Description:The image and following research have kindly been provided by Elaine Pritchard.
George Terry (died 1881) and his wife Harriet were landlords of the Saracen's Head Inn, on Bridge Street in Burton. However, George was more remarkable as one of two survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade (during the Battle of Balaklava in 1854) who ended up living in Burton.
Born in Yorkshire, at the time of the battle George was a sergeant in the 17th Lancers. He took his Army pension at the age of 41 and by the time of the 1871 census, he was living with his wife Harriet in Desborough, Leicestershire. At this time, he was a staff sergeant with the Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry. By 1881 he is landlord of the Saracen's Head Inn and when he dies in 1881, aged about 57, his widow takes over.
A description of George's funeral in 'The Burton Chronicle' records that "An immense concourse of inhabitants also assembled, and in Bridge Street and across the bridge one might almost have walked along the heads of the crowd, so tightly were the people packed."
Harriet continued as landlady for at least ten years - interestingly, in the 1891 census the household was all female. There were two barmaids and two women servants living with her and she is described as head of household and pub hotel keeper.
Harriet died in 1901, and her obituary was published in the 'Burton Chronicle' of January 10th:
"News reached Burton on Thursday of the somewhat sudden death, on Wednesday, of Mrs. Harriet Terry, who for nearly thirty years was the proprietress of the Saracen's Head, Bridge Street. The deceased lady, whose husband was one of the heroes of Balaclava, and also served through the Indian Mutiny, came to Burton from Leicester early in the seventies, and was left a widow in 1881. From that time up to within about two years ago the Saracen's Head was under her sole control, and the admirable manner in which the house was conducted made for her a host of friends, who, upon her retirement, presented her with a beautifully illuminated address and a silver salver, as a small token of the esteem in which she was held. The sad news came as a painful surprise to Mrs. Terry's immediate friends, as a week ago she appeared to be in her usual health."