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| 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.
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.
* 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
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| 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.
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.'
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
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| 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