Sergeant Frederick Peake in old age, dressed in the coatee that he wore during the Charge of the Light Brigade

Photograph, 1890 (c).

Frederick Thomas Peake (1828-1906) was born in Dublin where he enlisted into the 13th (Light) Dragoons in November 1846, aged 18. After service in the United Kingdom he embarked with the Army of the East in 1854 and was promoted sergeant during the voyage. After being injured during the Charge of the Light Brigade in October 1854, Peake was evacuated first to Scutari and invalided home on 20 December 1854 and remained throughout 1855 at the Invalid Depot at Chatham.

In January 1856 as a result of his wound, Peake was discharged from the Army with a pension of 1/3d per day. Because he could read and write, Peake secured a post as a military stores clerk with an increased pension. He nonetheless encountered financial difficulties and before his death in 1906 had sought relief from the Light Brigade Survivors' Fund and the Royal Patriotic Fund.