A long and colourful life
William Hiseland (1620 (claimed)-1732) had an extraordinary life. His years of uniformed service stretched from the Battle of Edgehill in 1642, when he fought for King Charles I, to campaigns with John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722).
He was purported to be 89 years old when he fought at the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709. This being his final conflict, he was surely the oldest soldier on the battlefield. His long service pension was two crowns per week, or £74 today.
It is believed that Hiseland was aged 98 when he first became a Chelsea Pensioner, departing five years later when he married. Having outlived his wife, he returned to the Royal Hospital where he died in 1732.
At the time of his death, Hiseland was the last surviving soldier of the English Civil War resident at the Hospital.
Hiseland was buried in the Royal Hospital burial ground where his colourful epitaph reads:
Here lies WILLIAM HISELAND
A Vetran, if ever soldier was
Who merited well a Pension
If Long Service be a Merit
Having served upwards of the Days of Man
Antient but not Superannuated
Engaged in a series of Wars
Civil as well as Foreign
Yet not maimed or worn out by either
His Complexion was fresh & florid
His Health hale & hearty
His Memory exact & ready
In Stature
He exceeded the Military size
In Strength
He surpassed the prime of Youth
and
What rendered his Age
Still more Patriachal
When above One Hundred Years Old
He took unto him a Wife
Read Fellow Soldiers and Reflect
That there is a Spiritual Warfare
As well as a Warfare Temporal