LIVES OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
The E.J. Boys Archive

A group photograph of survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade, taken at their thirty-third anniversary dinner in 1887. The names, ranks and regiments of 32 of the men are hand-lettered on the mount, above and below the photograph. The President was Troop Serjeant-Major George Loy Smith, 11th Hussars, and the Vice-President Trooper W. Bird, 8th Hussars.

This copy belonged to Trooper James Lamb, 13th Light Dragoons, who is in the picture. It is inscribed “Presented to A. J. Raven by Trooper J. Lamb, late XIII^th Light Dragoons”.

Source: photograph originally in the possession of James Lamb, 13th Light Dragoons, now in the National Army Museum, accession no. NAM 1987-10-56.

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The title, as written above the photograph

SOME of THE SURVIVORS of the
BALACLAVA CHARGE
25^th October 1854.
XXXIII Anniversary Dinner. 1887.

Names written above the photograph

Two rows of names, left to right. They appear to match the men standing at the back.

First row

Rank	Name as written	Regiment	Notes
Trooper	W. Butler	XVII Lancers
Trooper	J. Herbert	IV Light Dragoons	also at Olympia, 1890
Trooper	R. Ferguson	IV Light Dragoons
Trooper	J. P. Forbes	IV Light Dragoons
Corporal	J. Devlin	IV Light Dragoons
Trooper	P. Marsh	XVII Lancers	also at Olympia, 1890

Second row

Rank	Name as written	Regiment	Notes
Trooper	[initial?] Andrews	XI Hussars
Trooper	T. Ashton	XI Hussars
Corporal	[P.?] Grant	IV Light Dragoons
Trooper	J. [Bird?]	Light Dragoons (numeral unclear)
Trooper	W. [Henry?]	XI Hussars
Trooper	T. Mullins	XVII Lancers	also at Olympia, 1890

Names written below the photograph

Three rows of names, left to right. They appear to match the men seated and standing at the front.

First row

Rank	Name as written	Regiment	Notes
Corporal	Vick	IV Light Dragoons
Trooper	[Carroll?]	XVII Lancers	perhaps M. Carrol, at Olympia, 1890
Trooper	T. Clark	XVII Lancers	T. Clarke at Olympia, 1890
Trooper	T. Mustard	XVII Lancers	written “Mastard”?; J. Mustard at Olympia, 1890
Trooper	W. Bird	VIII Hussars	Vice-President
Troop Serjeant-Major	G. Loy Smith	XI Hussars	President
Trooper	A. Wilder	XI Hussars	also at Olympia, 1890
Serjeant	S. Bond	XI Hussars
Trooper	J. Etridge	XIII Light Dragoons

Second and third rows

Rank	Name as written	Regiment	Notes
Trooper	Burns	XVII Lancers	W. Burns at Olympia, 1890
Trooper	R. Owen Glendwr	VIII Hussars
Trooper	R. Nicholls	VIII Hussars
Corporal	J. Nunnerley	XVII Lancers	also at Olympia, 1890
Trooper	T. Wightman	XVII Lancers	J. W. Wightman at Olympia, 1890
Trooper	A. Mitchell	XIII Light Dragoons
Trooper	J. Lamb	XIII Light Dragoons	presented this photograph to A. J. Raven
Trooper	H. Wickham	XIII Light Dragoons	H. G. Wickham at Olympia, 1890
Trooper	[J.?] Buckton	XI Hussars	J. Buckton at Olympia, 1890
Trooper	J. Brennan	XVII Lancers	also at Olympia, 1890
Trooper	J. Smith	XVII Lancers

Regiments are written in Roman numerals, as on the mount: IV Light Dragoons (4th), VIII Hussars (8th), XI Hussars (11th), XIII Light Dragoons (13th), XVII Lancers (17th). [Words like this?] are uncertain readings. Several of the smaller names are faint or partly hidden by the ruled lines. “Also at Olympia, 1890” means the name, or a close match, appears in the list of names with the Olympia group photograph of 1890.

Other wording on the mount

— A rubber stamp at bottom left: “TROOPER W. J. [Drusbury?], 1ST LIFE GUARDS”. This is faint, and its connection with the photograph is not known.

— A printed stamp at bottom centre: “SURVIVORS OF THE CHARGE AT BALACLAVA”.

— “COPYRIGHT” stamped at the lower right corner of the photograph.

— Hand-lettered across the foot: “Presented to A. J. Raven by Trooper J. Lamb, late XIII^th Light Dragoons.”

Posters on the wall behind the group appear to advertise a poultry show. They may help to identify where the photograph was taken.