The grave of
Admiral Charles Davis Lucas

Buried in the St Lawrence Churchyard is the very first recipient of the
VICTORIA CROSS
Rear Admiral Charles Davis Lucas

Charles Davis Lucas

Lucas was born in Druminargal House, Poyntzpass, County Armagh, on 19 February 1834. He enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1848 at age 13, served aboard HMS Vengeance, and saw action in the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852–53 aboard the frigate Fox at Rangoon, Pegu, and Dalla. By age 20, he had become a mate.During the Crimean War, he was awarded the Victoria Cross for the following deed:

On 21 June 1854 in the Baltic, HMS Hecla, with two other ships, was bombarding Bomarsund, a fort in the Åland Islands off Finland. The fire was returned from the fort, and at the height of the action a live shell landed on Hecla's upper deck, with its fuse still hissing. All hands were ordered to fling themselves flat on the deck, but Lucas with great presence of mind ran forward and hurled the shell into the sea, where it exploded with a tremendous roar before it hit the water. Thanks to Lucas's action no one on board was killed or seriously wounded by the shell, and accordingly he was immediately promoted to lieutenant by his commanding officer.His act of bravery in Hecla was the first to be rewarded with the Victoria Cross. His later career included service on Calcutta, Powerful, Cressy, Edinburgh, Liffey and Indus. He was promoted to commander in 1862 and commanded the experimental armoured gunboat Vixen in 1867. He was promoted to captain in 1867, before retiring on 1 October 1873. He was later promoted to rear-admiral on the retired list in 1885.[ During his career he received the India General Service Medal with the bar Pegu 1852, the Baltic Medal 1854–55, and the Royal Humane Society Lifesaving Medal.

In 1879 he married Frances Russell Hall, daughter of Admiral Sir William Hutcheon Hall, who had been captain of Hecla in 1854. The couple had three daughters. Lucas served for a time as Justice of the Peace for both Kent and Argyllshire, and died in Great Culverden, Kent on 7 August 1914. He is buried in St Lawrence's Churchyard

Taken from Wikipedia