He was the son of Thomas Tracey. Born in St James parish, Kilkenny, he became a butler, residing in the parish of St James, Dublin. He enlisted for 12 years in the 9th Lancers at 12 noon, at Dublin, on 2-7-1867, receiving a £1 bounty. He was 21, single, 5' 7 1/8" tall, with a fresh complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair. He had a red birth-mark on his right thigh and weighed 157 lb.
He served:
at home from 3-7-67 to 8-1-75
in India from 9-1-75 to 10-12-78
in Afghanistan from 11-12-78 to 15-3-79
in India from 16-3-79 to 15-9-79
in Afghanistan from 26-9-79 to 9-12-80
in India from 10-12-80 to 27-12-83
at home from 28-12-83 to 15-1-84
In all that time, he was only in hospital on four occasions - a total of 13 days.
He received the medal for the Afghan Campaign 1878-9-80 with the clasp for Kabul and Kandahar and the Bronze Star for the Kabul-Kandahar march.
He was promoted to corporal in 1871, to sergeant in 1874, was tried and reduced to private in 1875, became lance corporal in 1877, corporal in 1879, lance-sergeant in 1881, sergeant in 1882, was tried and reduced to private in 1883.
He was discharged at Gosport 15-1-1884. His character was described as "Fair" and the comments on his habits and conduct in the service were "regular, fair, intemperate".
