Sergeant William Hickey was born in the Parish of Ballina in County Tipperary and attested for the 49th Regiment locally in December 1848, aged 18 years. Advanced to Sergeant while on active service in the Crimea in May 1855, he was seriously wounded in the attack on the Quarries on 8.6.1855 ('Cannon shot wound of forearm and elbow'), injuries that necessitated the amputation of his right arm above the elbow. Hickey was honourably discharged back at Chatham later that year.