Henry Boswell Bennett 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 . Bennett was of Irish parentage , born in 1809 , the son of Major William Bennett formerly of the 69th Regiment of Foot , and the grandson of Richard Bennett who was murdered during the Wexford Rebellion of 1798 . An uncle , Richard Newton Bennett was chief justice of the Island of Tobago . Bennett joined his father ' s regiment , the 69th , as an ensign and then , in June 1827 , exchanged into the 45th Foot . He spent the next ten years with the regiment in the India , returning to Europe on leave in July 1837 . The regiment returned from India the following March and Bennett rejoined them at Canterbury barracks . 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 Tom ) , 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 . Early on the morning of 31 May 1838 , the constable of Boughton - under - Blean was sent to arrest Courtenay at Bossenden Farm . He had enlisted the help of his brother and , when they arrived at the farm , Courtenay shot and killed the constable ' s brother . On hearing the news of the murder , local magistrates called out the soldiers from Canterbury barracks . A detachment of the 45th Infantry under Major Armstrong with three junior officer , including Bennett , arrived in a stage - coach and wagons and met up with the magistrates . Courtenay and his followers , who numbered between thirty and forty , were tracked down to Bossenden Wood . Except for Courtenay , who had a sword and pistols , and one of his followers who had a pistol , the band was armed only with sticks . The soldiers formed a pincer movement : Major Armstrong and Lieutenant Prendergast led the left wing , while Captain Reid and Bennett led the right . They marched down two parallel lanes leading from Watling Street to Bossenden Wood and then Bennett and 25 men split off to the north side of the wood . It was Bennett ' s group that was the first to encounter Courtenay and his followers in a clearing in the wood . Bennett immediately called on Courtenay to surrender ; Courtenay shot him dead . Armstrong ' s and Bennett ' s men then opened fire and charged with bayonets . Within a few minutes Courtenay was dead . Eight of his followers were killed or mortally wounded , and a constable was caught in the soldiers ' fire and killed . Bennett was buried in Canterbury Cathedral precincts on Saturday 2 June with full military honours and in the presence of six thousand spectators . In view of the special circumstances the Cathedral Chapter waived the normal ban on the firing of guns in the precincts , and three volleys were fired over the grave at the end of the funeral service . Later a tablet which can still be seen was affixed to the north wall of the Cathedral nave in memory of Bennett . It bears the following inscription . In August 1838 nine of Courtenay ' s followers pleaded guilty at Maidstone Assizes to the murder of Bennett . They were sentenced to death , but immediately reprieved and given sentences of transportation or one year ' s imprisonment . When sentencing the prisoners the judge , Lord Denman , said that Bennett ' s relations and friends had asked that their lives should be spared .