Lieutenant Henry Boswell Bennett (1809–1838) of the 45th Regiment of Foot (Sherwood Foresters) became on 31 May 1838 the first officer to die in the service of Queen Victoria when he was shot by John Nichols Thom in Bossenden Wood in Kent.
[2] Since January 1838 a man who went by the name of Sir William Courtenay, but was believed to be a Cornish maltster called John Nichols Thom (or Mad Tom),[3] and who had been released from Barming Heath Asylum some months previously, had been riding through East Kent and gaining a following amongst the labourers, smallholders, artisans and tradespeople of the area between Canterbury and Faversham.
Courtenay promised his followers a better future with greater equality and fairer distribution of wealth, addressing their concerns about low wages, lack of work, and the New Poor Law.
[4] A detachment of the 45th Infantry under Major Armstrong with three junior officers, including Bennett, arrived in a stage-coach and wagons and met up with the magistrates.
[2][5] Bennett was buried in Canterbury Cathedral precincts on Saturday 2 June with full military honours and in the presence of six thousand spectators.