Richard Hall Williams
Late Sergt Major 17th Lancers
died July 7th, 1910 aged 91 years
Crimean Balaclava & Indian Mutiny
Veteran
Richard Hall Williams was born near Bath and enlisted in the 17th Lancers in London in November 1843, aged 22 years. Advanced to Corporal in June 1848 and to Sergeant in September 1851, he rode in the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, in addition to being present at Alma, Inkermann and in the operations before Sebastopol. During the charge, as alluded to above, he was suffering from a painful boil on his nose, a factor to which he later referred:
‘ ... My visage was so fearsome that the Russians even held their fire. But the pain was so great that on the following day I had to report to the Regimental Surgeon - a step not to be lightly taken then ... Two orderlies held me and I received a smart buffet on the nose, which dispersed the fluid ...’
Peculiarly, his name is not on the appropriate roll for the ‘Balaklava’ clasp, but research undertaken by J. L. Boys confirms that ‘from all the evidence ... there can be no doubt that he did ride’, a contention with which Lummis and Wynn entirely concur in Honour the Light Brigade. Williams gained advancement to Troop Sergeant-Major in February 1855, embarked for India aboard the S.S. Great Britain in October 1857 and saw action in the Mutiny, albeit in the latter stages of the conflict between December 1858 and January 1859, when he was present at the engagements at Zeerapore and Baroda. He was subsequently awarded the Medal without a clasp.
Williams was discharged at Brighton in November 1867, having been awarded his Army L.S. & G.C. Medal earlier in the same year. Afterwards he became a Troop Sergeant-Major in the Worsley Troop of the Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry and sub-postmaster in Worsley village, near Manchester. He also taught drill to the school children on the Ellesmere estate. A keen mason, and a member of the Balaklava Commemoration Society from 1879, Williams signed the Loyal Address in 1887 and attended the Annual Dinners in 1892, 1894, 1895, 1899 and 1908. Awarded his M.S.M. in April 1884, he would have “forfeited” his original L.S. & G.C. Medal at that time, but just when he received his later impressed issue remains unknown.
Williams died at Eccles in July 1910, aged 91 years, and was buried in the churchyard at Worsley, where he had been a sides-man for over 20 years. Remarkably, as late as the 1970s, one of Williams’ sons, Clement, was still living in Worsley. He died on 10 April 1974, aged 100 years, and was buried in the same plot as his father. Sold with an original “In memoriam” card issued by Williams’ local masonic lodges, which includes a fine picture of him wearing his awards, both military and masonic.
Link for text above and picture of medals
The following information is from the Eccles and District Masons group:
It could be said that the Lodge had its beginnings by an order issued from the Colonel-in-Chief of the 17th Lancers stationed in India in 1867. Sgt. Major Williams, a Crimean war veteran and survivor of the ‘Valley of Death’ charge at Balaclava, requested to be discharged in that country with his family, but the Colonel insisted that his friend, the Earl of Ellesmere, required an experienced soldier as an instructor to take charge of the Duke of Lancaster’s own yeomanry in Worsley.
Sgt. Major Williams, together with his family, duly took up residence at 61 Barton Road in Worsley Village, opposite the old limekiln, to drill the pupils of St. Mark’s school and also became the Post Master, a position he held for thirty years.
Already a Freemason, Williams joined Bridgewater Lodge No. 1213, subsequently becoming Worshipful Master and eventually, together with Bro. William Bowden decided to form a new Lodge nearer home. The idea of having Lord Ellesmere as the first Worshipful Master, so giving the new Lodge a high status, was put into action and Williams approached the Vicar of Worsley, the Earl of Musgrave, Lord Ellesmere’s brother-in-law, to make the request. His Lordship agreed, but there was a snag, he was not in the Craft but was subsequently Initiated into United Lodge No. 1629, a special Lodge in London for the gentry, where he served a brief spell as Warden and Master so qualifying him for the position as Worshipful Master of the new Lodge.
So, on 17th February 1880, a bitterly cold day of fog, frost and snow at the Court House in Worsley, the Lodge was consecrated. The ceremony was carried out by a relative of Lord Ellesmere, the Provincial Grand Master Bro. Colonel Le Gendre N. Starkie and the Earl was installed as Worshipful Master. Among the congratulations sent was a telegram from no less a person than the Prince of Wales.
W.Bro. Richard Hall Williams subsequently became the second Worshipful Master with William Bowden becoming the seventh. Two of Williams’ sons G.C. Williams and C.H. Williams followed in their father’s footsteps becoming the thirty-second and fortieth Worshipful Masters, an outstanding service given by one family to the Lodge.
A tradition formed by Clem Williams in 1953, on his Golden Jubilee in the Craft, was the presentation of a silver-drinking goblet (pictured above), which had been given to his father by his military comrades when he retired, to the Lodge. The goblet is used by the reigning Master during his year in the Chair and is handsomely engraved and includes the skull and crossbones ‘Death or Glory’ motto of the 17th Lancers.
Meetings continued to be held at the Court House for some sixty-six years, an envied venue with a sprung floor and a huge fireplace, essential for the winters in those days.
The hostelry across the road, nicknamed ‘The Grapes’, provided the Social Board up until 1903 when it was demolished to make way for a new gateway to the Earl’s residence.
In 1946, however, the Lodge voted to leave the Court House along with Walkden Lodge, who by then had also taken up residence there, and move to Eccles Masonic Hall where we have been very comfortable to this day.
The foregoing is just a brief account of the early days of Worsley Lodge. For a full and very interesting history, the book by Bro. Harry W. Charlton, ‘The First Hundred’ is recommended and can be obtained by contacting the Lodge Secretary.
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