John Ashley Kilvert

Kilvert was born on 29 September 1833, at High Ercall, Shropshire, the son of George Kilvert, a farmer. He was educated at High Ercall Grammar School. His early career was in the wine trade. == Military service ==

Kilvert enlisted in the 11th Hussars, part of the British Army, in Nottingham. He was hit by a musket ball which passed through his right leg, and then into his horse. The next day he was promoted to sergeant. He subsequently worked as an army recruiter based in Bath. He ended his military career with the rank of Troop Sergeant-Major, which he attained in 1857. He was awarded the British Crimea Medal with bars for Alma, Balaklava and Sebastopol, presented to him by Queen Victoria in a ceremony on Horseguards Parade on 18 May 1855. He also received the Turkish Crimean War Medal (Sardinian variant). == Civic service ==

After the war, Kilvert lived in Coventry, married there, and had a son named George. which he named 'Balaclava House', after the battle. == Legacy ==

. The Turkish award is on the left. Kilvert died in Wednesbury on 17 October 1920 and was buried in plot A1037 at Wood Green Cemetery there on 22 October. After passing through several hands they were bought, innocently, by Walter Hands, a medal collector from Walsall. After his death, Mrs Hands put them up for auction in 2013, when their origin was identified and she agreed to donate them back to the museum. A portrait of Kilvert, in oil, in which he is shown wearing civic regalia, is also at Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery. The artist is unknown. The sword Kilvert used at the Charge of the Light Brigade is in the possession of Sandwell College where one of the floors at Central Campus is named after him. == References ==