THE MAN WHO SAVED THE QUEEN'S LIFE

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7696, 19 March 1887, Page 6

THE MAN WHO SAVED THE QUEEN'S LIFE

The man who saved the Queen's' life near Kensington Palace in 1821, when Her Majesty was only two years old, was an Irish soldier named Moloney. Ho_ was walking near tho carriage in which- the infant princess was driving, and ' when the carriage was upset he rushed to the child's rescue and brought her safely out of the, broken vehicle. He broke his leg, however, in the attempt, and sustained other injuries, from whioh he suffered for some timo afterward. Tho Duchess of Kent, tho Queen's mother, gave him the munificent reward of £1 for his heroic act. In a few years he was sent out to India with his regiment, and there he spent upward of twenty years, returning to England a pensioner on sixpence a day. Being in great distress— Gd a day being unable to maintain the poor fellow— he wrote to her Majesty reminding her of tho important service ho had rendered to her in early life. No notice whatever was taken of the application. Nothing daunted, however, he wrote again and again, but still no response cams from Windsor. To shorten the story he kept reminding her Majesty for nearly twenty years that he had saved her life, and as he was beginning to think at last that he could never succeed in exciting the royal gratitude to do anything for him he received through the post a small donation anonymously. The following week it was repeated. Upon the introduction of postal orders lie got one for £1 almost every week, the donor being still nameless. As the orders, however, bore the Windsor postmark, he suspected the source whenoo they cape. At last one day a slip of paper which appeared to have boen put into the letter accidentally rovoaled tho name of tho sender — Sir Henry Ponaonby, the Queen's Private Secretary. Since that time Moloney has got tho postal ordors without any disguise whatever from Sir Henry. Moloney was originally intended for the church, but being a wild young fellow, he left home during his student days, taking wilh him a large sum of money which belonged to his father. This ho spent, soon aud then lie enlisted.