Went looking for the grave of a Napoleonic War Veteran Henry Maidment.

Went looking for the grave of a Napoleonic War Veteran Henry Maidment

. Henry was an agricultural labourer who lived here in Dorset in the North Dorset village of Pimperne. In 1866, Henry was one of the few surviving British Army veterans who had fought Napoleon Bonaparte’s French Army in the Spanish Peninsular War.

Unknown Peninsular War veteran:

At 83, he could not work and had hit hard times. He was surviving on a parish handout of just two shillings and sixpence (12.5p) per week and a single loaf of bread. The octogenarian pauper had, in fact, a distinguished military record but had left the army without a military pension.

He fought in the Battles of Talavera, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle and Toulouse. For this, he was entitled to a Military General Service Medal with clasps.

Each of his major battles was represented by a clasp on the ribbon. Such a medal was valued in 2006 to be worth £3,700. In August 1815, his battalion had even accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on the island of St Helena.

In the 1861 census, Henry is listed as an agricultural labourer, aged 78.

In March 1866, a letter about Henry Maidment appeared in the columns of the London Times newspaper. Signed by 2nd Lieutenant of Dorset, George Mansel, Henry was described as a fine old soldier now suffering hard times. 

Mansel invited the assistance of the public towards maintaining this old Peninsular War veteran, whom he said had no other maintenance than a tiny parish payout.

On Friday 6 April 1866 a more acidic but unsigned letter about Henry Maidment appeared in the Western Gazette.

‘I read in the Times of 28th, a letter signed by a gentleman of property and position, as I am told, in Pimperne – Colonel Mansel. If this be so, more shame, I think for the Colonel, Lord Portman, and other rich proprietors in the parish and neighbourhood, who must surely might afford, among them, to keep this poor old soldier in comfort, without invoking the powerful aid of your columns to assist them.’

By 1868, Henry had died. He was buried on the 26th March 1868 in the graveyard of St. Peter’s Church, Pimperne. He had lived in an era when an agricultural labourer rarely left his home village. However, as a soldier he experienced Ireland, Portugal, Spain and France and would have visited cities such as Cork, Porto, Toulouse and Bordeaux. Quite different places compared to the village of Pimperne.

Undoubtedly though, the finest achievement of Henry Maidment was to survive the six major bloody battles of the Spanish Peninsular War. It was a period also, when armies lost more soldiers from disease than in battle. One can but hope that the appeal made on his behalf deservingly led to the old Dorset infantryman spending his last few years in a little more comfort.

I was assuming that it would be a very humble grave stone but sadly I couldn’t find it. This is often the case with graveyards that are from the medieval period - closer to a 1000 years of burials. 

Being a humble poor countryman and despite his epic service he would more than likely have had a cheap grave marker. An extraordinary gentleman from an extraordinary time. Thank you to Dorset History Centre!