William Henry Liddell was Captain of the troopship HMS Tamar from 22 April 1878.
I've found several mentions of his service in Tamar in the Zulu war of 1879, including rescuing the crew of a hired transport, the Clyde, in False Bay, 60 miles SE of Simon's Bay, in April 1879.
heand the ship were in the W Indies (Bermuda 28 Oct, Barbados 29 Dec) in late 1879.
Then I have a puzzling reference to being in Limassol, Cyprus, on 5 Dec 1880
(from the Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3784, 12 February 1881, Page 1)
- puzzling because he seems to have died 6 months earlier, with death cert. as follows -
Deaths Jun 1880
Liddell William Henry 47 Portsea 2b 315
- which suggests perhaps he died at sea or on arrival in Portsmouth, but in any case 6 months before the Limassol reference.
I guess either checking the death certificate or Naval records would clear that up.
Why he's added to his grandparents' obelisk I don't know.
Thanks also for the info on the Bodmin Museum exhibit - it reminds me I have lots of info on James Liddell (1798-1889) and his ship the Wellington that I've been meaning to pass on to them.