FIVE days after his fourteenth birthday, Daniel Ealey is in Canterbury, swearing allegiance to his Monarch in the presence of Sergeant W. Hobson of the 3rd East Kent Regiment, the Buffs, possibly at the Regimental Depot on Sturry Road.
Daniel is small even for a Boy Soldier: a Hobbity four feet six-and-a-half inches, weighing five stone six pounds. His right forearm bears an interesting scar, and tattoo'd dots punctuate his left forearm and the third and fourth fingers of his left hand. He has brown hair, brown eyes, and a "fresh" complexion.
Tattoo parlours being an unlikely resource in the 1890s, Daniel's inked dots are probably his own creations, or the handiwork of a friend. There are accounts of young convicts—to the annoyance of their gaolers—using pins to scrape patterns into their skin, smearing the cuts with soot or ink to leave a permanent trace. This could be a trick they'd learned in their pre-incarceration lives. Maybe, back in Notting Hill, Daniel and his friends wore such marks as a badge of belonging.
Notting Hill—Number 40, Walmer Road, to be exact—is where father James, next-of-kin, resides with step-mother Charlotte, and younger sister Mary. Elder brothers James and George are also mentioned, apparently based at Gordon Boys' Home. According to family lore, Daniel is a runaway, and the fact that he has only just turned fourteen, the minimum age for a Boy Soldier, suggests he could hardly wait to get away. He signs up for Long Service—twelve years with the Colours—an enormous span of time to a fourteen-year-old.
Eyesight, heart, lungs and limbs all present and correct, Surgeon Stanley Hayman declares Daniel fit, Recruiting Officer M. Colley certifies him fit, and District Commander Colonel W. Kerr approves him as fit to join the Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. A Boy Soldier can serve as an artificer, a clerk, a drummer, a musician, a shoemaker, or a tailor. Daniel opts for Musician. Where's the fun in running away to become a clerk?