Rear Admiral Henry James Raby VC, CB
Henry Raby was a remarkable man in many ways. Not only was he the very first Victoria Cross recipient ever to be presented with his award by Queen Victoria, but he was also the only one to be ‘wounded’ during an investiture.
While he was from a traditional British family, Henry James Raby was born in Boulogne, France, on September 26, 1827. He came from a line of influential industrialists: his grandfather, Alexander, had built a fortune around the iron industry in south Wales. However, after the depression that followed the Napoleonic Wars, the Raby family had hit hard times.
Another disaster occurred while Henry, his father Arthur and mother Henrietta (née Smith) were travelling around Europe in 1824 – their much-loved home in Llanelli, Cae Mawr Cottage, was destroyed in a fire.
Raby Jnr was educated at Sherborne School in Dorset before he joined the Royal Navy on March 8, 1842, aged 14. A Volunteer First Class, he was assigned to HMS Monarch. For the next 12 years he served on various ships and enjoyed several promotions.
On October 23, 1854, with the Crimean War raging, Lord Raglan called for naval assistance to reinforce land troops whose numbers had been ravage…
