Robin Longbottom examines how discharge failed to bring an end to one soldier’s military career

ON July 9, 1815, John Driver – who had been a soldier for 21 years – died at Hope, near Keighley. Hope was then the name of a small community in the neighbourhood of the Hope & Anchor Inn on Halifax Road.

John was born in Keighley in about 1760 and in 1784 he joined the 54th Regiment of Foot, which had recently returned from America.

For many single men the army not only offered the prospect of adventure but the benefit of being fed, clothed and housed at His Majesty’s expense.

For the next ten years John was on home duty but in 1792 Britain declared war on France. In June 1794 the 54th embarked for Flanders where the army was under the command of Frederick, Duke of York. The campaign was a failure and in spring 1795 the army retreated to Bremen in Hanover and was withdrawn to England. The fiasco was subsequently lampooned in the popular nursery rhyme The Grand Old Duke of York.

A year later the regiment was sent to St Vincent in the West Indies to quell a local uprising and from there to Spain and then to Egypt. The 54th arrived in Egypt in March 1801, which was then occupied by the French. By now John had risen to the rank of sergeant in Captain Ridge’s Company. They were first engaged at the Battle of Aboukir and in June took part in the capture of Cairo. In August the British laid siege to Alexandria where the 54th distinguished themselves when they captured Fort Marabout by assault. After the defeat of the French the regiment was withdrawn to Gibraltar. However, John Driver was now suffering from ill health – eight years of active service and foreign climates had taken its toll on him. On June 24, 1802, after 18 years with the regiment, he was discharged on the grounds of “being worn out and unfit for service”.

He returned to Keighley after his discharge. However, this was not the end of his military career. In 1803 Thomas Lister of Gisburn, the first Lord Ribblesdale, raised the Craven Legion – a militia regiment for the defence of the country, which was threatened with invasion from France. The local commander was Thomas Garforth of Steeton Hall, and retired professional soldiers such as Sergeant John Driver were keenly sought to knock the troops into shape. The legion was kitted out with uniforms and equipment by public subscription and the Leeds Intelligencer reported that on February 9 1804 “the Keighley volunteer infantry, amounting to 200 young men and composing part of the Craven Legion, were inspected by their Colonel, Lord Ribblesdale, who highly complemented them on their military appearance and behaviour."

In May 1804 a further review of 1,300 men of the Craven Legion, consisting of both cavalry and infantry, took place at York. The march through the city was led by a mounted troop of the legion followed by a military band, officers of the corporation, the volunteer Rifle Corps, the York Volunteers and finally the Craven Legion cavalry and infantry.

In late summer 1805 the French assembled an army of 200,000 at Boulogne waiting for their navy to transport them across the Channel. However, Lord Nelson had the French fleet trapped in Cadiz in Spain and when they broke out, he defeated it off Cape Trafalgar and saved the nation. When the threat was over John Driver retired from the legion. He died in 1815 and was buried in Keighley parish churchyard. Unfortunately his gravestone is now lost, but a record of it survives along with his epitaph – “He served the King in earthly things, and now he serves the King of Kings”.