who served in the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimea and the numerous colonial conflicts Britain participated in during the 19th and early 20th centuries. He has very kindly given me access to some of his documents which chart the lives and careers of ordinary men from the region who might otherwise have been forgotten. This is one of those stories...

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Corporal George Ball, 2nd Life Guards, Napoleonic Wars

Two babies named George Ball were born in Burslem within a year of each other. The first was the son of Charles and Esther Ball of Burslem, who was baptised there on 10th September 1786; and the second, son of Charles and Mary Ball of Burslem was baptised on 12th August 1787. If the several ages given on George Ball's future army documents are correct, then the earliest of these two is likely to be the future soldier, though there is seemingly no way to be absolutely sure.

Young George seems to have received some education (he could write his name) though whether he learnt his letters as a child or whilst in the army is unknown. Before joining the army he did briefly work as a potter, but that is all that is known about his early life save for the fact that on 8th February 1805, he enlisted in the 2nd Life Guards at Newcastle-under-Lyme, aged 19. His service in the regiment was dated from 25th December 1805.

George had joined the army at a critical time during the Napoleonic Wars when it seemed that Britain might possibly be invaded by the hitherto victorious French army. The immediate threat to the country had been crushed by Nelson's decisive victory over the French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar in October that year, but the country still found itself at bay against a very dangerous enemy. At first, though, there was little Britain could do on land as the continent was largely allied against them. So, for the first few years of his army career George served at home. As a trooper and later corporal of the prestigious Life Guards, part of the sovereign's bodyguard, his lot would have been much better than most recruits to the army or navy at the time and much would have been given over to ceremonial duties.

In 1808, though, things changed, Napoleon invaded Spain and Portugal, prompting a popular uprising in the two countries that Britain quickly moved to support sending troops under Sir John Moore and Sir Arthur Wellesley to help against the French. Though the expedition got off to a near disastrous start, during which Moore lost his life, Wellesley, later ennobled as Lord Wellington, returned at the head of his army and spearheaded the broader campaign against the French occupiers that became known as the Peninsula War (1808-1814).

The 2nd Life Guards in action at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Many British regiments got drawn into the conflict including the 1st and 2nd Life Guards, who in 1812 sent two squadrons each to Spain. George Ball was one of these men and saw action in two battles, later being awarded clasps for Vittoria (1813) and Toulouse (1814). The 2nd Life Guards also served at the battle of Waterloo in 1815 where they formed part of the front line of the Household Brigade which charged the French cavalry supporting Napoleon's first great attack on the allied line. Together with the simultaneous charge by the Union brigade they effectively smashed the French attack. Like all the soldiers involved in this climactic campaign, Corporal Ball later received the Waterloo Medal.

George Ball continued to serve with the 2nd Life Guards after the war, finally being discharged on 24th January 1828. His discharge was in consequence of him having completed his third term of service and most tellingly he had become too heavy for the regiment. In total, his service amounted to 24 years 136 days (including the 2 years extra service awarded to all Waterloo soldiers). His conduct as a soldier had been good. At the time of his discharge he was described as being 41 years of age, 6 feet tall with dark hair, dark eyes and a dark complexion; we can doubtless assume that he was also rather corpulent.

After this, George Ball vanishes from the record. There is no evidence that he returned to the Potteries and he may instead have settled in London and married. There are several candidates on the 1841 and 1851 censuses who may be our man, but to choose any in particular would be idle speculation. Certainly George survived until 1847 when he applied for his Military General Service Medal with its two Peninsula War clasps, but what life or family he had is unknown, as too is the date of his demise.

More Victims of Isandlwana

A panoramic view of the Isandlwana battlefield. The British camp was situated in the middle of the picture. The Zulu
attack came over the hill line in the distance. The white cairns in the near foreground are British burial pits.

Photo courtesy of Ken Ray

Following on from my earlier post on the local men who fought and fell at the Battle of Isandlwana in 1879, local historian and Zulu War researcher Mr Ken Ray very kindly contacted me with information on several other local soldiers I was not aware of who took part in the battle, to which I have added a little of my own subsequent research.

25B/589 Private Enoch Worthington 1/24th Foot

Enoch Worthington was born in Kidsgrove in 1855, the eldest of four children born to miner John Worthington and his wife Eliza nee Birks. According to the 1871 census the family lived at 65 Heathcote Street and it noted that 16 year old Enoch was employed as a miner. However on 25th April 1875, he enlisted in the army at Newcastle-under-Lyme aged 20 years and 2 months. He saw service in South Africa where Like most of the 1/24th he took part in the campaigns against the Gaika and Galeka tribes during 1877 and 1878 and marched into Zululand with the ill-fated centre column in 1879, being killed with most of his battalion at Isandlwana. Enoch's effects and South Africa Medal with the '1877-8-9' clasp was later claimed by his father.

375 Private Samuel Plant 1/24th Foot
'The mail which arrived at Southampton on Friday brought a letter from Mrs. Plant, who with her husband left England for South Africa twelve years ago. Her husband was in the brave 1st battalion 24th regiment. He was one of the brave but ill fated invaders of Cetewayo's country, who fell in the battle of lsandula.

Private Glass a Hanley man was also in the same battalion, but it is not yet known if he took part in the battle. The following men of the 24th regiment were also in the battle - Private Frederick Butler, Pte. John McNally, Pte. Keats, and Pte. William Henry Hickin.'  

- Staffordshire Sentinel, 3rd March 1879.

References in the local press offer the only clues that Private Plant hailed from the Potteries or North Staffordshire, as what military records survive are silent on his origins. It is known that he served with the 24th Foot from July 1859 and that his wife Mary was placed on the regiment's married establishment on 3rd July 1862. He was no angel and had a couple of runs in with the military courts, the first two days after this on 5th July 1862 at Portsmouth, where he was charged with desertion and loss of necessaries. Found guilty he was sentenced to 84 days 'HL & D' (hard labour & discipline?) plus stoppages.*  Seven years later at Preston on 14th May 1869, Plant and two others from the regiment were charged with desertion and re-enlisting. That he was sentenced to 168 days HL as opposed to the lesser sentences handed out to his fellows perhaps indicates that he was the chief troublemaker.**

During 1876 - 1877, Plant served in H Company 1/24th at St Helena, before crossing over to South Africa to play his part in the Kaffir and Zulu Wars. Like his fellows he was killed at Isandlwana and was posthumously awarded the South Africa 1877-8-9 medal, which with his personal effects was claimed by his widow.

* WO86/12 Judge Advocate General's Office: District Courts Martial Registers, Home and Abroad (1861-1862)
** WO86/18 Judge Advocate General's Office: District Courts Martial Registers, Home and Abroad  (1869- 1870)


25B/586 Private Samuel Poole, 2/24th Foot
There were three, possibly four Samuel Pooles born in or around the Potteries in the years 1853 and 1854, which seems to have been the approximate time of his birth. In fact there is no indication that he was actually born in the area, merely that he enlisted in Hanley on 27th April 1875 aged 21 years. Records state that he served in G Company 2/24th and his South Africa Medal 1877-8-9 shows that he served in the Kaffir and Zulu Wars, being killed at Isandlwana. His medal and effects were claimed by his brothers.

1576 Private David Pritchard 2/24th Foot
Pritchard is said to have been born in Stoke-upon-Trent, in about 1844-45, though no one of that name is noted in the civil records, so that may not have been his real name. He attested for the army in Hanley on 11th January 1865 aged 20 and saw service with the battalion in its numerous postings. In 1872 he was in India, where he got into trouble. On 13th March 1872 he stood trial at Secunderabad charged with 'receiving money from a prisoner charged with stealing money'. He was sentenced to 14 days hard labour.* Nearly three years later, now back in Britain, Pritchard absconded off furlough on 14 December 1874 and found himself being listed as a deserter in the Police Gazette. Interestingly, this gives us a description of the man, noting his birthplace as Stoke-upon-Trent it stated that he had formerly been employed as a forgeman. He was 29 years old, 5' 8¾" high, had dark brown hair, hazel eyes, a dark complexion and was last seen at Aldershot wearing his regimentals.**

It is unclear when Pritchard was caught or returned to the Colours, but he was posthumously granted the South Africa 1877-8-9 campaign medal for his service against the Gaikas and Galekas and his brief involvement in the Zulu War, yet another casualty of the battle of Isandlwana. Records indicate that Private Pritchard served in B Company, though that was the company posted at Rorke's Drift, which indicates that he had switched to Pope's G Company at some point.

* WO86/21 Judge Advocate General's Office: District Courts Martial Registers, Home and Abroad  
** Police Gazette, 1st June 1875

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Though not related to the photograph at the head of this post, the following notes written up by Ken make a good guess at the distribution of the locally born soldiers involved in the battle of Isandlwana and speculates at where their remains might now be interred.

'Update on local men K.I.A Battle of Isandhlawana

It is impossible to locate graves/cairns of our local soldiers on the battlefield as sadly the graves are not named as several, or more soldiers remains are buried there. But due to my research I have a good idea where some of them would have fought and died.

I have marked in red on photo where the six British Infantry Company's were positioned at the time of the battle. Shown left to right the first five company's were men of the 1st 24th foot. The sixth Company nearest the track were men of the 2nd 24th foot under the command of Lieut. Pope. Three members of this company were born ,or lived in Stoke on Trent. They were - Pte Samuel Poole, Sergeant William Shaw and Pte David Pritchard, all died fighting the Zulu Ngobamkhosi Regiment, and it is said that this company with our three local men was amongst the last British company to hold out until the end?

A corporal and private of the 24th Foot in
1879. In reality their campaign dress would
have been much more rough and ready.

It is very possible that these three local men's remains are buried near the track or further up the hill? The other four local men's remains from the 1st 24th foot would be almost impossible to locate Pte's Glass, Hicken, Plant and Worthington. They would have all first fought around the perimeter of the camp, but could have died and been buried where they stood, or died escaping through the camp or further on towards the Buffalo river?

NOTE — About four months after the battle the soldiers remains were more or less buried intact but over the years due to soil erosion, bad weather, wind and rain etc some of the bones have come to the surface would have got scattered about possibly by wild animals and later buried again with other men's remains.

The reason why Lieut. Pope's G did not leave the Isandhlawana camp with the other five companies of the 2nd 24th was that at the time they were out on outpost duty. The other 2nd 24th company was the famous one stationed at Rorke's Drift.

Ken Ray 2019.'

The Crimean War: The Fall of Sebastopol

For the soldiers, the end of the fighting in the Crimean War, came with the fall of the Russian port of Sebastopol on 5th September 1855. The latter fell only after the Russians had started to abandon the town. However, before leaving they destroyed their forts, ships and munition dumps to stop them falling into allied hands. One local soldier 'T.M.', an artilleryman, (probably Thomas Moreton R.A., who had previously had a letter printed in the Sentinel) writing of the event to his parents in the Potteries, was manning one of the gun batteries that had pounded the town in the days prior to its fall and thus had a grandstand view of the final allied advance.

British artillery during the Crimean War.

'Dear Parents,

It is with pleasure that I have another opportunity of addressing a few lines to you, hoping they will find you enjoying perfect health, I am happy to inform you that I never enjoyed better health in my life than I am doing at present time. Dear parents I am very happy to inform you that Sebastopol has fallen into the hands of the allies at last, the bombardment commenced on the morning of the 5th inst, and at twelve O' clock mid day, on the 5th, the Malakoff and Redan Batteries stopped, two divisions of the British Army assisted the French at the Malakoff, and Redan was attacked by the red jackets. I believe they advanced into Malakoff without a gun opening fire on them, the Russians being quite surprised when the enemy perceived the attack, they retired a little to the rear and got under cover, and a sharp struggle ensued, and after a lapse of time they had to retire from the Malakoff entirely and leave in the hands of the Allies. My brave countrymen, who attacked the Redan were not so fortunate, they perceived them coming. Dear parents I can scarcely tell what my feelings were when I saw our men jumping over our works to make the attack, many of them never to return alive; They had no sooner left the works than the Musketry commenced to rattle, and the firing from the Cannonade that was pretty brisk before, was now kept up with more vigour, but a very short time elapsed, before the British were climbing over the ramparts of the enemy's works, driving the enemy before them. When our men got into this the "Redan" we commenced to send the shell further over the works to catch the enemy when retiring.

British troops attacking the Redan

The infantry were in the Redan for about a hour or a hour and a half as near as I can tell; We had ceased firing at the battery I was at for fear of wounding some of our men.I was looking over to see what was going on when all at once I perceived the infantry retiring from the Redan as fast as their legs would carry them. When I saw this I thought it was going to be another 18th of June affair (i.e. an earlier unsuccessful attempt to storm the Redan). We did not take possession of it until about twelve O'clock at night, and then the Russians abandoned it altogether. They did not only leave the Redan and Malakoff in our hands, but the Barrack, Flag staff, Garden and point Batteries, in fact, they deserted the place entirely, and went to the north side. The next day, Sunday, was a regular day of plunder, everyone who could pass the sentries made their way into Sebastopol, for to make themselves masters of anything they could find. I got in myself, and was not a little surprised to find every house that was not destroyed by shot and shell the enemy had set fire to; It was nothing but a heap of ruins; and furniture of every description, pictures, pianofortes, in fact, everything that you could mention was there. I had as much as I could carry away, but it was all taken away from me, and from hundreds more; there was a line of sentries all along, who had orders to take every article away from everyone. The French, on the contrary, were allowed to take away whatever they could carry. There was a great many who got drunk in the town, some of the stores being cramped with spirits. I managed to get away a very nice forage cap, by putting it into my breast, also some silver lace, and a few other articles. Their shipping is completely destroyed. The French have thrown up a Battery in the town to play upon some of the Forts on the north side; They still keep possession of that point Our Batteries look strange, all the platforms are dug up, and the guns are being taken away daily, and we have orders to destroy the works entirely. I don't known how they are going to act, but reports are going abroad that part of the seige train will be removed from the Crimea altogether to go on station. Some of the infantry are removed to Balaklava, they say they are going to sail around to Perekop. God only knows how it is to be; As yet they have only to give orders, and we will obey them. I don't expect to leave the Crimea until the enemy is driven from it, and winter will soon be upon us now, and prevent us from doing much more, without they look sharp. I received a letter from Morgan the day I received your last; He was in Portsmouth, but was expecting to be shifted to Woolwich; He said he should come on Furlough. I am very happy to inform you that I did not receive a scratch this last bombardment. We had two men killed one of them by the bursting of one of our guns, the other by gun shot. I was at the gun that burst the day before, they only fired six rounds out of it after I left it when it burst. I fired sixty rounds myself out of it the day before; It was the man that fired it off that was killed. I have nothing more to say at present, but wishing you all well. Give my love to brother, and accept the same yourselves.

T. M.

Reference: Staffordshire Sentinel and Commercial & General Advertiser, Saturday 06 October 1855, p.3

A Soldier of the US Cavalry

John Livesley's grave in Hanley Cemetery.

In 1997, Hugh Troth of Ohio, published a tribute to his grandfather, The Life and Times of Isma Troth. Isma Troth had served as a soldier in the American Civil War and he wrote several letters charting his friendship with a fellow soldier named John Livesley whom he met in hospital when he was there recovering from his wounds. Troth's account indicated that Livesley came from Potteries and using biographical information from this book and information from other social archives, local researchers were able to piece together the life of this otherwise forgotten local who had somehow got himself involved in a foreign war.

John Livesley was born in Shelton on 12 October 1838, the son of  pottery engraver and journeyman William Livesley and Sarah nee Brundrett. He enjoyed a privileged upbringing as his father was an increasingly prosperous man, who by 1851 had opened his own pottery and also ran a grocery business, all together employing 46 men, 23 women, 20 boys and 25 girls. As a result of his family's wealth, John enjoyed a good education, attending a boy's boarding school run by James and Harriet Grocott at Wilton House, Wrinehill near Betley on the Staffordshire border.

As the family business grew, William Livesley entered into partnership with one Edwin Powell, and his name then regularly appeared in the local press, often for his philanthropy and support for public works and by the mid-1850s, John Livesley or J. Livesley likewise puts in a few appearances, attending performances or contributing money for some good cause supported by his father. But by 1861 census John had disappeared from the area.

In fact, he had left the country and crossed the Atlantic to the United States, sailing in September 1860 aboard the RMS Persia to New York in company with 40 year old James Carr, a native of Hanley who two decades earlier had emigrated to the States and had established a successful pottery in New York. Both men give their occupation as 'potter' in the ship's passenger list and it is not unreasonable to suppose that John Livesley, the son of a successful Hanley manufacturer had gone over with John Carr to work in his growing firm.

Yet, it was a bad time to be travelling to the USA as growing tensions between the northern and southern states over the expansion of slavery, came to a head the following year. The southern slave-owning states split from the Union, forming a Confederacy, an act that pushed the country into a bloody civil war.

Was John Livesley permanently settled in the States at this time, resisting the urge to join in the conflict, or just an occasional visitor to the country, criss-crossing the Atlantic and thus avoiding becoming involved? It is hard to say, but he was certainly in New York on 23 January 1864 when he was enlisted as a private in L Company 6th Regiment New York Cavalry of the Union army. Details on his enlistment are unclear, but suggestions have been made that he was drunk at the time, a not unlikely hypothesis as John seems to have had a habit of drinking to excess when he found himself in like-minded company. This is backed up by records that show that he was in hospital for the first week of his service due to "delirium". He also seems to have enlisted under an assumed name, the enlistment records for John Livesley being struck through and replaced with the name 'John Lindsley'. The records note that he was born in England, worked as a potter and gave a physical description: 'gray eyes, brown hair, light complexion, 5 feet 8½ inches in height'. His term of enlistment was given to be three years.

His new home, the 6th New York Cavalry, also known as the 2nd Ira Harris Guard, was a veteran unit, it had been formed at the outbreak of the Civil War and seen much service. Only a few months earlier it had taken part in the Battle of Gettysburg and since then played its part in numerous smaller actions taken on by the Army of the Potomac to which it belonged. With the onset of winter though it had gone into cantonments and when John Livesley enlisted, was employed in guarding the country between the Union lines and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

US and Confederate cavalry in action at the Battle of Trevilian Station in 1864.

On 3 May 1864, the regiment – now with Livesley, or rather 'Lindsley' in its ranks - returned to action, crossing the Rapidan river and taking part in the Wilderness campaign under General Grant. The regiment was part of the Cavalry Corps, and played a role in all the operations undertaken by the corps commander General Sheridan, notably in his famous raid around the Confederate capital of Richmond. At the battle of Yellow Tavern on 11 May 1864, the 6th New York Cavalry charged down the Brook Pike and went into and entered the line of the first defences about Richmond, being the first Union regiment to get so close to the city. The regiment then saw action in the Battle of Trevilian Station, and in numerous smaller actions and it was probably during one of the latter in August 1864 that John Livesley was badly wounded eight months after joining up. 

Carried from the front and admitted to the USA Post Hospital, Bolivar Heights, Harper's Ferry on 20 August with gunshot wounds, Livesley was a wreck and had to have an arm and a leg amputated. Records show that aside from his physical injuries, he like many in the army was also suffering from chronic diarrhoea, but also that he was quickly transferred further from the seat of war, first to the Field Hospital at Sandy Hook, Maryland and finally to Rulison USA General Hospital at Annapolis Junction, Maryland on the road between Washington and Baltimore. Confined to a wheelchair, it was during his long convalescence here that he met Isma Troth, a former prisoner of war at the infamous Andersonville prison, who now worked as a clerk at the hospital, often writing letters home for the wounded, one of them being John Livesley whom he first met shortly after his arrival there. The two men developed a close friendship and Livesley's father offered to pay for the two of them to come to England when they were discharged. The war effectively ended in April 1865 and John was mustered out of the Union army on 24 May 1865 whilst still at Annapolis Junction. 

Cheered by the thought of making a new life for himself, Troth was keen to go to Britain, noting that his friend's family were influential and he might secure a good position there, but he had some major misgivings about Livesley's drinking habits. In a letter written in June that year, Mr Troth wrote: 'Mr Livesley is a good, kind friend of mine and is an honest, intelligent man - but he sometimes drinks'  He noted that he had known Livesley for about a year and that the man was not a regular drinker and he never drank when they went places, but on a couple of occasions he had gone out with soldiers who did drink and had come home in quite a state. Once he went with them to a neighbouring village and came back the worse for wear, and on being mustered out of the army he had gone out 'with some fast boys' to celebrate his release and had come back drunk, much to Troth's disgust. After talking of their plans to travel to Britain, Isma said: 'If my friend associates and drinks with these rough characters I shall not go with him, for I cannot place any confidence in a drunkard.' Troth was arguably being rather hard on his friend who from his account comes across more as a moderate drinker who occasionally let himself go, rather than an out-and-out alcoholic.

Despite these problems, the two friends did indeed take passage to Britain and Isma spent a year in England before travelling home. John returned to Stoke-on-Trent and was soon set up as a grocer in Lichfield Street, in Hanley, marrying a local girl Ellen Twigg from Bucknall on 18 June 1867. But tragically John Livesley died just four months later, on 23 October 1867, aged 29, having possibly never recovered from his wartime injuries.

Despite his father's wealth John was buried in an unmarked grave in Hanley Cemetery. However, when he learned of his grandfather’s link with John Livesley, Hugh Troth endeavoured to see John’s service recognised and in 1997 contacted the United States Government to obtain a bronze plaque, recognising Private John Livesley's service during the American Civil War. In 2003, the plaque was put on his burial spot, being unveiled by Mr Troth. 

Reference: Hugh Isma Troth, The Life and Times of Isma Troth (1997)

A War Horse and the Man Who Refused to Die

John Edward Kitson was born at Coseley, near Dudley, Staffordshire in 1897, the eldest of two children born to Edward and Florence Kitson. His father was a police constable at first in the Dudley and Handsworth regions, but it seems that promotion to sergeant saw him move north to the Potteries, perhaps before John was 10 years old. Here the family prospered and his father would eventually rise to the rank of Chief Inspector at Burslem Police Station. In the 1911 census, the family was living in Shelton New Road, Newcastle and barring service in World War One, John Kitson would remain in the area for the rest of his life.

The Great War started late in 1914 and by early 1915 John Edward Kitson had joined the army. As 31331 Gunner J. E. Kitson, Royal Field Artillery, he arrived in France in March 1915 and from April 1916, he served as a driver for X/9 Medium Trench Mortar Battery, part of  the divisional artillery attached to the 9th Scottish Division. Though never promoted, he proved a brave soldier, being wounded in action at least four times, seeing service on the Somme and at the Battle of Passchendaele. Gunner Kitson finished his war by winning the Military Medal in 1918 for gallantry in the field.  Hospitalised in Britain after his final wound, he did not return to the front to see out the war, being discharged from the army on 8 July 1918.

After the war he married a local woman, Doris Hudson, they settled in Sneyd Green where they brought up five children. Kitson worked as a civil servant for the Ministry of Labour, but this seems to have been an anti climax after his wartime adventures which prompted him to leave an interesting anecdote of his service during the war and a record of how his injuries had affected his life afterwards. The stories were colourful enough to warrant syndication on papers as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.

'A WAR HORSE'

 'ALMOST  HUMAN.'

'Mr. J. E. Kitson. of Hanley, Staffordshire, in England, sent to the "Daily Mail" the following remarkable stories of his war horse: - During 1916 and 1917 I had a charger named Tommy. He was nothing short of human, and many an entertainment was given by him to the troops. Once, when we were being shelled he got loose from his peg, and coming to me, gripped my shoulder In his mouth and "led" me away. A minute later a shell fell at the very spot where I had been standing. His favourite trick was to wait until I had given him a thorough grooming, then sit down like a dog. open his mouth, and "laugh" and roll. This usually happened when the Inspecting officer was just coming round the lines. Luckily, the officer knew Tommy. Another time, when I was riding him at a gallop my tin hat fell off. Tommy at once stopped, turn­ed. and picked it up and "handed" It to me. Just as I had put the hat on a piece of shrapnel struck it a glancing blow. He brought me in when I was badly gassed, I was unconscious on his back. A few weeks later he also entered hospital, and was sent into retirement.'

The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania) 2 July 1931, p.12

'MAN WHO REFUSES TO DIE'

'Mr J. E. Kitson, of Hanley Road, Sneyd Green, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, is known to his family and friends as the man who refuses to die. Doctors have repeatedly told him he has only a few years to live – but he fools them all. It all started during the war, when a piece of shell pierced his neck and killed a comrade behind him. Mr Kitson recovered, but doctors gave him just five years of life.

The five years went by; then two years later he collapsed at work. This time he was given just seven months more. But after five months he got fed up with being a sick man and returned to work.

Two years ago he collapsed again, was rushed to hospital and put on the danger list. Two hours later he was normal again and walked out of the hospital the next day.

Doctors are perplexed about Mr Kitson, but he doesn't mind. He says he will live to be 100.'

Cairns Post (Queensland, Aus.) 15 March 1939, p.9

John Edward Kitson certainly defied his doctors by many years, but did not carry on going as long as he predicted and he died on 13 July 1953 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, when he was 56 years old. 

Thomas Cooper Sparks the Pottery Riots

One of the least known literary associations with Staffordshire, is that of Charles Kingsley's novel Alton Locke. Tailor and Poet, which was published in 1851. The story of the rise and fall of a self-taught working man who is eventually imprisoned for rioting, is based upon a real person and a real incident. The person was the Chartist leader, Thomas Cooper, who was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison, for the events he had prompted in the Staffordshire Potteries.

Thomas Cooper was born in Leicester to a working class family and from an early age displayed a precocious intelligence, the development of which was only limited by the fact that most of his lessons were self-taught. Occasionally, he had been known to immerse himself so deeply into his studies that the sheer mental effort he put forth ended on one occasion, at least, in him being physically ill. He worked at various jobs, mostly as a teacher, lay preacher and journalist, but eventually, appalled by the conditions endured by many factory and workshop workers, he became a convinced Chartist, a member of that Victorian working class movement which supported the introduction of a People's Charter, which called for fair representation for the working population. The Charter's six points demanded votes for all men at 21, annual general elections, a secret ballot, constituencies regulated by size of population, the abolition of property qualifications for MP's and the payment of MP's. Most of these points eventually became laws of the land and form a part of the state we live in today, but none of these things came into being until the latter half of the nineteenth century, long after the Chartist movement itself had collapsed.

There were two bodies of the Chartist movement, the physical and the moral-force Chartists, who sought to bring about social change by revolutionary or evolutionary means. In his early days, Cooper was a supporter of the former faction. He was a fire and brimstone type of preacher, who like all great orators could move people with his speeches. This power comes through in Cooper's autobiography, which is widely regarded as one of the finest working class 'lives' written during the Victorian age. The book, though,written in Cooper's later years after he had become a convinced moral-force Chartist, tends to carefully skate around his fiery physical-force youth and he presents himself as a far more reasonable man than he actually was in August 1842, when he arrived in the Potteries. Only by bearing in mind, that Cooper at this time advocated revolution of sorts, do the events he inspired in the Potteries make sense. Though he says in his book that he proclaimed, 'Peace, law and order', the resulting riots that left one man dead, dozens wounded or injured and many buildings burnt or ransacked, indicated that he said more than he was letting on.

Cooper arrived in the Potteries, after a tour of several major towns and cities in the Midlands, and here he was to make a number of speeches before moving on to Manchester. The area was in the grip of a wage dispute. In June, 300 Longton miners whose wages had been drastically cut had gone on strike. By July, the strike had expanded to all of the pits in north Staffordshire, and hundreds of miners were on the streets, begging for money, and with the pits being closed, the potteries through lack of coal, could not fire their kilns and were also closed. By early August, the dispute had attracted widespread attention, certainly the Chartists expressed sympathy for the miners' action, but contrary to later claims that the subsequent riots were Chartist inspired, it was mostly miners and not Chartists who did the rioting. The Potteries were a powder keg, ready to explode and Cooper's arrival, as he himself admitted was 'the spark which kindled all into combustion'.

Thomas Cooper addresses the crowd at Crown Bank, Hanley

Standing on a chair in front of the Crown Inn, a low thatched building at Crown Bank in Hanley, on Sunday, 14 August, Cooper addressed a crowd of upwards of 10,000 people, delivering a brilliant Chartist speech to his audience. He look for his text the sixth commandment, 'Thou shalt do no murder'. Throwing his net wide, he drew on examples of kings and tyrants from history, such as Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon, who had violated this commandment against their own people, even as their own government would be prepared to do. The next day, he addressed an equally sizeable crowd and moved a motion, 'That all labour cease until the People's Charter becomes the law of the land'. What followed, Cooper later regretted. As the crowd dispersed. rioting started around the Potteries towns in all except Tunstall and the borough town of Newcastle. Police stations were attacked, magistrate's houses ran­sacked and burned, as were Hanley Parsonage and Longton Rectory. By the 16th, the chaos had lasted a day and a night, but on that day, the most famous, or infamous incident of the uprising occurred, what is known locally as 'the battle of Burslem'. Following the rioting in Stoke, Shelton, Hanley and Longton, a great crowd moved towards Burslem, there to meet a crowd coming from Leek. Here, though, the authorities played their hand, when a troop of mounted dragoons stopped the crowd from Leek. The magistrate in charge read the Riot Act, then tried to reason with the men, but when it was clear that they were bent on trouble, the soldiers were ordered to fire. One man from Leek was killed and many injured, the crowd was routed and the disturbances ended overnight, but for many weeks afterwards, the Potteries were full of troops and vengeful magistrates arresting rioters and Chartist leaders.

Cooper, horrified at the events he had unleashed, had tried to escape, but he was arrested and eventually tried and sentenced to two years in Stafford Gaol, on charges of arson and rioting. Here, he spent his time profitably, learning Hebrew and writing his book, The Purgatory of Suicides. On leaving prison, though, his views were found to differ considerably from the new mainstrean in Chartist thought, and he became increasingly a moral-force activist and remained so for the rest of his life.

It was in the two or three years after leaving prison, that Cooper was interviewed by the Rev. Charles Kingsley, whose Christian Socialist movement had inherited many of the Chartist beliefs. Kingsley had sought out several old Chartists and educated working men on whom he wished to base the life of the major character in the novel he was preparing. Thomas Cooper, was obviously the chief amongst these, certainly his autobio­graphy, written many years after Kingsley had published Alton Locke, shows many striking similarities between Cooper's life and that of his fictional alter ego. The riot that Alton inspires in the book, for which he too is committed to the prison, takes place in the countryside, amongst agricultural labourers, but behind it there is the faintest echo of the struggle in the Potteries, that one historian has considered the nearest thing to a popular revolution that the Victorian age saw.

After 1845, Thomas Cooper turned his talents mainly to writing, but he also lectured on subjects such as history, literature and photography. In this capacity, he made a number of return visits to the Potteries, to the place where on that day many years before, he had 'caught the spirit of the oppressed and discontented', in seeking to establish the basis of a democratic society.

Reference: Charles Kingsley, Alton Locke. Tailor and Poet (1851); Thomas Cooper, Life of Thomas Cooper, written by Himself, (1872).

Last Stand at Isandlwana

The Battle of Isandhlwana by Charles Edwin Fripp

On 22 January 1879, a British force of over 1,300 men, mostly from the 24th Regiment of Foot, was surprised and destroyed by a massive Zulu army at the Battle of Isandlwana ('Isandula' in some early accounts) in present-day South Africa. It seems that at least three local men, Private William Henry Hickin from Hanley, Private George Glass from Shelton and Sergeant William Shaw from Tunstall  were killed in the battle. 

For more local victims of the battle click here.

Private McNally's Letter

Another local man, Private John McNally of C Company 2/24th Foot was part of a detached force that returned to the deserted battlefield that evening and he later penned a letter to his parents in Hanley describing the scene that met their eyes.

                                                                                                  'Rorke's Drift, February 2nd 1879.'

'Dear Father and Mother,

I received your last letter all right, and was sorry to hear how things were going on at home. I should have written before but we have been so put about that we could not get any writing paper, having been continually on the march. We have had a great drawback since we came in Zululand. On the 22nd of January, while we were out searching for the Zulus, our camp was attacked, and the 1st battalion 24th regiment were all slaughtered, except about six, who escaped. We* lost 134 men, our colours, and our kits. Our tents were destroyed, our ammunition stolen, our rifles broken and taken off. Our hospital waggons were torn to pieces, the sick killed, the medicine bottles all broken, bags of flour and meal - in fact, everything - destroyed. It was a horrid sight for us. When we returned at night in the dark, we had to charge our way to camp with our bayonets. We were falling in holes and over anthills, and in camp we were falling over the dead bodies of our comrades, who had been killed, and awful as it is to relate, it is true - they were cut right down the chest and across their bellies, their bowels coming out. Some had their toes, some their ears, others their arms cut off, and some in fact - dear mother and father, I cannot describe the horrible treatment they had to suffer. The little band boys were tied to a waggon and their flesh stripped off them. We had our company, B. Co., staying here** to guard our stores. The Zulus came upon them and tried to take possession of our stores, but they were repulsed, our side losing about 12 men, the enemy about 900 or a thousand. We numbered about 100; the enemy numbered about 5,000 or 6,000. But although we have suffered this loss, we hope, please God, to have our revenge when we get some more troops out from England. We have been twelve days and have never taken our boots off, always watching day and night for the enemy making an attack, which they generally do at night. Tell McDermott that lives in Weaver-street, to write to his brother in Wolverhampton, and tell him that his son James has been killed. He went sick the morning our camp was attacked. If McDermott likes he can write to the commanding officer of his regiment, and he will give him every satisfaction respecting him.'

Staffordshire Sentinel, 26 March 1879.

*   McNally's own battalion the 2/24th.
** Rorke's Drift, McNally refers here to the famous battle depicted in the film Zulu.

747 Private William Henry Hickin, 1/24th

The memorial window to Private Hickin
in St Johns Church, Hanley.

William Henry Hickin was born in Hanley in early 1854, the eldest child and only son of Henry Hickin and his wife Hannah nee Dobson. William had an elder sister named Prudence and two younger sisters Annie Elizabeth and Mary. His father Henry came originally from Macclesfield in Cheshire, but having moved to the Potteries early in his life on 12 November 1849 he married Hannah Dobson in Wolstanton and worked locally as a locksmith and bell hanger. In 1861 he and his family lived at 13 Windmill Street and 7 year old William and his sisters are listed as 'scholars'. Ten years later the family had moved to 8 High Street, Hanley and 17 year old William worked as a 'Writing Clerk'. It seems, though that William wanted more excitement in his life and on 5 January 1876, he enlisted in the 1st Battalion 24th Regiment of Foot as Private 25B/747. 

Perhaps for William Hickin, the prospect of all-male company offered by the army had been a major factor in him joining up, as in late September 1876, Private W. Hicken (sic) 24th Foot, appeared before a court martial at Dover accused of being drunk and committing an ’Unnatural offence’. The next day one Private Thomas Dickinson also of the 24th Foot was accused of ‘Drunk. Permitting Pte. to commit unnatural offence on him.’* At a time when homosexual acts could get men sentenced to life imprisonment, the court’s sentence of 7 days hard labour for both of them seems extremely lenient, even more unusual is that the sentence was later remitted. Perhaps the court decided that the evidence was weak, or if not that rather than impose a severe sentence, they would give both of them a warning shot across the bow to prevent any future incidents. Or maybe they simply considered that the two soldiers had been so drunk they didn’t know what they were doing. Whatever the case that seems to have been the end of the matter. 

*WO86/25 Judge Advocate General’s Office, Courts Martial Registers pp.307-308.

Over a year and a half of training and home duty passed before Hickin went to join the 1/24th in South Africa on 22 August 1877. He was immediately engaged in the Kaffir War against the Gaikas, Galekas and other tribes during 1877 and 1878. Then in 1879 like the rest of the 24th Foot he was engaged in the opening moves of the Zulu War. Advancing into Zululand with the central column he was one of the soldiers who fought and were killed at Isandlwana on 22 January 1879.

His remains like those of the rest of the regiment were buried on the battlefield some months later and his effects and campaign medal were passed on to his father. Back in Hanley William Henry Hickin was not forgotten. He was commemorated on his grandfather's gravestone in Hanley Cemetery and his family had a memorial window installed in St John's Church, Hanley.

'HANLEY.'

'MEMORIAL WINDOW.- A few days ago a handsome stained window was placed near the south door in the Old Church, in memory of William Henry Hickin, a private in the 24th Regiment, who was killed in the now famous battle of Isandula. The deceased was twenty-five years of age at the time of his death, and when in this district was in the habit of regularly attending the services at St. John's Church; his father Mr. H. Hickin having been a churchwarden for several years past. The expense incurred has been defrayed by subscriptions raised amongst the congregation. The subject dealt with is a very artistic treatment of the legend of St. George and the Dragon. The inscription is as follows:- “To the glory of God, and in memory of William Henry Hickin, of the 24th Regiment, who fell in the Zulu war, at the battle of Isandula, in South Africa."'

                       

Staffordshire Sentinel 11 December 1880


According to local Zulu War researcher Ken Ray, Private Hickin was the only 'other ranks' casualty of the battle of Isandlwana to be commemorated with a stained glass window. He also informs me that Hickin's campaign medal which was for many years held by a collector outside of the area is now in the hands of a local medal collector.

  

408 Private George Glass, 1/24th

'Death on the Battle Field. - The following names appear in the official list of those who fell at lsandula: Private Plant, Shelton, of the 1st battalion of the 24th Regiment; Private W. Glass, 1-24th Regiment, of Cauldon-place, formerly schoolmaster of the Hanley and Shelton Free Night School; and Private Hickin, 1-24th Regiment, son of Mr. Hickin, locksmith, High-street.'

Staffordshire Sentinel and Commercial & General Advertiser - Saturday 08 March 1879, p.5

George Glass was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire in 1856, the youngest son and penultimate child of William and Martha Glass. His family had strong military ties in that his father William, hailed from Armagh, Northern Ireland and in 1822 had joined the ranks of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment of Foot, serving 22 years with the regiment. William married whilst in the army, his wife, George's mother Martha came originally from Scotland. Together they had nine children, the eldest born in Ireland, but most were born in the Potteries or Newcastle after the couple had moved there in the 1840s when William Glass left the army. Here in both 1851 and 1861 he listed his employment as as a 'Staff Sergeant of Pensioners (Chelsea Pensioners)'.

George's mother Martha died in 1862, which doubtless prompted his father to find a job and by 1871 William Glass was working as a bookkeeper. He had moved the family to Hanley and had remarried, this time to a woman named Susannah from Newport, Salop. At 14 years of age his son George was now old enough to go to work and was employed as a potter. There is no further local documentation about George and though it is not impossible that he worked as a school teacher as noted in brief notification in the Sentinel, it seems more likely that the reporter was actually confusing George with his father. Not only is the dead soldier mistakenly listed as 'W. Glass' in the paper, but in the 1881 census William Glass describes himself as a former school master.

George had joined the army in Liverpool on 28 July 1874 becoming 25B/408 Private George Glass of the 1st battalion 24th Regiment of Foot, aged 18 years 4 months. Like most of the 1/24th he took part in the campaigns against the Gaika and Galeka tribes during 1877 and 1878 and marched into Zululand with the ill-fated centre column in 1879, being killed with most of his battalion at Isandlwana. George's effects and South Africa Medal were later claimed by his father.

Reference: Norman Holme, The Silver Wreath, p.26

2236 Sergeant William Shaw, 2/24th

Staffordshire Sentinel and Commercial & General Advertiser - Saturday 8 March 1879, p.5

William Shaw was born in Tunstall in 1846, the son of potter Aaron Shaw and Sarah nee Hicks. He appears from the 1841 census to have had an elder sister named Elizabeth while other documents reveal a younger sister named Mary Ann, but fuller details of William's family are complicated by the apparent lack of an entry in the 1851 census that may have revealed more siblings. By the time of the 1861 census, William's father was dead and his mother had remarried, this time to collier John Whalley and William and his sister Mary Ann are listed as his step children at his home in Watergate Street, Tunstall. William was 15 years old at the time and his profession was given as an 'apprentice potter'.

We next hear of William Shaw five years later at his wedding after banns to local farmer's daughter Emma Worrall at Christ Church, Tunstall on 18th June 1866. Both were 20 years old. William worked as a potter, but signed his name with a fairly practised hand, revealing at least a basic education, while his bride had to sign her mark.

What prompted William to join the army is unknown, but from the available evidence he appears to have enlisted in the spring of 1870 along with a number of Potteries youths if the newspaper report above is to be believed. His service number is given as 2-24/2336 in some muster rolls but was actually 2-24/2236. He was posted to the 2/24th in Secunderabad, India on 28th December 1870. He was promoted to Corporal on 22nd January 1873 and Sergeant on 8th April 1877. However, two years prior to this last promotion the Judge Advocate General's Office: District Courts Martial Registers (1875-1876) have a Sergeant William Shaw, 24th tried by court-martial 20 October, 1875 at Dover.  He was charged with “Theft” and sentenced to 84 days imprisonment with hard labour, and to be “Reduced.”  A notation shows that the sentence was “Not Confirmed.”

Certainly during the early part of his career, William Shaw was separated from his family and in 1871, his wife Emma and their two eldest children Mary Ann and William Henry Shaw aged 2 and 1 years respectively, were lodging with William's mother and step father at their home in King Street, Tunstall. Only a limited number of wives and children were allowed to accompany battalions when they went abroad and it seems that rank finally told and having raised himself to sergeant, William got permission for his wife and children to join him, first at Aldershot where a third child Sarah was born on 1875 and two years later a last child for the couple, John, was born in Kent in 1877, shortly before the battalion was posted to the Cape. In South Africa as the newspaper report on his death indicates, the family were based in King William's Town, Cape Colony.

Sergeant Shaw saw service against the Galeka tribe in 1878 and at the opening of the campaign against the Zulus in 1879 he was listed as serving in H Company 2/24th, however accounts of the battle have him variously serving in C Company (which apart from a few men left in camp, did not take part in the battle) or G Company. Though entitled to the South Africa Medal and Clasp ‘1877-8-9’, a notation on the medal roll says that there was “no trace of issue” of his medal.

According to the notebook of Corporal John Bassage 2/24th, now held at the Royal Welsh regimental museum, who was part of the force come to bury the dead in June 1879, the remains of Sergeant Shaw and three private soldiers were found together in a heap on the battlefield. The men seem to have formed a small group in a last desperate attempt to try and fend off the Zulus in front of them. All four appeared to have been stabbed to death with assegais. 

Following the death of her husband, Emma Shaw returned to Britain with her children. Due to the family's now straightened circumstances, the three older children Mary Ann, William and Sarah were sent to the respective Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylums for Boys and Girls in Wandsworth, the two institutions having been set up to cater for the orphans of soldiers and sailors. The youngest child John, possibly stayed with his mother and may have been joined by William in 1881 when the Boy's Asylum closed down. There is some evidence that the family later got back together, William and Sarah appearing as witnesses at the marriage of their mother to joiner John Burnett in Manchester in 1896.

Reference: Norman Holme, The Silver Wreath, p.39; Norman Holme, The Noble 24th, p.261;  www.1879zuluwar.com.

Family and background information courtesy of Alan Rouse