Hussards Photos

First Part - William Standish Carr Standish, 7th Light Dragoons.

William Standish Carr Standish was born on the 28th February 1835, the eldest son of William Standish Carr, of Cocken, in the county of Durham, and Susan Jenkins.
On May 6th 1841, his father was granted Royal Licence to change his name to William Standish Srandish, "in compliance with a proviso and direction contained in the last will and testament of his cousin, Frank Hall Standish, late of Duxburry-hall, in the county palatine of Lancaster, Esq. deceased".

William Standish Carr Standish was gazetted in the Regular Cavalry on 19th August 1853 :
"7th Regiment of Light Dragoons, William Standish Carr Standish, Gent., to be Cornet, by purchase, vice De Veulle, whose retirement was announced in the Gazette of the 15th July 1853."

He was still quite young when his father died in 1856 :
"W.S. Standish, Esq.- July 10th, at Cocken Hall, Durham, aged 48, William Standish Standish, Esq. - The deceased, who was a magistrate for Durham and Lancashire, and a deputy-lieutenant fot the latter county, was universally respected by men of all classes in the north of England, and his amiable, benevolent, and hospitable character had endeared him to a large circle of friends, by whom his loss will be truly and deeply regretted".

W.S.C.Standish was promoted very soon afterwards :
"7th Light Dragoons, Cornet W.S. Carr Standish to be Lieutenant, by purchase, vice Aytoun, promoted. Dated 22nd July, 1856."

As a proper Cavalry Officer, he took part in some races, as testified by the Times on Monday, March 23rd, 1857 :
"SPORTING INTELLIGENCE
THE GRAND MILITARY AND PYTCHLEY HUNT STEEPLECHASES.
FRIDAY.
SWEEPSTAKES OF 10 sovs. each, h. ft., with 100 added from the fund, and 50 by the town of Northampton, for horses the property of officers on full pay in the army. 12st. each. Certain winners extra. The second to save his stake and receive 20 sovs. about three miles. 17 subs.
Lieutenant Blundell's (Rifle Brigade) Horniblow, by Protestant, 12st. (owner)...............1
Lieutenant Coates's (7th Hussars) Massa Mungo, 12st. (Captain Severn).......................2
Captain F. Morga's (Rifle Brigade) Veluti, 12st. 5lb. (including 5lb. extra), (owner)....3
Mr. G. Craven's (1st Life Guards) Xanthus, 12st. (Mr Wilkins).
Captain Baker's (12th Lancers) Aquamarine, 12st. (Captain Barker).
Lieutenant Carr Standish's (7th Hussars) Gentle, 12 st. (Owner).
Lieutenant Handley's (Scots Greys) Beware, 12st. 5lb. (including 5lb. extra). (Captain Townley).
Viscount Talon's (Chasseurs Afrique) Windsor, 12st. (Owner).
Major Brown's (4th Light Dragoons) Larry, 12st. (Captain Ellis).
Lieutenant Anderson's (King's Dragoon Guards) -, 12st. (Owner).
Major Jenning's (19th Regiment) King Dan, 12st. (Captain Barclay).
Lieutenant Hunt's (4th Light Dragoons) Sultan, 12st. (Owner).
Lieutenant Hay's (5th Dragoon Guards) Taffy, 12st. (Sir William Gordon).
Betting.- 5 to 1 each agst Veluti and Xanthus, 6 to 1 each agst Massa Mungo and Aquamarine, 7 to 1 agst King Dan, 8 to 1 agst Horniblow.
Won by two lengths, a neck between the second and third ; sultan was a bad fourth; Xanthus, Gentle, and King Dan straggled at wide intervals. Windsor, while lying in a forward position, overjumped himself at the brook the last time and came down. Taffy fell at the last fence but one and broke his back."

Some sterner activities awaited : the 7th Hussars were despatched to India a few month later when the Mutiny broke out, boarding the clipper ship Lightning on August 27th.
They landed at Madras (25 officers, 51 non-commissioned officers and men, on November 5th and 28th) and were directed to Alahabad, were horses were to be procured to them in December.

They were part of the brigade under Col. Campbell of the Bays (along with the 79th Highlanders and Major Anderson's troop of Horse Artillery), crossing into Oude on January 4th. The objective of the British Army was to relieve Lucknow, which was eventually achieved by March 16th.

Some troops were then used to garrison Lucknow, but the 7th Hussars were then attached to the General Walpole's Out Field Force - the Cavalry of which was commanded by Brigadier Hagart.
The 7th Hussars then campaigned in Rohilcund, suffering badly from the heat :
"Thus following his unsubstantial foe, General Grant marched down as far as the Ganges, which he touched at Doondiakera, near the point where tha Cawnpore boat was fired on and captured by the Nana's peopla. Already the heat had begun to tell upon th emen and officers, though they had been making short marches, and there the 7th Hussars buried Captain Pedder. From this point the column doubled back to Nugger, which it had recently passed, on learning that some rebel Zemindars, together with a chief named Ram Buksh, had taken up a position in its neighbourhood. Reaching Nugger at 6 in the morning, the troops rested till 3 in the afternoon, and then turned out for an attack on the enemy's position. Before they had moved half a mile numbers were sent back to camp, knocked up by the sun. An unsatisfactory skirmish followed. Little loss was inflicted on the enemy, who were very strongly posted about the village and fort of Simree, and but two old guns had been secured when night fell. On their side the rebels did us little harm, beyond carrying off a few camels in an attempt upon our rear, and cutting off the head of a poor sergeant in th eRifles lying sick in a dhooly. But the sun did their work terribly well. Of the 38th Foot the enemy struck but two men, and them but slightly, while the sun killed no fewer than 15. On the 13th (Nota : May) the 7th Hussars buried seven, and had been losing two, three, and four men daily since they left Lucknow."

Bareilly was taken on May 7th, and on June 4th 1858, the Times' correspondant could write :
"With the capture of Bareilly the last great stronghold of the mutineers and rebels, the labours of the Commander-in-Chief of India have for the present come to an end."
The operations would actually linger on for months, but that's the very day when Standish resigned his commission :
"7th Light Dragoons, Cornet the Honourable C.Craven Molyneux to be Lieutenant, by purchase, vice Standish, who retires. Dated 4th June, 1858."

It is quite strange that Standish should have resigned his commission while his regiment was on active duty, and there certainly is some potent reason behind that fact - it is quite possible that he was a victim of the heat himself, as will be hinted later.

He came back to England on board the screw steamship Indomitable, reaching Gravesend on October 9th.
It is to be noted that Standish had boarded the before officialy resigning :
"The screw steamship Indomitable, Captain Kitt, arrived at Gravesend on Friday night from Calcutta with a large party of sick and wounded troops, chiefly from Lucknow and Delhi, on board. Her dates are, Calcutta, May 23 ; Sandheads, May 28 ; and St.Helena, August 25, the passage from Calcutta to Gravesend being a very tedious one of 138 days, caused chiefly by calms and adverse winds. The invalids, to the number of 2 sergeants and 98 rank and file,belonging to the (...), with 2 women and 5 children, reached Calcutta, and embarked on the 18th of May, under the command of Captain H.H.Moseley, 42d Highlanders, and Lieutenant G.Taylor, 53d Regiment, and in medical charge of Dr.Brown. The following officers came home as passengers-viz., Lieutenant W.S.C.Standish, formerly of the 7th Hussars (...). During the voyage a great deal of sickness prevailed on board, and one officer, Lieutenant G.Haynes, 7th Hussars, who was invalided home, and 14 men died. (...)"

He was awarded the Indian Mutiny Campaign Medal with "Lucknow" Clasp - the medal he is proudly displaying on this CDV.

Second Part - William Standish Carr Standish, Lancashire Hussars.

He obviously intended to manage his properties then, as he appears to have applied in August 1858 for a loan of £5,000, under the provisions of "The Public Money Drainage Acts", for the drainage of Lands in Adlington, Heapy-in-Longlands, and New Church, in the county of Lancaster.

The next year, he was commissionned into the Lancashire Hussars by the "Lord Lieutenant of the County Palatine of Lancaster", as a result of the raising of D Troop :
"Lancashire Hussar Yeomanry Cavalry.
William Standish Carr Standish, Esq., to be Lieutenant, vice Farrell, resigned. Dated 4th June, 1859."

He would serve for a few years with the Lancashire Hussars, and was gazetted a Sheriff for Durham on November 14th, 1862, until...
(The Times, Tuesday, September 15th, 1863)
"EXTRAORDINARY PROCEEDINGS.-On Friday after noon, Mr. W.S.C.Standish, of Duxbury Hall, near Wigan, one of the magistrates for the petty sessional division of Chorley, Lancashire, formerly in the regular army, and at present holding the position of lieutenant in the D (Lord Skelrmersdale's) troop of Yeomanry Hussars, came forward to answer the charges of having shot at a man named Michael Burke, and of having wounded another named Thomas Hesketh, on the highway in Lathom, near Ormskirk. It appeared that for some days Mr. Standish had been drinking rather freely, and on Tuesday last, about noon, obtained from a shoemaker in Tarleton, near Ormskirk, about an ounce and a half of No.3 shot. With this he loaded a cavalry pistol, and rode away. In the eve ning he came up to four harvestmen near Mathom-house. He presented his pistol at three of them in succession, firing at the third man, and hitting him on the shoulder. He then galloped off to Lathom-house, where he was met by Sergeant-Major Nunnerley, of Lord Skelmersdale's troop, to whom he delivered two pistols, one empty and the other charged, and began to talk incoherently about there being a riot at Ormskirk, and the troop being called out. After a short stay, Mr. Standish again took the road to Ormskirk. Presently they were met by Inspector Jervis, of the Ormskirk police, and Mr. Standish was called upon to surrender, but he declined to do so, turned his horse round, and galloped off furiously, brandishing his sword. While thus engaged, he came up to Hesketh and another man named Mordaunt. The latter threw himself down and escaped, but Hesketh received a cut on the chin and fell to the ground, where he was subsequently found bleeding. The police inspector obtained a horse and went in pursuit of Mr.Standish, but after riding about two miles all trace of him was lost, and the chase was abandoned. Mr.Standish eluded capture till Wednesday, at noon, when he was apprehended at Newburgh, a few miles from Ormskirk. He then said he was very sorry for what had occured ; that it was a mad freak, and that he did not intend to hurt any of the men. The wounds were described as not in any way serious, Burke's being nothing more than an abrasion, and Hesketh's an incised wound about two inches long, but not deep. The pistol with which Burke had been shot appeared to have been loaded with blank cartridge only, and the charged pistol which Nunnerley received ws found to contain a piece of paper, a thimbleful of powder, and a wad. Burke identified Mr.Standish, but Hesketh and his companion would not swear to him as he rode at them quickly, and was out of sight before they recovered themselves. For the defence it was contended that there had been no wounding within the statute. There was a total absence of malice on the part of Mr.Strandish, who had never seen Burke before, and as regarded the wounding with the sword, the wounded man had not identified Mr. Standish. The magistrate, however, held that prima facie cases had been established. It was his painful duty to commit Mr.Standish for trial at the next Liverpool assises. Mr.Standish was accordingly committed, but admitted to bail."

How to spoil your sister's wedding ? As a matter of fact, a little later, on December 3rd, Susan Amelia Georgina Carr Standish married Charles William Paulet - a former comrade-in-arms of William's, who had served in the 7th Hussars during the Mutiny, before exchanging into the 9th Lancers and joining the Warwickshire Yeomanry in 1861.

Later that month, on December 23rd, William's case appeared before the Crown Court and Mr. Justice Willes :
"William Standish Carr Standish was indicted for unlawfully wounding James Hesketh by striking him with a sword.
Mr. Holker prosecuted, and the Attorney-General, Mr. James, Q.C., and Mr. Pope appeared for the defence.
The prisoner was a justice of the peace for the county of Lancaster, and a commissioned officer in the Lancashire Yeomanry Hussars, residing at Duxburry-Hall, Lancashire. It appeared that the defendant, who had been drinking for some days, was in a very excited state one morning in September last, and rode towards the house of Lord Skelmersdale, the captain of the corps. He was riding there when he met several men belonging to the corps, and, having his pistol in his hand, fired as they approached, and the contents of the pistol grazed the shoulder of one of the men. He then rode on to Lord Skelmersdale's, where he behaved in such an extraordinary way that the police were sent for. On riding away he met the police, towards whom he rode rapidly, flourishing his sword. He struck at one man, but missed him ; he then struck a labourer named Hesketh on the chin, inflicting a wound two inches long. He was ultimately taken, and committed for trial on the charge of felony The grand jury found a bill against him for misdemeanour. to the minor charge, that of committing an assault occasioning actually bodily harm, he pleaded "Guilty".
It was urged on his behalf that he was suffering from the effects of a sun-stroke received in India, and also laboured under delirium tremens.
He was sentenced to be imprisoned for one month, and to pay a fine of 300l."

It appears that Standish would have resumed his service with the Lancashire Hussars, and contemporary documents would show him attending the May 1864 training session at Southport.

His association with the Regiment would not live much longer however, and the London Gazette would read, on July 19th :
"Lancashire Hussar Yeomanry Cavalry.
Cornet the Right Honourable Thomas Arthur Viscount Southwell, to be Lieutenant, vice Standish, resigned. Dated 14th July, 1864."

William Standish Carr Standish died on February 21st 1878, at Southport, unmarried, aged 42.