Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hessel, Phœbe
HESSEL, PHŒBE (1713?–1821), reputed female soldier and centenarian, was buried, according to the registers of Brighthelmstone (Brighton) parish, Sussex, on 16 Dec. 1821, at the age of 108 years (Notes and Queries, 5th ser. i. 222). A tombstone in Brighton churchyard, erected by a local tradesman soon afterwards, relates that Phœbe Hessel, born in Stepney in 1713, ‘served in many parts of Europe as a private soldier in the 5th regiment of foot,’ and that she was wounded at Fontenoy (where the 5th foot was not present), and died 12 Dec. 1821 (ib., 1st ser. vi. 170). Different writers, among them Erredge, the Brighton historian, and Hone (Year-Book, p. 210), give portraits of her as a well-known ‘character’ in Brighton, accompanied by accounts of her military career taken down from her own lips. It is not unlikely that she had served in the ranks, and if not actually a centenarian attained a great age; but the stories, as given, are utterly inconsistent with each other and with the facts of regimental history.
[The facts have been fully discussed in Nav. and Mil. Gaz., 1853, p. 630 and by Mr. W. J. Thoms in Notes and Queries, 5th ser. i. 222 et seq.]