1420, Private George WHITE - 11th Hussars

Birth & early life

Born at Kingston, Surrey, c.1830.

Enlistment

Enlisted at Hounslow on the 18th of November 1848.

Age: 18.

Height: 5' 7".

Trade: Labourer.

[PB: Mike Hinton gives Fulham as his birthplace, and different enlistment dates [sources?].]

1420 PRIVATE GEORGE WHITE was born in Fulham in 1830 or 1831. Although the musters at the time of his transfer into the 8th Hussars in 1857 indicated he had enlisted on 28 December 1854, they are clearly in error, because he was with his regiment in the Crimea prior to that date; Canon Lummis listed his enlistment date as January 1849, which would seem to be right, as 1419 Frederick Bunce, of the same regiment, enlisted on 13 December 1848, and regimental numbers were generally issued sequentially.

Service

GW was present throughout the campaign (clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman, Sebastopol).

Served with the Expeditionary Force to Kertch in May 1855.

[PB: According to Mike Hinton, GW was on furlough from February 10 to 28, 1854, but embarked with his regiment, spent a month on camp stable duty in February 1855, and was present on the expedition to Kertch.]

Discharge & pension

Discharged, "by claim," from Manchester on the 11th of January 1861.

Served 12 years 53 days,

Conduct: "good".

In possession of one Good Conduct badge.

Medals

Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sebastopol.

Commemorations

His name appeared on the 1877 list but not on the 1879 revised list of members of the Balaclava Commemoration Society.

[PB: GW died in 1878 - see below.]

Life after service

Death & burial

Death registered

George White, aged 48 years, March Quarter 1878, Epsom.

[Epsom covered Stoke D'Abernon.]

[PB: See Mike Hinton's 2006 War Correspondent article by on George White's grave at St Mary's, Stoke D'Abernon, Surrey.]

George White's headstone, at St Mary's, Stoke D'Abernon, Surrey (photo: Mike Hinton).

In
Memory of
GEORGE WHITE
Who served in the 11th Hussars
He was one of the Six Hundred
at Balaclava
Died 27th March 1878
In the 47th Year of his age
'Watch and Pray'

(Click on images to enlarge)

Grave of a Crimean Veteran: 1420 Private George White

David Williams alerted me to the presence of the gravestone of George White, 11th Hussars in the graveyard of St Mary's, Stoke D'Abemon, Surrey. He is not listed as a Charger by Lummis, Brighton or yourself [i.e. LC], and not mentioned in Dutton - Mike Hinton.

1420 PRIVATE GEORGE WHITE was born in Fulham in 1830 or 1831. Although the musters at the time of his transfer into the 8th Hussars in 1857 indicated he had enlisted on 28 December 1854, they are clearly in error, because he was with his regiment in the Crimea prior to that date; Canon Lummis listed his enlistment date as January 1849, which would seem to be right, as 1419 Frederick Bunce, of the same regiment, enlisted on 13 December 1848, and regimental numbers were generally issued sequentially. At the time of his enlistment, he listed his occupation as "labourer."

Private White was on furlough from February 10 to 28, 1854, but embarked with his regiment. He was present at the battles of the Alma and Balaclava in 1854, and spent a month on camp stable duty in February 1855. He was present on the expedition to Kertch and was awarded the Crimea medal with four clasps.

Note:

Prior to the discovery of this tombstone by Mike Hinton, all that was known of Private White's life after the war was that he was a member of the 1877 Balaclava Commemoration Society, but not the all-important 1879 group which vetted all members as Chargers. The inscription on his headstone proclaims that he was "One of the Six Hundred at Balaclava" and further notes that he died on 27 March 1878, at the age of 47. While tombstone inscriptions are not always reliable concerning facts stated thereon, the fact that White died in 1878 provides a very good reason for his absence from the list of the 1879 Balaclava Commemoration Society [Ed].

[Source: Mike Hinton, War Correspondent, October 2006, p.13.]