Thomas James Young

Captain Thomas James Young VC was a Royal Navy officer and Victoria Cross recipient whose gallantry came during the Indian Mutiny. Sources disagree slightly on his birthplace: VCGCA gives 29 January 1827, Abbotshall, Fife, Scotland, while Wikipedia gives Chelsea, Middlesex/England. His naval career is clearer: he was promoted Lieutenant in 1851, served in HMS Excellent, HMS Agamemnon, HMS Inflexible, and then HMS Shannon, the ship whose naval brigade became central to his VC action. He was promoted Commander on 22 March 1858 and later Captain on 11 April 1866.

During the Crimean War he served with the Royal Navy and earned the Crimea Medal with clasps Azoff and Sebastopol, the Turkish Crimea Medal, and the Ottoman Order of the Medjidie, 5th Class. He later served in HMS Shannon in the East Indies, where Captain William Peel’s Naval Brigade was sent inland during the Indian Mutiny.

On 16 November 1857, at Lucknow, Young was serving as the gunnery officer with the Naval Brigade. British naval guns were brought close to the Shah Nujjiff/Shah Najaf mosque in an attempt to breach the walls under intense fire. Casualties among the gun crews were severe. Young moved between the guns encouraging the men, and when nearly all had been killed or wounded, he and Able Seaman William Hall continued to load and fire a 24-pounder gun. Their action helped breach the position and both men were recommended for the Victoria Cross by Captain Peel. The citation was published in the London Gazette on 1 February 1859.

Young married Louisa Mary Boyes on 10 January 1860; she was the sister of Duncan Gordon Boyes VC, making Young connected by marriage to another Victoria Cross recipient. He died at Caen, France, on 20 March 1869, and was buried in the Protestant Cemetery there. His Victoria Cross is held by the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

Database note: enter him as Royal Navy / Captain / VC / Crimea Medal with 2 clasps / Indian Mutiny Medal with 2 clasps / Turkish Crimea Medal / Order of the Medjidie 5th Class.