John Prettyjohns, VC (11 June 1823 – 20 January 1887) was a

Royal Marine The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

and a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

forces.

Early life

Prettyjohns was born at

Dean Prior Dean Prior is a village and civil parish near the A38 road, in the South Hams district, in the county of Devon, England. It is located near the town of Buckfastleigh and north of South Brent. Dean Prior has a Grade I listed church dedicated to ...

, near to

Buckfastleigh Buckfastleigh is a market town and civil parish in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway ( A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge and, for ecclesiastical purposes, lies within the Totnes Deanery. ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, to William Pethyjohns (1800–1889) and his wife Margaret ( Pow, 1805–1866). His early years were spent labouring in Buckfastleigh.

Military career

On 10 June 1844, Prettyjohns enlisted as a private in the 59th Company, Plymouth Division, for unlimited service – and collected 2s 6d for attestation. On the following day, he collected a bounty of £3 17s 6d for oath of allegiance. He embarked on to south-east America and East Indies on 22 March 1845, being flogged for an unknown misdemeanour on 28 June. He disembarked at

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

on 23 August 1849, and joined HMS ''Bellerophon'' on 7 November 1850. On this ship, he embarked for the Mediterranean in January 1852, being promoted to corporal on 15 January. On 17 October 1854, HMS ''Bellerophon'' bombarded

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

. On 5 November 1854, Corporal John Prettyjohns won the

during the

Battle of Inkerman The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain and Second French Empire, France against the Imperial Russian Empire, Russian Army. Th ...

On 16 January 1856, Prettyjohns was promoted to

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

and embarked on for

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

on 12 March 1857. He was promoted to colour sergeant on 29 April, and on 26 June a VC was sent to the Admiralty and despatched to China for presentation. On 16 July, he sailed for Singapore and Calcutta on , arriving in Fort William, Calcutta later that year. On 28 December he took part in the capture of Canton before embarking on for Vancouver and San Juan Island. On 17 December 1863 his final tour of duty came to an end. He was discharged on 16 June 1865 after 21 years and 6 days service – 16 years 94 days of which were spent at sea or abroad.

Personal life

Prettyjohns married his first cousin, Elizabeth Prettyjohns (7 May 1826 – 19 August 1912), at Plymouth Register Office on 10 February 1850. They had two children: Elizabeth (Bessie) Prettyjohns (1857 – 13 July 1889); and Alice Maud Prettyjohns (28 February 1865 – 4 July 1960). Following his discharge, Prettyjohns retired to the Greater Manchester area, and became a Golf Club steward at Whalley Range Bowling Club, Albert Road, Withington, Lancashire. He died on 20 January 1887 at

Chorlton upon Medlock Chorlton-on-Medlock or Chorlton-upon-Medlock is an inner city area of Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, Chorlton-on-Medlock is bordered to the north by the River Medlock, which runs immediately south ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

and is buried in the

Southern Cemetery, Manchester Southern Cemetery is a large municipal cemetery in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, England, south of the city centre. It opened in 1879 and is owned and administered by Manchester City Council. It is the largest municipal cemetery in the United ...

Legacy

The Royal Marines hold a procession each autumn to honour the memory of Prettyjohns. His Victoria Cross and other medals are displayed at the

Royal Marines Museum The Royal Marines Museum is a museum on the history of the Royal Marines from their beginnings in 1664 through to the present day. A registered charity, it is also a designated service museum under the terms of the National Heritage Act 198 ...

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

, England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prettyjohns, John 1823 births 1887 deaths People from Buckfastleigh British recipients of the Victoria Cross Royal Marines ranks Crimean War recipients of the Victoria Cross Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War Royal Navy personnel of the Second Opium War Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross Burials at Southern Cemetery, Manchester