David Edward Herne

Military Career of David Herne - courtesy of John Chilstone

David Herne enlisted for service in the British Army at the Westminster (London) District Headquarters of the 77th Regiment of Foot (East Middlesex) on the 17th of February 1859. His description was given as being 18 years of age and 5ft 3.5 inches tall. He was paid £2 and 10 shillings as a bounty for enlisting, with a further 2 shillings and 6 pence going to the recruiters.

The depot of the 77th Regiment was on Jersey at that time (the service companies being on overseas service in India), David joins the Depot on the 26th of February where he is allocated the number 554. Thus he is the 554th man enlisted since the 1st of November 1856 when the regimental numbering system was restarted from zero. Private Herne is shown in these early musters under the name ‘Horne’ which changes to ‘Harne’ and only in July 1860 is he shown as ‘Herne’. His stay on Jersey is short as the depot of the 77th joins in with the 5th Depot Battalion at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight, on the 31st of March 1859.

The stay at Parkhurst is also brief and the depot is shipped to Chatham in Kent in June 1859 where it takes up station. David is shown as being in hospital (and thus unpaid) for a 12 day period at the end of August and the beginning of September and is made an acting Corporal on the 11th of September 1859. These acting ranks were common for soldiers proceeding overseas as no NCO’s could not be spared from the depot or service companies for the passage of new drafts to India. The draft of the 77th is part embarked on to the ‘Hanover’ on the 9th of September which arrives in Calcutta on the 7th of January 1860, a 120 day journey. Acting Corporal Herne and the remainder of the draft board the ‘St. Aliguis’ on the 12th of September, it arrives in the sub-continent on the 9th of January 1860, exactly the same passage time as the ‘Hanover’.

The service companies of the 77th were at Raj Ghaut, Benares at the beginning of 1860, so the drafts would have needed to travel up the Ganges by river transport. The men arrive at the service companies location in late February after a passage of over 5 months. It was normal for those men who were acting Corporals to relinquish rank at this time and that is exactly what becomes of David for a few days, he is however promoted to the permanent rank on the 1st of March 1860.

The Indian service musters are sadly lacking in details which occur in the musters of regiments in nearly any other station (no baggage allowance, beer money, discharge details etc.) and we are left with the soldiers location or activity at the last day of the month when the regiment mustered for it’s pay parade. Corporal Herne is shown as being on guard at the August & October 1860 musters and on fatigues in the September & December 1860 musters. The regiment moves during November 1860 (the November 1860 muster is taken on the route of march at Jehanabad) and is in it’s new station of Hazareebagh in December. Corporal Herne seems to have an affinity with duty as he is on Guard in February 1861 and Fatigues in March.

The next year and more at Hazareebagh passes without any information but the a list of duties (May, August & September 1861) and fatigues (June, July, November & December 1861, February, March April & June 1862 ). David Herne is granted his first good conduct badge (and 1 penny a day pay rise) on the April 1862 muster, he does not wear it for long however as he is promoted to sergeant on the 1st of July 1862 (Senior NCO’s did not wear good conduct badges). The regiment is again on the move in November 1862 (the November muster being at Mohimnea on the route of march) and is in station at Allahabad in December.

The climate of Allahabad does not seem to agree with Sergeant Herne as he is sick in hospital from at least July to September 1863 ( the March to June 1863 musters are missing) and is shown as ‘sick in quarters’ in October 1863 (from which we can assume he was married at this point). The musters are then quiet until April 1864 when Sergeant Herne is listed as being detached to ‘Ship Bentinck’. The musters give no other clue as to what this detachment entailed, but David Herne is the senior rank (and the only sergeant) present, with 11 privates (Samuel Adams, John Bridges, Henry Cotterill, Thomas Denton, William Fox, James McDonald, Thomas Martin, John Thompson, Henry Tomlinson, George White & William Whitcomb). It would seem they were acting as marines for a period, as they remained on this duty until August 1864 (4 months) and were then listed as detached until October 1864.

In November 1864 the regiment is again on the move to Bareilly (in station by the November muster). Sergeant Herne is again promoted, this time to Colour Sergeant on the 1st of March 1865, a quite amazingly quick rate of promotion in an army where men serving 20 years as a private soldier was quite common. Plainly David Herne is being ‘groomed’ for a top slot in the regiment, so it is surprising that he is discharged at Bareilly on the 5th of September 1865 as a Colour Sergeant after serving less than 7 years. There are no clues in the musters as to the circumstances of this discharge, but as no papers exist for this man, we can assume he was discharged either by purchase or he was released by the regiment for free. Sadly, there is no mention of his birthplace or trade on discharge (as is common with men discharged in India) and the Casualty lists (WO 25/3258) do not contain the lists for this period.

We can assume from this, that the photograph of David Herne as a Colour Sergeant with the 77th was taken in Bareilly between the 1st of March and the 5th of September 1865 and is a rare example of a uniform in this period.

Sources:

Public Record Office Files

WO 12/ 8294 to 8300 and 8302. (Musters, 77th Foot, 1858-1866)

WO 25/ 3258 (Casualty Returns, 77th Foot, no list of September 1865 exists)

WO 97/ 1617 (Chelsea Hospital Discharge papers, 77th Foot, 1854-72, no papers for David Herne)