Location

This memorial plaque was originally sited on one of the benches in the nave. This area of the church suffered the worst effects of the bombing in 1941. Both bench and plaque were probably destroyed.
 

Portrait
Captain Sir William Peel
Inscription (From a church ledger)
D.D. HIS BROTHER, SIR ROBERT PEEL BART.
TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF
CAPTAIN SIR WILLIAM PEEL K.C.B., R.N.
THE WELL KNOWN HERO OF THE CRIMEAN WAR
AND INDIAN MUTINY
HE DIED AT CAWNPORE, 27TH APRIL 1858
AGED 33

 

Further Information
 
William Peel
Captain
Royal Navy (Naval Brigade)
 
BORN: 02 NOV 1824 Great Stanhope Street, Mayfair, London
LIVED: The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire
DIED: 27 APR 1858 He died of small-pox, aged 33, at the home of Padre Moore and his wife who were living in what was in the ruins of General Wheeler’s bungalow at Cawnpore, India
BURIED: 27 APR 1858 New Cemetery at Mirpur (By 1970 the entire cemetery had been built over and only the walls and gate to the cemetery still stand)
V.C. WON: 18 OCT 1854 Sebastopol, 05 NOV 1854 Inkerman, 18 JUN 1855 Assault on the Redan
 
Sir Stephen Lushington recommends this officer:
"For having on the 18th October, 1854, at the greatest possible risk, taken up a live shell, the fuse still burning, from among several powder-cases, outside the magazine, and thrown it over the parapet (the shell bursting as it left his hands), thereby saving the magazine and the lives of those immediately round it"
(Despatch from Sir S Lushington enclosed in a letter from Admiral Lord Lyons, 10th May 1856
"On the 5th November, 1854, at the Battle of Inkerman for joining the officers of the Grenadier Guards and assisting in defending the Colours of that Regiment when were hard pressed at the Sandbag Battery." (Sir S Lushington is authorised to make this statement by the Lieutenant-General commanding the Division, His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, who is ready to bear testimony to the fact)
"On the 18th June 1855, for volunteering to lead the Ladder Party at the assault on the Redan, and carrying the first ladder until wounded"
(Despatch from Sir L Lushington enclosed with a letter from Sir E Lyons, 10th May 1856)
 
LONDON GAZETTE: 24 FEB 1857
MEDAL PRESENTED: Sent to his brother Sir Robert Peel Bart.
JOINED NAVY: 07 APR 1843
LEFT NAVY: 27 APR 1858
FINAL RANK: Captain VC KCB RN
MEDAL LOCATION: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
 
NAVAL CAREER
 
07 APR 1838: Joined Navy, Princess Charlotte (104), William and Mary (Royal Yacht)
1840: In operations on coast of Syria, HMS Cambrian (36) China War
SEP 1843: Returned to England on troopship Belleisle
NOV 1843: HMS Excellent on a gunners course, completed May 1844
13 MAY 1844: Lieutenant
15 MAY 1844: HMS Winchester
29 AUG 1844: HMS Thalia (42) travelling as a passenger on route in HMS Collingwood for the Pacific Station
13 JUN 1845: HMS Cormorant in the Pacific, HMS America (50) USA & Canada
FEB 1846: HMS Devastation (Steam Sloop) at Woolwich
27 FEB 1846: HMS Constance (50) at Plymouth
27 JUN 1846: Commander (There was no rank of Lieutenant-Commander in these days)
11 FEB 1847: HMS Daring, (12) Sloop, in command. North America & West Indies Station
OCT 1848: Left ship
10 JAN 1849: Captain, HMS Queen Charlotte and Mentioned-in-Despatches
20 OCT 1850: He left England for a tour of the Holy Land, Egypt etc., returning 20 FEB 1851
20 AUG 1851: Up the Nile to Khartoum and onto El Obeid returning to England JAN 1852
19 OCT 1853: HMS Diamond (28) commissioned at Sheerness, in command, for service in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, HMS Monarch, HMS Camperdown
13 SEP 1856: Commissioned HMS Shannon, an experimental steam frigate (51) for service in China
MAR 1857: Sailed for China
02 JUL 1857: At Hong Kong
14 AUG 1857: Left Shannon with 450 strong naval brigade and 10 x 8” guns
20 OCT 1857: Reformed at Allahabad with 120 men
09 MAR 1858: Wounded at the second relief of Lucknow
20 APR 1858: Contracted smallpox at Cawnpore and died seven days later
 
References
 
National Maritime Museum
The Sandy Community Web site
Shannon Memorial on Southsea Seafront
The Peel Society
 

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