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The story of Thomas Grady VC – EPG Gazette July 2005
How Tom Grady Cleared the Guns – Ellis Williams Poem – EPG Gazette April 2010
| Name | GRADY – Thomas |
|---|---|
| Regiment (s) | 99th and 4th Regiment |
| Regiment Number (s) | 3319 |
| Date/Age/Place/Trade or Profession at Attestation | 18th June 1853 / 17 years 9 months / Liverpool Lancashire England Labourer |
| Description – Height Complexion/Eyes/Hair/Scars | 5 Ft 5 in Fresh / Blue / Dark Brown / Gunshot wound on left arm |
| Overseas Service/Duration | With the Army in the East (Crimea) – 1 year |
| Length of Service | 3 years 41 days |
| Rank/Date/Place of Discharge | Private / 28th October 1856 / Chatham Kent England |
| Campaign Medals | Crimea War Medal with Alma Inkermann and Sebastopol clasps Turkish Crimea Medal Distinguished Conduct in the Field medal (DCM) Victoria Cross |
| Intended Residence at Discharge | Liverpool Lancashire England |
| Pension Districts | 1856 1st Liverpool 1859 Galway 1862 Tilbury 1862- November 1866 Western Australia 1867 to March 1879 Melbourne Victoria |
| Pension Paid | 8d per diem £5 annuity (for Distinguished Conduct Medal) £10 annuity (for Victoria Cross) |
| Date of Departure and Place England or Ireland | 16th March 1862 Portland Dorset England |
| Ship and Date of Arrival Western Australia | NORWOOD 9th June 1862 |
| Date/Place of Birth | 1831 or 18th September 1835 Claddagh (Cheddah) Galway County Galway Ireland |
| Date/Place of Baptism | Not yet known |
| Father Date/Place of Birth | GRADY James Not yet known |
| Mother Date/Place of Birth Marriage | UNKNOWN Ellen Not yet known |
| Siblings | Not yet known |
| 1st Wife Date of Birth or Baptism | DEVANY / DAVENY Catherine Not yet known |
| Date/Place of Marriage | 6th August 1855 St Peter’s Liverpool Lancashire [GRO Vol. 8b Page 54] |
| Children by 1st Wife | Mary Ellen B July 1851 Liverpool England M 1) KENWORTHY Henry 1874 Melbourne Victoria M 2) COAKLEY Daniel 1883 Melbourne Victoria D 15th December 1930 St Kilda Melbourne Victoria Martin John B 1862 Liverpool England D 30th April 1890 Melbourne Victoria bur General Cemetery Melbourne Victoria |
| Father of 1st wife Date/Place of Birth | DAVENY/DEVANY Francis Not yet known |
| Mother of 1st wife Date/Place of Birth Marriage | THORNTON Mary Not yet known |
| Land Grants Western Australia | None |
| Occupation after Arrival | Not yet known |
| Newspaper Articles | London Gazette 1854, 1857 Perth Inquirer 1863 Argus (Victoria) 18th 20th 21st June 1890 Traralgon Record 9th January 1891 Argus 28th January 1891 Argus 24th June 1891 Kilmore Free Press 5th March 1896 The Herald Thursday 21st May 1891 page 4: Career of Thomas Grady VC |
| Departure from Western Australia | 17th November 1866 departed with wife and children for Melbourne per “Gem” |
| Date/Place of Death/Burial | 18th/19th May 1891 Immigrants’ Home Melbourne Victoria 21st May 1891 Melbourne General Cemetery Victoria |
| Date/Place of Death/Burial Wife | 12th October 1891 Convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor Northcote Victoria Melbourne General Cemetery Victoria |
| Will or Probate | None known |
| Further Information | Thomas Grady was the recipient of the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Victoria Cross for his service at the Crimea. He enlisted in the 99th Foot on 18 June 1853 serving with them until 13 February 1854. This regiment was then serving in New South Wales and Grady was probably intended as a reinforcement to fill the place of one of the many soldiers who elected to remain as a soldier settlers in the colony rather than return to Britain. He transferred to the 4th Regiment of Foot on 14 February 1854 serving with them until 21 September 1856 including service in the Crimean War. Grady emigrated to Australia as an assisted immigrant in 1865 and died near Melbourne on 18 May 1891. As a Private he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) on 18 October 1854 for actions at Sailor’s Battery at Sebastopol, Crimea. He also received a second recommendation for the Victoria Cross on 22 November 1854 and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) in the Crimea, date and place unknown. Grady was recommended for the VC by Captain Lushington, Royal Navy. The citation for VC reads, ‘For having, on the 18th October 1854, Volunteered to repair the Embrazures of the Sailor’s Battery on the left Attack, and effected the same, with the assistance of one other Volunteer, under a very heavy fire from a line of batteries’ (London Gazette 23 June 1857). Grady was recommended for the VC a second time. The dates of both actions are engraved on the reverse of his cross but only one cross was awarded. The recommendation for second award reads, ‘For gallant conduct on the 22nd November 1854, in the repulse of the Russian attack on the advanced Trench of the Left Attack, when on being severely wounded, he refused to quit the front, encouraging, by such determined bearing, the weak force engaged with the Enemy to maintain its position’. Grady was discharged the service with a pension as a result of the wound received on 22 November 1854. His Victoria Cross was one of sixty-two VCs personally awarded by Queen Victoria at the first investiture held in Hyde Park, London, on 26 June 1857. Grady’s DCM has not survived; it was ripped from his coat by a thief in Melbourne as he went to the Post Office to collect his pension. Above in italics is from an unknown source |