Born at Bantry, Co. Cork, on the 6th of July 1833.
Educated at the Royal Hibernian School, Dublin, his father having served in the 34th Foot.
Enlisted at Dublin on the 16th of August 1847, to "serve in the Band."
Age: 14.
Height: 5' 5".
Trade: None.
Features: Fair complexion. Hazel eyes. Brown hair.
Attained the age of 15 years and on to "Man's Pay" on the 5th of July 1848.
Wounded in action at Balaclava and taken prisoner of war. He rejoined the regiment on the 26th of October 1855.
From Private to Trumpeter, 22nd of August 1857.
Discharged from Kilmainham on the 28th of June 1858. He "Labours under confirmed epilepsy - the result of wounds received at the battle of Balaclava, but more especially of shell wounds received at vortex of head. Number of wound, Fourteen. Wound from shell on head gun-shot wound to right wrist, two sword wounds on knee and ten lance wounds in body and arm."
Served 6 years 295 days (to count). In Turkey and the Crimea, 2 years.
Conduct: "good".
In possession of one Good Conduct badge.
Aged 24 years 9 months on discharge.
Was granted a pension of 1/2d. per day.
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava and Sebastopol.
Living in Dublin after discharge, and in Belfast in 1875.
In "Reminiscences of Crimean Campaigning and Russian Imprisonment", 1277 R. S. Farquharson, 4th Light Dragoons, a fellow "charger", stated:
'Week after week, while in Veronitz, our numbers were increased by new arrivals of prisoners from the Crimea, including some of our wounded comrades whom we had left at Simferopol. Among these were Dryden of the 11th Hussars, who had no fewer than thirty-six wounds; Cooper and Duke of the 13th Light Dragoons, who had each been desperately wounded ... All of these fellows seemed to have been well cared for in hospital, for their hurts were well and solidly healed."
Robert Duke's Crimean medal, impressed naming, and with clasps for Alma, Balaclava and Sebastopol, was in a Glendining's auction on the 14th of March 1968. It was known to be in an English collection in 1970.
By 1980 his Crimean medal was known to be in a Midlands collection, officially impressed to "R. Duke. 13th Lt. Dragoons." The rivets are larger than the so-called "Mint" type and has a Bailey of Coventry 1856 laurel leaf brooch suspension. There is a scratched letter "J." in the field behind the monarch's head and a little to the left of the portion of hair hanging from the bun. There is also an edge knock at 7 o'clock - visible on the obverse just below the "V" of Victoria legend, and another edge knock in the 7 o'clock portion when viewed from the obverse - directly under the "A" and "G" of Dragoons.