Private Jesse Lockhurst and Private Thomas O'Brien

10" x 8" glass plate negative showing Crimean War veterans Private Jesse Lockhurst and Private Thomas O'Brien convalescing at Chatham Military Hospital. Lockhurst is sitting on a chair, his legs crossed, holding a shot in his hand. He is wearing military uniform and there are visible wounds to his face. O'Brien is reclining on a bed wearing hospital clothing and a patch over one of his eyes. He is also holding a shot. A curtain is draped behind. 

The glass plate negative has been photographed showing the coated side and therefore the image appears laterally reversed. Prints from this negative exist in the Collection (e.g. RCIN 2500194). There is a handwritten note accompanying such photograph detailing the men's injuries. Lockhurst was hit by a shot weighing 18 1/2 ounces while he was in the advanced trenches and O'Brien was injured by a shot weighing 6 3/4 ounces at the Battle of the Redan. Both men lost the sight in one eye and suffered extensive injuries to their jawbone.

Queen Victoria met Private Lockhurst and Private O'Brien on 16th April 1856 at Chatham Military Hospital during one of a number of visits she made to wounded soldiers who had returned from the Crimean War. She recorded in her journal that she had held in her hands the shots which had been extracted from the men's wounds. This portrait is one of a series by Joseph Cundall and Robert Howlett commissioned by Queen Victoria following her visits to the hospital.