Richard Harte Keatinge

Lieutenant General Richard Harte Keatinge (17 June 1825 – 25 May 1904) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Life and career Keatinge was born in Dublin, younger son of Richard Keatinge and Harriet Augusta Joseph, third daughter of Samuel Joseph. His father was a successful barrister who served for many years as the Irish Probate judge. His mother came from a prosperous London merchant family. It was a religiously-mixed marriage, his father being a Protestant and his mother Jewish. He was 32 years old, and a major in the Bombay Artillery, Bombay Army during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place on 17 March 1858 at the assault of Chundairee for which he was awarded the VC: In 1862 he was transferred to the Royal Artillery and then to the Bombay Staff Corps of the British Indian Army.