Colonel Sir Edward Talbot Thackeray (19 October 1836 – 3 September 1927) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. The son of Rev. Francis Thackeray and Mary Anne Shakespear, he was the first cousin of the novelist, William Makepeace Thackeray. He was educated at Marlborough College and Addiscombe Military Seminary. Thackeray was 20 years old, and a second lieutenant in the Bengal Engineers, Bengal Army during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place on 16 September 1857 at Delhi, British India for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross He later achieved the rank of colonel, and was elected to the Athenaeum in 1876. Thackeray retired from the Army in 1888 and in 1898 he went to live in Italy where he spent the rest of his life. His medal is currently displayed at the National Museum of Military History in Johannesburg, South Africa. Works Biographical notices of officers of the Royal (Bengal) engineers; (1900) References and sources References Sources Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999) The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997) The Sapper VCs (Gerald Napier, 1998) External links Profile, remuseum.org.uk. Accessed 2 December 2022. 1836 births 1927 deaths British recipients of the Victoria Cross Graduates of Addiscombe Military Seminary British Indian Army officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Indian Rebellion of 1857 recipients of the Victoria Cross People from Broxbourne People educated at Marlborough College British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War Royal Engineers officers Bengal Engineers officers Edward