Harry Hampton VC (14 December 1870 – 2 November 1922) was an English recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Details

Hampton was born in Crown Terrace, Richmond (then in Surrey and now in London) on 14 December 1870. Hampton was 29 years old, and a sergeant in the 2nd Battalion, The King's (Liverpool) Regiment,

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

when the following deed took place on 21 August 1900 at Van Wyk's Vlei, South Africa, for which he was awarded the VC: He received the decoration from

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

, in person, during an investiture at St James's Palace on 17 December 1901.

Further information

Hampton later achieved the rank of colour sergeant. He retired from the Army after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and returned to the Richmond area, taking employment in the City of London as a

commissionaire In mainland Europe, a commissionaire is an attendant, messenger or subordinate employed in hotels, whose chief duty is to attend at railway stations, secure customers, take charge of their luggage, carry out the necessary formalities with respect t ...

with a firm of

solicitors A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

. In 1919 whilst dismounting from a bus in Richmond his leg, injured during the Boer War, gave way. He continued to live at the family home of 151 Halliburton Road, St Margarets,

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

until his fatal accident in November 1922. Hampton died in Twickenham on 2 November 1922. Although reported as having taken his own life by jumping in front of a train at

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

rail station, he did in fact succumb to multiple injuries sustained from falling against a

Shepperton Shepperton is an urban village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, approximately south west of central London. Shepperton is equidistant between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Thames. The village is mentioned in a document of 959 AD ...

train passing through St Margarets railway station in Twickenham. In the subsequent inquest there was no suggestion that he might have taken his own life, the opinion of the coroner being that a leg injured when he had fallen from a bus approximately two years before his death had given way as the Shepperton train passed through St Margarets station. His funeral was held in St Margarets, after which his coffin was carried on a gun carriage with a military escort. He was conveyed from St Margarets, across Richmond Bridge, and on arriving outside Richmond Town Hall, the Mayor, councillors, and a crowd of several thousand had assembled to pay their respects, many of which then followed the gun carriage to

Richmond Cemetery Richmond Cemetery is a cemetery on Lower Grove Road in Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. The cemetery opened in 1786 on a plot of land granted by an Act of Parliament the previous year. The cemetery has been expande ...

Richmond Old Cemetery, Harry Hampton VC headstone

He is buried in Richmond Cemetery, but for over 50 years his grave remained unmarked. In 1986 the location of the grave was re-discovered by Ron Buddle, a Metropolitan police officer and Victoria Cross historian who, with financial assistance from the King's Regiment Association, erected the present headstone. However, the date of death shown on the headstone of 4 February 1920 was incorrect, the error being corrected when the grave was restored in 2008 as part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames' "Adopt a Grave" scheme.

The medal

The location of his Victoria Cross is unknown.

References

Sources

* Buzzell, Nora (1997). ''

The Register of the Victoria Cross ''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the fo ...

'', '' This England''. Third ed., 352 pp. *

Harvey, David David W. Harvey (born 31 October 1935) is a British-born Marxist economic geographer, podcaster and Distinguished Professor of anthropology and geography at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He received his PhD ...

(1999). '' Monuments to Courage: Victoria Cross Headstones and Memorials'' Vol. 2, 1917–1982. Kevin & Kay Patience. OCLC 59437300 * Uys, Ian (2000). ''

Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War The Victoria Cross (VC) is a British military honour awarded to 78 members of the British Armed Forces for action during the Second Boer War. The Victoria Cross is a military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to me ...

.''

External links

Location of grave and VC medal
''(Surrey)''
Angloboerwar.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton, Harry 1870 births 1922 deaths British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross British recipients of the Victoria Cross Burials at Richmond Cemetery King's Regiment (Liverpool) soldiers People from Richmond, London Railway accident deaths in England Second Boer War recipients of the Victoria Cross Military personnel from Surrey