Born at Leeds.
1841 Census
Leeds Town.
John Chambers, 50, Agent.
Jane, 45.
Ten children, aged 2-20 years, are shown: 3 children are aged 15, one of whom is Richard, and 2 sisters aged 10.
Enlisted at Leeds on the 11th of May 1846.
Age: 20.
Height: 5' 8".
Trade: Clerk.
Appearance: Fair complexion. Hazel eyes. Brown hair.
Richard Chambers wrote a letter to his mother at Leeds from "Camp, near the Heights of Sebastopol, October 30th, 1854." He does not describe the battle of Balaclava, merely saying that "he will leave this for another time". It would appear that this letter was later published in a newspaper, but no trace of it can be found in any of the local papers of the time. (There is a copy in the 11th Hussar file.)
From Private to Corporal, 1st of January 1855.
Corporal to Sergeant, 25th of May 1855.
Appointed to Orderly Room Clerk on the 7th of January 1857.
1861 Census
Hulme Cavalry Barracks, Hulme, Lancashire.
R Chambers, unmarried, 34, Sergeant Major, born Leeds, Yorkshire.
Promoted to Paymaster Sergeant on the 10th of November 1865.
Reduced to Duty Sergeant on the 4th of February 1868.
Invalided to England from India on the 21st of February 1870.
Discharged from the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, on the 24th of April 1870:
"unfit for further service — suffered a stroke or apoplexy whilst lying on his bed after dinner. In excellent health otherwise, although suffering from slight giddiness when turning his head or lifting weights."
He had returned to England from India aboard the "Malabar" and was at Netley Hospital from the 27th of March 1870. He was not married at the time of his discharge — or, if he was, his wife is not shown as accompanying him on the warrant issued for his journey to Leeds.
Aged 44 years on discharge.
Conduct: "good". Would have been in the possession of five Good Conduct badges if not promoted.
In Turkey and the Crimea: 2 years 1 month
In India: 3 years 11 months.
Awarded a pension of 2/- per day.
To live at No. 93 Stanley Street, Cheetham, Manchester, after discharge, but he was living in the Leeds Pension District in 1871.
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sebastopol, and the Turkish medal.
Awarded the Long Service & Good Conduct medal with a gratuity of £5 in March 1866.
Member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society in 1879.
Richard Thomas [sic] Chambers married Sarah Ann Campbell, March Quarter 1871, Leeds.
The following information came from his great-great nephews, Mr. L. R. Chambers of West Byfleet, Surrey, and Mr. R.L. Chambers, of King Edward's School at Stourbridge:
"Richard Chambers was one of eleven children born to John Chambers and his wife, Jane (nee Goodhall). The former was born in Halifax about 1786 and his wife in Wiltshire, about 1795. Around 1850 the family moved to Wooley's Yard, Meadow Lane, Leeds, and where John Chambers died in 1853. His business has been variously described as Metal Broker, Iron Agent, and Commission Agent. All the children were born at Leeds. According to the address given by Chambers on discharge, it was that of an unmarried sister, Martha, and also that of a younger bachelor brother, William.
Richard Chambers was not there in March of 1871. He may have used this in the hope of getting a job at Strangeways Prison, which is close by, but there is no proof of this. A younger brother, Walter, born in 1838/39, served in the 64th Foot during the Indian Mutiny and was awarded the clasp for Lucknow to the Mutiny medal. According to family tradition he was also at Cawnpore. Later an In-Pensioner of Chelsea Royal Hospital, he died there in 1897."
There is more information about Walter Chambers below.
1881 Census
68, Stock Street, Manchester.
The 1881 Census shows him living at the home of an Isabella Chambers and a sister. She was unmarried, aged 36. He is shown as a Pensioner (Chelsea), aged 42. Also living in the house were an unmarried sister, Martha A, 40, a Houseworker, and a brother, William, 34, a Clerk. All were born in Leeds.
1871 Census
23, Wade Lane, Leeds West.
Richard T Chambers, 44, Milliner, born Leeds.
Sarah A., 32, born Leeds.
1881 Census
23, Wade Lane, Leeds West.
The 1881 Census shows Richard Chambers at the same address as 1871. He is described as aged 55, a Chelsea Pensioner, born in Leeds, living with his wife, Sarah Anne, 43, also born in Leeds, a Milliner. No children are recorded and a Domestic Servant was kept.
Deaths registered
Richard Thompson Chambers, 56, December Quarter 1882, Leeds.
Richard Chambers died at Leeds on the 5th of December 1882, his death certificate showing him as dying at 23, Wade Lane, Leeds, aged 56 years. The cause of death was shown as "Alcoholic Hepatitis (2 weeks)" and his occupation that of a "Pensioner of the 11th Hussars (Sergeant Major)." His widow, S.A. Chambers, was shown as being present at, and the informant of, his death. (There is a copy of this in the "Certificates" file.)
No trace can be found in any of the local newspapers of any funeral report, but paid for obituary notices were inserted by the family.
He was buried in Beckett Street Cemetery, Leeds, on the 8th of December 1882, in Grave No. 4324 (Consecrated Ground) aged 56 years. According to the Cemetery authorities the grave was a common one, and no memorial stone was erected.
After an intensive search his gravestone was found and photographed in 1987. Originally a cross on a four-tier base, this has toppled over, face-downwards. The inscription on the top and second tier reads, "In loving memory of Richard Thompson Chambers, who died Dec. 5th 1882, aged 56 years." and on the third tier is, "Also of Sarah Ann Chambers, wife of the above, who died April 29th 1899, aged 62 years." The Local Friends of the Cemetery are trying to renovate the grave to some degree.
(See photograph of the stone as it originally was, in the 11th Hussar file, but also, thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Barnard and her Society, another photograph showing the stone after restoration.)
[PB, March 2014: "Mrs Barnard" must be Sylvia M. Barnard, who subsequently wrote a book about Beckett Street Cemetery, To Prove I'm Not Forgot". See the record of 1231 Morris White, 13th Light Dragoons for more information.
It is now known that two other people are buried in the same grave-space, and are commemorated on the sides of the tiered stone base:
"Charlotte Smallpage, who died November 26th 1875, aged 64 years," and "Edward Smallpage, husband of the above, who died 2nd of September 1887, aged 67 years." They are obviously related in some way and quite probably his wife's parents.
A further letter from the Friends of the Cemetery Organiser quotes from the Cemetery Register that the owner of the plot was Edward Smallpage, a carver and gilder, living at 12 Roscoe Street, Leeds, and the grave was originally dug for seven interments, the first of these being (at the moment, of an unknown date) Ellen Thompson Chambers. (She could also have been a relation, having as a surname his second Christian name, but is not recorded on the stone.) The other interments are as those already recorded.
The Burial Register shows that Sarah Ann Chambers was buried from 43, Wade Lane, Leeds, on the 2nd of May 1899, aged 61 years [sic]. Recorded on the very same day was a memo from a Mr. J.E.S. Smallpage, of 26, Stepney Avenue, Scarborough, that "He is the only surviving son of the above Edward Smallpage, and that no more bodies shall be interred in this grave without his written consent..." May 2nd 1899.
Death registered
Sarah Ann Chambers [wife], 61, June Quarter 1899, Leeds.
A Walter Chambers, presumably his brother, was born in the parish of Leeds, Yorkshire, and originally served in the West Yorkshire Regiment of Militia from the 23rd of January 1855, but was released from this engagement in order to enlist into the Regular Army (6th Regiment of Foot) on the 5th of July 1855. Aged 18 years at this time, he was 5' 6" in height, with a sallow complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair.
From Private to Corporal 29th of December 1855. Transferred (as a Private) to the 84th Foot (Yorks and Lancs.) on the 1st of March 1856-57, his Regimental number being 127. Imprisoned by the Commanding Officer, 11th-14th of July 1860, and tried by a Regimental Court-martial for being "drunk on duty". Sentenced to be imprisoned — but this sentence was remitted. Promoted Corporal 30th of July 1863. Confined 12th-14th of September, tried by a Regimental Court-martial and reduced to Private on the 15th of September 1864 for "being drunk on parade".
Re-engaged at Dublin for a further 12 years service on the 12th of January 1865. Confined, 6th-7th of April 1868 and tried by a Regimental Court-martial for "habitual drunkenness," and being imprisoned from the 8th of April-5th of May 1868. From Private to Corporal 29th of July 1871. To L/Sergeant 25th of June 1876. Discharged from Preston on the 24th of October 1876 — "By reason of his having claimed it on the termination of his second period of limited service.
Served 21 years 74 days. Abroad — 7 years 8 months, In the East Indies, 2 years, Malta, 1 year 10 months, Jamaica, 2 years 10 months, Halifax, N.S. 1 year. His conduct has been "good", and he would, had he not been promoted, be in possession of three Good Conduct badges. He is also in possession of the Indian Mutiny medal with clasp for Lucknow (served with the Commander-in-Chief's Force). His name appears 19 times in the Regimental Defaulters' book, 3 (three) of these convictions being by Court-martial. To live at Manchester after discharge.
__________
From the family came the further information that Walter Chambers died at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on the 2nd of April 1897, aged 59 years, from "Valvular disease of the heart (5 years' duration)." He was buried in the Brookwood Cemetery, no headstone being erected.
The Royal Hospital records shown that he had only entered the Hospital on the 1st of April 1897, the day before he died.
Nothing was known by the family of the date or manner of Walter Chambers's death, or of the whereabouts of his medals.
Census information for 1841 & 1871, a registrations of death, kindly provided by Chris Poole.