Robert James Lindsay - VC Recipient
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Robert James Lindsay / Robert Loyd-Lindsay - Baron Wantage of Lockinge & Recipient of the Victoria Cross

Robert James Lindsay (1832-1901), born 16 April 1832 at Balcarres, Scotland, the youngest child of General James and Anne (nee Trotter) Lindsay.  Robert James Lindsay was cousin to the 26th Earl of Crawford and recipient of the first Victoria Cross awarded to the British Army.  The Victoria Cross was awarded for Captain Lindsay's bravery in action on 20 September 1854 at the Battle of the Alma, Crimea where he fought with his regiment, the Scots Fusilier Guards.

On 11 June 1856 Robert Lindsay finally left the Crimea to return to Britain a national hero and was decorated by Queen Victoria who held the first investiture of VCs in Hyde Park on June 26, 1857.

During the years that followed the Crimea campaign Robert Lindsay was quartered partly in the barracks of Portsmouth and partly in London, where he became a conspicuous figure in society. In the spring of 1858 he was selected by the Prince Consort for the post of Equerry in the newly formed household of the young Prince of Wales until Robert's marriage. Within a year he had left the army at the age of 27 with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

On 17 November 1858, Robert James Lindsay married Harriet Sarah Jones-Loyd, the only child of Lord (Samuel Jones Loyd) and Lady Overstone, an influential British banking family.  Robert James Lindsay assumed the name Loyd-Lindsay by royal license, and took the arms of the Loyd family.

The Lockinge Estate and Lockinge House (demolished in 1947) were acquired by Robert Loyd-Lindsay through his wife's family on their marriage in 1858.  By 1873 the estate comprised some 20,000 acres and was the largest in Berkshire and one of the largest in England.

Robert Loyd-Lindsay maintained a lively interest in military matters and, at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, he took urgent steps to found the National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War which later became the British Red Cross Society.

On 23 July 1885 Robert Loyd-Lindsay was created Baron Wantage of Lockinge by Queen Victoria.  On 28 July 1885 he took his seat in the House of Lords.  The title became extinct at his death.

Robert Loyd-Lindsay died June 10, 1901, eight days after he attended the funeral of Queen Victoria.  He was buried in the vault at Ardington Church. His wife erected a marble cross in his memory.  The memorial cross is located in Wantage on The Ridgeway east of the junction with the B4494, about a quarter of a mile from the road.

About the Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross is the British realm's highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy. It has precedence over any other of the Sovereign's awards or Commonwealth decorations.

The Victoria Cross was founded by Royal Warrant January 29, 1856 to recognize the bravery of those who were then fighting the Crimean War. It was available to all soldiers and "neither rank, nor long service, nor wounds, nor any other circumstance or condition whatsoever, save the merit of conspicuous bravery" could make one eligible. 

The Cross itself is cast from the bronze of cannons captured at Sevastopol during the Crimean War. The design, chosen by Queen Victoria, consists of a cross patee ensigned with the Royal Crest resting upon a scroll bearing the words "For Valour." The reverse of the suspender bar is engraved with the recipients' name, rank and unit while the reverse of the cross is engraved with the date of the deed for which the recipient was honored.

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Notation:  Lindsay International acknowledges Dale Ingram ingrammatrix@btclick.com , writer and amateur historian in south London, England for bringing some of the details of this Lindsay personality to our attention.