Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.132 | |
Awards & Titles: | Mentioned in Despatches Second China War Medal (1860) - 2 Clasps Member of the Royal College of Surgeons | ||
Early Life :
Born 26th July, 1832 eldest son to John Prescott and Clarissa Isabella Prescott, resident at Great Russell Street. He was baptised 1st November with the Parish of Saint George, Bloomsbury, London.He was a military medical officer who served with the Royal Artillery and served in the China campaign of 1860. The portrait picture was painted shortly after his return from China and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1862. His masonic career show that in addition to the garrisons of Southern England, he was posted to India and Canada.
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The China Wars (Second Opium War) 1856-1860, China.
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: Royal Army Medical Corps |
| Action : Natural Causes |
Natural causes is attributed those deaths due to causes that were not directly associated with the war. Included in this are wartime deaths resulting from, for example, theSpanish Influenza pandemic and its associated pneumonia problems and other attributions such as age and exhaustion. It also groups those who through Post Traumatic Stress committed suicide as a result of their experiences.
Harts List show Albert listed as receiving retired pay as a Colonel with the following dates of seniority:
- Assistant Surgeon - 6th May 1858
- Surgeon: - 1st March 1873
- Surgeon-Major: - Gazetted 1st April 1873.
- Brigade Surgeon: - 30th June 1884. He is further recorded in the Medical Directory at St.Georges.
- Dep. Surgeon-General: - 18th October 1902
- Retired: - 26th July 1887
Assist.Surgeon Prescott served with the expedition to China In 1860, and was present at Sinho, Tangku, capture of Taku Forts.. Wounded (mentioned In despatches), and surrender of Peking. (Medal and two Clasps).
Detail :
As a retired Colonel he remains on the Army List and was entitled to be called by that rank. It is not known what role he may have played in the Great War, but we suspect that his wealth of military and medical experience was called on in some capacity. He did, of course, live to a ripe old age and ordinarily that in itself would not have been a reason to be included on the Roll of Honour. It is probably because of his previous war history, his being a prominent local figure which has led the men of Ubique Lodge to ensure the memory of Colonel Prescott endures.
See also Kent History Forum which shows his part played in an inquest on 5th November,1869 relating to the explosion accident aboard H.M.S.Thistle where eleven were killed and seven injured.
"Mr. Albert Stanley Knight Prescott, assistant surgeon, Royal Artillery, deposed; I have seen all the bodies. I only visited those near the Naval Barracks casually the day following the accident. Whalebone, Mason, and Anderson, were brought to the Military Hospital, about 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening, and I received them. They were all suffering very much from scalding, and Mason died at ten minutes past two on Thursday morning, Anderson at 10.50 a.m., and Whalebone, at 1.7 p.m., the same day, all from the effects of the injuries they had received. They were beyond all help. Everything was done for them that could be done."
He died in Gravesend in 1917. The Reading Mercury of 17th November, 1917 relayed the news:
"The death has occurred at Gravesend of Colonel Albert Stanley Knight Prescott, formerly of the R.A.M.C., a member of the Gravesend Town Council, and a magistrate for the borough. Colonel Prescott served in the China War of 1860, being wounded at the capture of the Taku forts."
Probate: PRESCOTT Albert Stanley Knight of 16 Park-place Gravesend Kent died 10 November 1917 Probate London 31 January to Isabel Jessie Miles Knight Prescott spinster. Effects £3622 2s. 5d.
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Albion Lodge No. 400 E.C. | New Brunswick |
| Joined : | Ubique No. 1789 E.C. | London |
| Joined : | Saint Paul's No. 374 E.C. | Montreal & Halifax |
| Joined : | De Shurland No. 1089 E.C. | East Kent |
| Joined : | Florence Nightingale No. 706 E.C. | London |
| Joined : | Khyber No. 582 E.C. | London |
| Joined : | Hope No. 413 E.C. | Bengal |
| Joined : | Lodge of Freedom No. 77 E.C. | East Kent |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
3rd December 1862 | 12th December 1862 | 19th December 1862 |
Colonel Prescott is recorded against Ubique Lodge No. 1789 in the Masonic Roll of Honour book. This does not betray his full masonic career which is as extensive as his military side.
- Initiated into Albion Lodge No. 400/570, New Brunswick. 1862. The Albion Lodge is now erased having surrendered its warrant 1st November 1867, becoming No. 1 under the Grand Lodge of New Brunswick.
- St. Paul's Lodge, Montreal. Joined 8th December 1863 from 570. He was Surgeon (R.A.)
- De Shurland Lodge No. 1089, Sheerness, Kent. Joined 8th May 1869.
- Albion Lodge No. 570, New Brunswick. Re-Joined 5th January, 1866.
- Florence Nightingale Lodge No. 1008, Woolwich Joined October 1866 from Lodge 594.
- Aldershot Army & Navy No. 1971, Aldershot, Joined 16th June 1886. He was Brigade-Surgeon.
- Kyber Lodge No. 852, Peshawar. Joined 22nd March 1881, from 706.
- Hope Lodge No. 413, Meerut, Bengal. Joined 7th March 1885.
- Ubique Lodge No. 1789, Woolwich. Joined 1890.
- Lodge of Freedom No. 77, Gravesend, Kent. Joined 21st January 1895. Surgeon-Colonel, from Lodge 1789.
Source :
The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- The (UK) National Archives
- Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
- ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry
Additional Source:
- Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
- Researcher : Bruce Littley