Grady, Thomas

Click here to read How Tom Grady Cleared the Gun and won the Victoria Cross

PERSONAL DETAILSThomas GRADY
Birth date and Place18 Sep 1835, Claddagh, Galway, County Galway, Ireland.
Baptism date and Place
Census Residences
Occupations pre-WALabourer
Physical DescriptionHeight: 5 ft. 5¼ ins. Complexion: fresh. Eyes: blue. Hair: dark brown.
Marriage date and Place6 Aug 1855, St Peter’s, Liverpool, Lancashire [GRO Vol. 8b Page 54].
SpouseCatherine DEVENY (DAVENY).
ChildrenMary Ellen b. 1851, Liverpool, Lancashire.
Martin John b. 1862 Liverpool, Lancashire.
Death date and Place19 May 1891 Immigrants’ Home, Melbourne, Victoria.
Burial date and Place21 May 1891 Melbourne General Cemetery, Melbourne, Victoria.
Will and ProbateNone.
ObituariesGippsland Times 22 May 1891.
Town and Country Journal 30 May 1891.
Argus 24 Jun 1891.
ARMED FORCES
Regiment99th (Lanarkshire) Regiment. 15 Feb 1854 transferred to
4th (The King’s Own) Regiment.
Regiment No. and Rank#3319 (4th) Private.
Attestation date and Place18 Jun 1853 Liverpool, Lancashire.
Service/CampaignsIn the East (Crimea) 1 year.
Musters
PromotionsNone.
Medals, Clasps and BadgesCrimean War Medal clasps Alma, Inkermann, Sebastopol.  Turkish Crimea Medal.
Distinguished Conduct Medal (annuity).
Victoria Cross (annuity).
The Victoria Cross medal is now in the care of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, ID Ref No. REL/11986.001.
Citation for Victoria Cross: For having, on the 18th October, 1854, volunteered to repair the embrasures of the Sailors’ 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.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. [London Gazette 23 Jun 1857, page 2165].
Casualty/MedicalSeverely wounded. [London Gazette 22 Nov 1854, page 4047].
When on duty in the trenches before Sebastopol received a gunshot wound of left arm – the ball passing through deltoid muscle and grazing the bone. Since that time he has had numbness and loss of power in left arm, and he cannot use his musket properly, nor can he lift any weight with it. Unfit for the service.
Regimental Courts MartialNone.
District Courts MartialNone.
General Courts MartialNone.
Discharge date and Place28 Oct 1856 Chatham, England.
Length of Service3 years 41 days.
Chelsea Pension ReferenceWO97/1395/72.
Post Discharge ResidenceLiverpool.
Post Discharge Pension District:1st Liverpool (1856). Galway (1859). Western Australia (1862). Melbourne (1867–March 1891).
Pension Amount8d. per diem. £5 annuity (DCM). £10 annuity (VC).
Patriotic Fund.
ARRIVAL and LIFE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
ShipNorwood.
Departure and Arrival16 Mar 1862 Portland; 09 Jun 1862 Fremantle.
Status/OccupationEnrolled Pensioner Force.
Land Grant/PurchaseNone in Western Australia.
SubscriptionsLancashire Relief Fund 1863.
Greenough Fire Fund 1864.
Departure from WA17 Nov 1866 Gem to Melbourne.
Newspaper articles in VictoriaArgus 18, 20, 21 Jun 1890.
Argus 28 Jan 1891.
Traralgon Record 09 Jan 1891.
Kilmore Free Press 05 Mar 1896.