Trooper Pearson and the Charge of the Light Brigade (original) (raw)

Photograph by Tim Willasey-Wilsey.

William Pearson was born on 2 October 1826 (the blue plaque shown on the right is not quite accurate in this respect) at the former Mitre Hotel on King Street, Penrith, Cumbria. Having grown up into an adventurous young man, he left his job in the leather trade and made his way to London, where he joined the 4th Light Dragoons in 1848. He is recorded as having been "five feet eight inches tall, with a fair complexion, hazel eyes and light brown hair" (Bancroft 38). A few years later, the Brigade was sent off to fight in the Crimean War.

Pearson survived the battles of Alma and Inkermann, to fight his last battle at Balaclava, where he was one of those who advanced in the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade on 25 October 1854:

During the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava his horse stumbled over another that had fallen and he had to mount a rider-less horse of the 8th Hussars. He had an epaulette shot from his shoulder and returned from the affair with a wound to his forehead. The severe Crimean winter left Pearson with frost-bite. He spent Christmas Eve 1854 having four toes amputated. He was nursed by Florence Nightingale at the hospital in Scutari before being invalided home. [Bancroft 38].

Florence Nightingale Receiving the Wounded at Scutari — 1856 — The Mission of Mercy, by Jerry Barrett (1824-1906).

Pearson's letter to his parents was published in the Kendal Mercury of 2 June 1855, and tells how he hopes to be in England soon: "yesterday there was a board of doctor examined me and several more of my poor comrades who had been wounded. We expected to have left here this week, as they have returned us not fit for service; so, dear parents, I hope to be in Old England this month if God spares me so long" [qtd. in "Shadows of Time"]

Discharged from service and granted a pension, Pearson got married in 1855, having met his future wife at a ball in honour of Crimean heroes. He settled down in Cumbria again, and raised a family, retaining his interest in the army and picking up his trade in the leather business. Having had the honour of being presented to the Queen in the year of his marriage, he was, and still is, celebrated locally. He was living in Kendal when he died at the ripe old age of 82, and was buried as a soldier hero in Parkside Cemetery.

The Penrith and Eden Museum has some memorabilia in its collection, including his service medals, one with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkermann and Sebastopol. Only recently, a new piece of memorabilia came to light for a much more distant source, when staff from the Auckland War Memorial Museum in New Zealand wrote in to tell us about an item in their collection: a quilt originally bought at a charity sale in Cumbria in about 1890, and known to have been made by "a Mr Pearson, a veteran of the Crimean War."

Applique Quilt, late nineteenth century, attributed to Mr Pearson, Underbarrow, Westmorland, Cumbria, England; cotton top, cotton lining, wool batting, hand stitched, appliquéd and quilted (2640 mm x width 2080 mm), given by Mr D.A. and G. Phillips, 1996, in the collection of Auckland War Memorial Museum, 1996.101.1. © Auckland Museum, New Zealand.

The purchaser's husband is on record as having remembered Pearson as an "old man, very tall and with a long white beard, .... rather an awe-inspiring figure to us children, when we met him in the roads as we were going to school, and the older ones used to whisper to the younger ones how that he had no 'toes' as they were all frozen off during the rigours of that terrible campaign." Soldiers who had been in the tailoring trade, as Pearson had been, did make quilts, often from old uniforms (see here). However, the record of the quilt at Auckland Museum makes it clear that this is "not a uniform quilt - the red fabric is a twill weave cotton, possibly a Turkey red, but not uniform fabric." It would have been made later, then, with skills honed during the freezing cold of the Crimean War. It is fascinating to know of such a relic, handed down and now preserved at such a distance in time and place from its origins.

You may use these images (apart from the one of the quilt), without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer or source and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]

Bibliography

Bancroft. James W. The Light Brigade at Balaclava. Eccles, Manchester: The House of Heroes, 2001.

"Counterpane." Collections Record. Auckland Museum, New Zealand. https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/collections/record/37520?k=1996.101.1

"Local Personalities." Penrith and Eden Museum. Web. 24 August 2024. https://www.eden.gov.uk/leisure-culture-and-events/penrith-and-eden-museum/museum-collections/local-personalities/

"Shadows of Time: Genealogical Services and Information. Web. 24 August 2024.

Created 24 August 2024