Thomas Arthur (c1835-1902)

Gunner Thomas Arthur of Abbotsham, VC of Bideford
It was June 1855 and twenty-year-old Gunner and Driver Thomas Arthur, a member of the Royal Artillery Regiment, was with his artillery battery in an advanced position at Sebastopol. The British were attacking the Russians in an endeavour to capture a place known as the Quarries. Thomas Arthur was in charge of the ammunition magazine but his deeds went well beyond that call of duty. The fighting was intense and he realised that infantry of the 7th Fusiliers were short of ammunition. Despite having to cross open ground, under fire from the enemy, he made repeated runs carrying supplies of ammunition. Eleven days later, he volunteered to lead a party to spike the guns of the Russian artillery who were positioned at the Redan, a fortified gun position. On top of this, there were numerous times when he left the trenches to bring in wounded officers and men. For this combination of heroic actions, he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He later fought in the China War in 1860 and was awarded the Medaille Militaire by the French.

Family and Life
Thomas Arthur VC who was born about 1835 in Abbotsham, Devon fought in the Crimean War (1853-1856) as Rank Gunner & Driver in the Royal Regiment of Artillery and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery at Sebastopol on 7 June 1855; he was also at one point nursed by Florence Nightingale.

Sometime after his return from the Crimean war (1853-1856) he went on to fight in the China war (1856-1860). However, between all this fighting he managed to find the time to marry; and on the 6 July 1859 at Aldershot, Hampshire, while still serving in the Army, Thomas Arthur married Ann Goddard. Shortly after his marriage Thomas Arthur returned to, or joined, the conflict in China where he was awarded in 1860 the Medel Militaire by the French.

On returning from China in about 1860 Thomas Arthur and Ann, his wife, settled in Plymouth, Devon where a few months later she become pregnant; and the following year gave birth to their first born, Jeanetta Arthur. A couple of years later, about 1863, their second child Emily Arthur was born, also in Plymouth, Devon.

A few years later they're in Ireland where on 20 February 1865 Mary Ann Arthur is born at Ballincollig, County Cork; and by 1868 in India where Ann gives birth to three more children, Britannia McArthur, Alice McArthur and Agnes Phoebe McArthur, all born in India between 1868 and 1872. While living in India not only does Thomas Arthur revert to his original name of McArthur but also his wife, Ann Arthur (born Ann Goddard) adopts the British name of Britannia McArthur, Britannia being the name they also give to their first born in India. One can only speculate that living in India at the time choosing to be called Britannia was a very British thing! The name obviously stuck because she was then known as Britannia for the rest of her life and even buried with the name.

By about 1873 the McArthur family were back in England and about that time Aileen Ruby McArthur was born; possibly in Bideford, Devon where in 1876 another daughter, Sophia McArthur, was born.

In about 1879 their youngest daughter Nelly McArthur was born in Pucklechurch, Bristol. In the same year, on the 20 October 1879, Thomas Arthur's oldest child, Jeanetta Arthur, married Thomas Stickler at St.Philip and St.Jacob, Bristol, [Wikipedia:St_Philip_and_Jacob,_Bristol].

In 1881 Jeanetta Arthur and Thomas Stickler were living at 28 Parkfield Ranks, Pucklechurch, Bristol; and visiting them was Jeanetta's sister, Emily Arthur, a domestic house servant. By this time Thomas McArthur with his wife and children Nelly McArthur (aged 2), Sophia McArthur (aged 5), Agnes McArthur (aged 9), Alice McArthur (aged 11) and Britannia McArthur (aged 13) were living at their family home, 7 Cadley Square, South Savernake, Wiltshire.

In 1891 census Thomas with his wife and their youngest daughter, Nelly McArthur now aged about 11, were still living in Savernake, but now living at 28 Salisbury Road, Cadley, South Savernake, Wiltshire; the older children having left home and Thomas Arthur is shown as Thomas McArthur, Chelsea Pensioner (V.C).

Thomas McArthur died on 2 March 1902 and was buried at the family home in Savernake, Wiltshire; the following year, 25 April 1893 Britannia McArthur marries Samuel Feeltam at Savernake, Wiltshire.

In 1896 Aileen Ruby McArthur is living in London where on 23 May of that year she marries Harvey Roach in St.Marylebone, London; and a few years later, on 28 October 1899 Sophia McArthur marries Thomas Davis in Maindee, Monmouthshire, Wales. The youngest daughter, Nelly McArthur marries Joseph Ford Passott back at the family location in Savernake, Wiltshire on 20 June 1903.

Further Information
Of the two dozen or so male descendants of Thomas Arthur VC that we have on record 14 have been given Arthur as a middle name. Jeannetta also named her daughter `Mabel Arthur Stickler'.

In the 1891 Census Thomas Arthur is shown as Thomas McArthur and as a Chelsea Pensioner (VC). He died on 2nd March 1902 and is buried at Cadley churchyard, Savernake, Wiltshire (now a private residence). His Victoria Cross is held by the Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich, England.

Contributors
Nathanville