Very rare Victorian era father & son military archive – 5x original documents + 3x photographs relating to JOSEPH RICE 10th Regiment of Foot (North Lincolnshire - Indian Mutiny 1857 - in action at Lucknow) & JOSEPH HENRY RICE 18th Hussars.

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You are looking at a very rare collection of original military documents and carte-de-visit photographs to father and son, JOSEPH RICE and JOSEPH HENRY RICE.

The items are:

•           Parchment Certificate of Discharge dated 1865 – For Private 3274 JOSEPH RICE of the 1^st Battalion the 10^th Regiment of Foot (North Lincolnshire).
•           Grand Lodge of India certificate dated 1892 – For Brother RICE.
•            I.O.G.T. Grand Lodge of India Past Representative’s Certificate dated 1893 – For Brother J H RICE.
•            Parchment Certificate of Discharge dated 1898 – For Private 3007 JOSEPH HENRY RICE of the 18^th Regiment of Hussars.
•            Parchment Certificate of Character – For Private 3007 JOSEPH HENRY RICE of the 18^th Regiment of Hussars. The document was handwritten at Umballa in India and is dated the 21^st of December 1893, and it was officially stamped, at the discharge depot in Gosport, on the 20^th of March 1895.
•           3 x carte-de-visit photographs – Photograph by ‘Lau Bro’s – Amballa and Kasauli’, and showing JOSEPH HENRY RICE at different stages in his army service whilst in India.

JOSEPH RICE (father)

JOSEPH RICE, service number 3274, enlisted into the 10^th (North Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot at Liverpool on the 8^th of June 1855, at the age of 19 years.

According to his ‘Certificate of Service (Discharge)’ document, his conduct in the army was ‘good’, and he was in possession of the Indian Mutiny Medal with clasp ‘Lucknow’ and a ‘Good Conduct Badge’.  

JOSEPH was serving with the 1^st Battalion of the 10^th Regiment during the Indian Mutiny (1857-59), and they were involved in the Siege of Arrah (1857) and Lucknow (1858).

He is listed in the handwritten ‘Roll of Officers and Men of the 1^st Battalion of the 10^th Regiment, who have been employed in the suppression of the Mutiny in India’, with YES recorded in the column saying ‘if engaged in the operations against Lucknow from 2 to 16 March 1858’, and there is a further not saying “at Jugdespore - advance to Lucknow with Brig Gen’l FRANKS”....This entry places him directly at the capture of Lucknow, an event to which Private DENIS DEMPSEY of the Regiment was awarded the Victoria Cross.

After the Indian Mutiny ended in 1859, JOSEPH returned to England, it has to be assumed he deployed with his Regiment to South Africa (1859-1862) and was on garrison duty at Cape Town (1863-1865).

He was discharged from the army at Chatham in the June of 1865, having served for ten years.

JOSEPH HENRY RICE (son)

JOSEPH RICE Junior attested into the 18^th Hussars, at London, on the 3^rd of May 1886, at the age of 19 years.

He serviced in India from the 19^th of November 1889 (landed 18^th December) to the 5^th of February 1894, a period of just over four years.

According to the Indian Masonic Lodge documentation, JOSEPH, of St Paul’s Lodge, number 19, was initiated into the Order of Good Templars in March 1892, received the Degree of Fidelity in April 1892, and became a Member of the Grand Lodge of India in November that same year, and he served as a member of the lodge at Agra, until at least the 27^th of June 1893, the date provided for him on his ‘Past Representative’s Certificate’.

JOSEPH served for twelve years in the army, over eight years in the regular army, over three in the reserves, and four years of his regular service were spent overseas.

He did not receive any war or service medals during this time and was discharged in May 1898.

Potted history of JOSEPH RICE and JOSEPH HENRY RICE

The RICE family history outside of their military service has been difficult to establish, but the following is believed to be the best assessment that can be provided.

JOSEPH RICE Senior was born at Winchester in Hampshire c1836/37. He is believed to be the JOSEPH RICE, son of WILIAM and ANN RICE, who was baptised at Winchester on the 30^th of June 1837.

Accepting he is WILLIAM and ANN’S son, then the family appear in the 1841 Census at Winchester, with WILLIAM’S profession recorded as police constable, and this in itself is a remarkable thing, because this occupation was extremely rare, Winchester City Police was the first place in Hampshire to create a police contingent, and WILLIAM may have been one of just a handful of men acting in that role, in fact the Hampshire County Constabulary had less than 100 constables serving the whole county by 1839/40.

JOSEPH may have lost his parents early, and he is likely to be the JOSEPH RICE who appears in the 1851 Census at St Pancras in London.

JOSEPH is also believed to have married a JANE TIPPETT, but no marriage record can be found, although we know she was born c1835 in the St Columb area of Cornwall, and there is a JANE TIPPETT who can be seen in the historical records for the Cornwall area who would match this person.

The couple next appear in the 1881 Census living in the Finsbury area of London, with JOSEPH employed as a house steward, but he also appears to be JOSEPH RICE whose death was registered at Islington in the September quarter of 1885, at the age of 49 years (column 1b page 158), and JANE is believed to have died in 1887 at the age of 52 (Registered Marylebone, December quarter, volume 1a page 439).

JOSEPH HENRY, the son of JOSEPH RICE Senior, was born at Bishopsgate in London on the 9^th of February 1867, and he was admitted to St Matthew’s School in Islington in 1877, the family home at the time recorded as 20 Sudeley Street.

JOSEPH HENRY RICE was born c1866/67 with his birth registered at St Pancras (Registered January 1867, mother surname TIPPETT, volume 1b page 28), but his army service documents suggest he was born at Bishopsgate, a completely different area of London. He also appears alongside his parents in the 1871 and 1881 Census records, with his place of birth recorded as St Pancras and Hampstead respectively.

On the 5^th of April 1896, JOSEPH married PHOEBE BEEDELL in the Emmanuel Church in Lambeth, and they had children. He was a butcher by profession, that matches the occupation recorded for him in one of the original military documents provided, and in later census records he is described as a journeyman or travelling butcher, although in 1921 he was a porter at Smithfield Market.

JOSEPH HENRY died on the 16^th of May 1925.

SELLER NOTE = Supporting documentation obtained and / or created during my research into this medal will be provided.

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