John Cozens Gustavus Alfred’s great grandson tells me he was usually known as Alfred. There is a photo of him with a large beard which my father DB Bayly wrote on the back that it was to hide the neck wound he received in the Indian Mutiny when his head was nearly severed (not quite true as he only went to India after the Mutiny). In the 1880s he had a manufactory that produced ladders and steps in Kilburn.
107 Advert in Watford Observer of 5 Jul 1879 says “Practical Manufacturers of Ladders Barrows Steps & Trestles partivuolar attention given to country orders on remittance sent to 27 & 18 1/2 Paddington Green London. Price List on application” SJE Bayly says in letter to his brother CFH that Uncle Alfred is in a “padded room, no better” on 11th March 1901.
The photo of him is confirmed to be a 17th Lancer by the 17th Lancers museum at Grantham,
“Lancers were light cavalry leading the charge as the lance had the reach a shock effect the same as a tank today”
1851 census with family in Hereford Commercial Square Hereford HO 107/1978/267 page 97
Alfred son 13 scholar b Hereford
1871 census Butt Lane Church Lawton RG 10/3706 page 26
Guss A BRADLEY Head Mar 33 Carpenter b Hereford
Ann C F BRADLEY daur 4 b London
Guss A BRADLEY son 1 b London
Charlotte BRADLEY sister unm 18 b Hereford
1881 census 27 Paddington Green Paddington RG11/5 page 10
Guss A BRADLEY Head Mar 43 Saddlemaker b Herefordshire
Clara A BRADLEY wife 45 b Edgeware Midx
Clara BRADLEY daur 14 b Bromton Midx
Guss A BRADLEY son 11 b Kings X
Alice M BRADLEYU daur 6 b Paddington
Rose ~M daur 4 b Paddington
1891 census 277 High Rd Kilburn RG12/1045 page 8
Guss A BRADLEY head m 53 Laddermaker b Hereford
Clara BRADLEY wife 55 b Edgeware Midx
Clara A F daur S24 Dressmaker b Knightsbridge
Guss A son S 21 Laddermaker b King’s X
Edmund son S 16 b Laddermaker b Holborn
Alice M daur S 16 b Paddington Green
Rose M daur S 15 b Paddington Green
According to Kevin Asplin who researched him for Bryan Bradley, he never rose above a private, although the photograph shows him with striped of a sergeant. As Alfred Bradley he joined the 17th Lancers at the Cavalry Depot in Canterbury in March 1858, his unit had just set sail for India. He left for India in Sept 1858 with a draft and returned to England with the regiment in 1865. He bought himself out in 1866. Documents WO 12/ 12210 cavalry depot Canterbury Jan-Mar 1858. WO 12/1350 Paylist 17th lancers 1865-1866 Regt at Aldershot & Colchester, shows his discharge, and dates. Kevin Asplin says in 1861 he was with his unit in Secunderabad.
The Indian Mutiny
The Indian Mutiny broke out in May 1857, but with the slowness and difficulty of communications at that time it took quite a while before the politicians and generals back in Britain could react to it. The 17th Lancers were to form part of the relieving force and set out in October of that year. It arrived at the tail end of the campaign but was immediately dispatched to deal with the rebel leader, Tantia Topi, still at large in Mahratta. The regiment would be involved in a pursuit of over a thousand miles of difficult terrain in the full blare of an Indian summer. They eventually caught up with Tantia Topi and 5,000 rebels at Mangrauli. The small British force dealt with the rebels easily enough but only for Tantia himself to escape again. The force continued to pursue him with the young Evelyn Wood earning a Victoria Cross after rescuing a rich landowner from a large band of robbers in the Sironj jungle.
The pursuit of Tantia Topi took nine months before a force that included the 17th Lancers eventually caught up with him at Baroda. It was here that the Lancers charged and smashed through a force of some 5,000 native cavalry. This battle broke Tantia's forces for good, but it still took a further pursuit to track him down in the jungle with the aid of informers. He was hanged for his involvement in the mutiny.
The 17th stayed in Central India for a year before being marched south to Secunderabad. They spent five peaceful years there before returning to England in 1865. They were to remain there for fourteen years before being sent out to yet another new and exotic destination. Before doing so however, they were to be officially retitled as the 17th Duke of Cambridge's Own Lancers in recognition of the long standing association of the Duke of Cambridge and the regiment.