Private William Henry Pennington was a survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade, during the Battle of Balaklava. During the charge he was wounded in the leg and was subsequently in hospital at Scutari for about a month in 1855. He became a camp cook, before returning to England on 30 June 1856. After leaving the army, Pennington became an actor eventually becoming the manager of Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1870.