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William Connolly VC (c1816 – 31 December 1891) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. ==Biography== William Connolly was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England c1816. No baptism record has been found for him, his birth details and the identity of his parents are unknown.〔(Biography )〕 After working as a stableman, he enlisted as a soldier in the Honourable East India Company on 2 May 1837 at Liverpool. Later that year he sailed on the ship ''Exmouth'' to India to serve as a gunner in the Bengal Horse Artillery. He was given a medical discharge in 1859, at the age of 43 years old, after 21 years and 3 months service, due to wounds received on 7 July 1857 at Jhelum, British India during the Indian Mutiny. He was awarded the VC for his bravery at Jhelum. He was described as having an indifferent character. In physical appearance he was 5 feet 7 inches tall, he had brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. He returned home to England from India on the ship ''Alfred''.〔British Library. ''Register of European Soldiers for Bengal'', IOR/L/MIL/10/122.〕〔British Library. ''Medical Discharge Record'', IOR/L/MIL/10/302.〕〔(Liverpool )〕 It is known that he lodged with Thomas and Catherine Burrows at 124 Upper Mann Street Toxteth, Liverpool in 1861 and with the Dodd family at 40 Seacombe Street Everton, Liverpool in 1881. Catherine Burrows was formerly Catherine Connolly, so she was probably a relative. Thomas and Catherine were married on 17 December 1848 at St John The Baptist church in Toxteth. Catherine's father, Michael Connolly, was a warehouseman. She was living in Mill Street Toxteth at the time of the marriage.〔 In 1883 he leant his celebrity status to an advertising campaign for a universal remedy called "Eclectica": He lived comfortably as an army pensioner and improved his financial standing by selling his VC at auction in 1886 for £10. This was bought by Charles Winter, the newly appointed head of the Medal Department at Spink. The first sale at auction of a VC was in 1884.〔(Auction )〕 Towards the end of his life he lived in Great Homer Street Everton and had a deposit at Great Homer Street Post Office Savings Bank. He died on 31 December 1891 of bronchitis while lodging with the Johnson family at 14 Westminster Road Kirkdale, Liverpool. He was 75 years old. Mrs Johnson's daughter, Emma Cattrall, was present at his passing and informed the Kirkdale Registrar, Robert Henry Webster, the next day. He was buried on 4 January 1892 in Section CE 17 Grave 220 at Kirkdale Cemetery. This was an unmarked 'Public' grave as was the burial custom at that time. He made provision for his own funeral in his will and left £37 12s to his friend and doctor, Thomas Hill, of 6 Westminster Road.〔(Death )〕 Some historians, such as James Murphy in ''Liverpool VCs'', did not know about Connolly's will and wrongly assumed he died in poverty.〔〔Murphy, James. ''Liverpool VCs'', Pen & Sword Books, 2008〕 Similar information to Murphy's narrative about Connolly's supposed poverty was given to the ''Liverpool Echo'' by local politicians when a plaque was unveiled on the grave at Kirkdale Cemetery in 2015.〔(Liverpool Echo )〕 Correspondence sent to the ''Liverpool Echo'' corrected these biographical mistakes and was generally critical of previous accounts of Connolly's life.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William Connolly (VC)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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