Canon William Murrell Lummis MC (4 June 1886 – 2 November 1985) was a British military historian most noted for the research he conducted on the Victoria Cross, the Charge of the Light Brigade, and Rorke's Drift.

[3] The full citation for his MC appeared in The London Gazette in November 1918, by which time the war was over, and reads as follows: For conspicuous gallantry and good leadership.

[3] After retirement, he went to live in Barnham Broom in Norfolk, though he continued in the ministry, holding various part-time appointments in nearby parishes, and acting as Rural Dean of Higham.

In his 98th year, he appeared in a BBC television programme, Timewatch, recounting his memories of meeting survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade.

He built up an archive of the service records and final resting places of Victoria Cross holders, summarising the results in a pamphlet.

[1][3] (The last veteran of Balaklava died in 1927)[15] Hearing about the 1875 reunion when over 2000 men claimed to have taken part, he set about preparing a roll of those who charged, soon fleshing the list out with biographies.

The book showed that Smith's involvement in the defence of the mission station had been seriously overlooked in favour of the more famous participants, such as John Chard and Gonville Bromhead, who had won Victoria Crosses during the action.

Padre Smith is depicted in the centre of Alphonse de Neuville's famous 1880 painting 'The Defence of Rorke's Drift' distributing ammunition to the defenders.

When the Royal Mail produced a series of stamps in 2006 commemorating the Victoria Cross, they featured photographs and artifacts from the Lummis archive at the National Army Museum.

[21] His Crimean War archives were shared with Dave Harvey, Ken Horton, Glenn Fisher, Andrew Sewell, Roy Mills,[22] and Edward James Boys.