William Coffey VC

I made a special trip to Spital cemetery today to take a photograph of the grave of William Coffey, an Irish Victoria Cross winner, who lived for a time in my hometown of Chesterfield and he died here in 1875.

Coffey was awarded the VC for his acts of heroism in Sebastapol in 1855 during the Crimean War. On March 25th 1855, Private Coffey threw a live shell, which had fallen into the trench, over the parapet, endangering his own life to save his comrades.

Coffey was present for the first presentation of the Victoria Cross by Queen Victoria in Hyde Park and he clearly left an impression on the Queen as she mentioned him in her diary.

Coffey died of dysentery in 1875. He was penniless and as such was buried in an unmarked grave. His grave remained unmarked for nearly 100 years until an historian discovered his grave by working through records. A headstone was erected soon after by the Border Regiment. You can see Coffey's headstone here

Why did I choose this particular shot which shows Coffey's grave in the foreground ? I chose it because when I conducted my own research on the subject I was horrified to discover that all the grassed area around, and including Coffey's grave, is full of unmarked paupers graves. Sometimes each plot is as many as 2 or 3 bodies deep. Before, I had believed that Coffey had been granted a spot on his own underneath the tree as a mark of great respect for his heroism.

I guess that makes me somewhat naive. It did leave me with an overwhelming desire to do as much as I can for those who are either forgotten, or in danger of being lost to history.

I urge you to read more about William Coffey as it is actually a story with real twists and turns. The best source, without question, is the website created by his relative, Simon Gaine. Here is the link to the William Coffey website