William Thomas Rickard was born at Stoke Damerel, Devonport, on 10 February 1828, and at an early age joined the Royal Navy.

Rickard was 27 years old, and a quartermaster in the Royal Navy during the Crimean War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

On 11 October 1855 in the Sea of Azov, Crimea, Quartermaster Rickard went with the commander (John Edmund Commerell) of HMS Weser and a seaman George Milestone to destroy large quantities of forage on the shore of the Sivash.

After a difficult and dangerous journey they reached their objective—the magazine of corn—and managed to ignite the stacks, but the guards were alerted and immediately opened fire and gave chase.

Rickard, however, although he was himself exhausted, went back and assisted him, even though the enemy were keeping up a heavy fire at the distance of thirty or forty yards, as they crossed the mud.