Redvers Buller
General Sir Redvers Henry Buller, was a British Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He served as Commander-in-Chief of British forces in South Africa during the early months of the Second Boer War and subsequently commanded the army in Natal until his return to England in November 1900. Buller was the second son and eventual heir of James Wentworth Buller, MP for Exeter, by his wife Charlotte Juliana Jane Howard-Molyneux-Howard, third daughter of Lord Henry Thomas Howard-Molyneux-Howard, Deputy Earl Marshal and younger brother of Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk. Redvers Buller was born on 7 December 1839 at the family estate of Downes, near Crediton in Devon, inherited by his great-grandfather James Buller from his mother Elizabeth Gould, the wife of James Buller, MP; the Bullers were an old Cornish family, long seated at Morval in Cornwall until their removal to Downes.
The family estates, including Downes, inherited in 1874 by Redvers Buller from his unmarried elder brother James Howard Buller included 1,191 hectares of Devon and 880 hectares of Cornwall, which in 1876 produced an income of £14,137 a year. After education at Eton, he purchased a commission in the 60th Rifles in May 1858, he served in the Second Opium War and was promoted captain before taking part in the Canadian Red River Expedition of 1870. In 1873–74, he was the intelligence officer under Lord Wolseley during the Ashanti campaign, during which he was wounded at the Battle of Ordabai, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath. He served in South Africa during the 9th Cape Frontier War in 1878 and the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. In the Zulu War he commanded the mounted infantry of the northern British column under Sir Evelyn Wood, he fought at the British defeat at the Battle of Hlobane, where he was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery under fire. The following day he fought in the British victory at the Battle of Kambula.
After the Zulu attacks on the British position were beaten off, he led a ruthless pursuit by the mounted troops of the fleeing Zulus. In June 1879, he again commanded mounted troops at the Battle of Ulundi, a decisive British victory which ended the war, his VC citation reads: For his gallant conduct at the retreat at Inhlobana, on the 28th March, 1879, in having assisted, whilst hotly pursued by Zulus, in rescuing Captain C. D'Arcy, of the Frontier Light Horse, retiring on foot, carrying him on his horse until he overtook the rear guard. For having on the same date and under the same circumstances, conveyed Lieutenant C. Everitt, of the Frontier Light Horse, whose horse had been killed under him, to a place of safely. On, Colonel Buller, in the same manner, saved a trooper of the Frontier Light Horse, whose horse was exhausted, who otherwise would have been killed by the Zulus, who were within 80 yards of him. In an interview to The Register newspaper of Adelaide, South Australia, dated 2 June 1917, Trooper George Ashby of the Frontier Light Horse attached to the 24th Regiment gave an account of his rescue by Col. Buller:... it was discovered that the mountain was surrounded by a vast horde of Zulus.
An attempt was made to descend on the side opposite to the pass. Cpl. Ashby and his little party endeavoured to fight their way down, at last he and a man named Andrew Gemmell, now living in New Zealand, were the only ones left. With their faces to the foe, firing as they retired, they kept the Zulus at bay. An unfortunate thing happened, Cpl. Ashby's rifle burst, but for him, Col. Buller, afterwards Sir Redvers Buller, one of the party, came galloping by, offered to take him up behind him. Col. Buller was a heavy man, his horse was a light one, realizing this, Cpl. Ashby declined his generous offer, but the Colonel stayed with him, Cpl. Ashby having picked up a rifle and ammunition from a fallen comrade, the two men retired, firing whenever a foeman showed himself, they reached the main camp, for this service, as well as for saving the lives of two fellow-officers on the same occasion, Col. Buller received the Victoria Cross. Out of 500 men who made the attack on the Zjilobane Mountain, more than 300 met their death."
In the First Boer War of 1881 he was Sir Evelyn Wood's chief of staff and the following year was again head of intelligence, this time in the Egypt campaign, was knighted. He had married Audrey, the daughter of the 4th Marquess Townshend, in 1882 and in the same year was sent to the Sudan in command of an infantry brigade and fought at the battles of El Teb and Tamai, the expedition to relieve General Gordon in 1885, he was promoted to major-general. He was sent to Ireland in 1886, he returned to the Army as Quartermaster-General to the Forces the following year and in 1890 promoted to Adjutant-General to the Forces, becoming a Lieutenant general on 1 April 1891. Although expected to be made Commander-in-Chief of the British Army by Lord Rosebery's government on the retirement of the Duke of Cambridge in 1895, this did not happen because the government was replaced and Lord Wolseley was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army instead. On 24 June 1896 Buller was promoted to full General. Buller became head of the troops stationed at Aldershot in 1898.
He was sent as commander of the Natal Field Force in 1899 on the outbreak of the Second Boer War. On seeing the list of troops which would make up his Corps Buller is said to have remarked "well, if I can’t win with these
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, sometimes referred to as Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world; the Irish Sea lies between Great Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world, it is the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017. The UK is constitutional monarchy; the current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 1952, making her the longest-serving current head of state.
The United Kingdom's capital and largest city is London, a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million. Other major urban areas in the UK include Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire conurbations, Greater Glasgow and the Liverpool Built-up Area; the United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries: England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Edinburgh and Belfast, respectively. Apart from England, the countries have their own devolved governments, each with varying powers, but such power is delegated by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which may enact laws unilaterally altering or abolishing devolution; the nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. The medieval conquest and subsequent annexation of Wales by the Kingdom of England, followed by the union between England and Scotland in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, the union in 1801 of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There are fourteen British Overseas Territories, the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed a quarter of the world's land mass and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language and political systems of many of its former colonies; the United Kingdom is a developed country and has the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It has a high-income economy and has a high Human Development Index rating, ranking 14th in the world, it was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The UK remains a great power, with considerable economic, military and political influence internationally, it is sixth in military expenditure in the world. It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946.
It has been a leading member state of the European Union and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. The United Kingdom is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the G20, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Organization; the 1707 Acts of Union declared that the kingdoms of England and Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". The term "United Kingdom" has been used as a description for the former kingdom of Great Britain, although its official name from 1707 to 1800 was "Great Britain"; the Acts of Union 1800 united the kingdom of Great Britain and the kingdom of Ireland in 1801, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the partition of Ireland and the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922, which left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland within the United Kingdom, the name was changed to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
Although the United Kingdom is a sovereign country, Scotland and Northern Ireland are widely referred to as countries. The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom; some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve NUTS 1 regions of the United Kingdom refer to Scotland and Northern Ireland as "regions". Northern Ireland is referred to as a "province". With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice revealing one's political preferences"; the term "Great Britain" conventionally refers to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England and Wales in combination. However, it is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole; the term "Britain" is used both as a synonym for Great Britain, as a synonym for the United Kingdom. Usage is mixed, with the BBC preferring to use Britain as shorthand only for Great Britain and the UK Government, while accepting that both terms refer to the United K
High Commissioner for the Western Pacific
The High Commissioner for the Western Pacific was the chief executive officer of the British Western Pacific Territories, a British colonial entity, which existed from 1877 through 1976. Numerous colonial possessions were attached to the Territories at different times, the most durable constituent colonies being Fiji and the Solomon Islands; the office of High Commissioner never existed independently, but was always filled ex officio by the Governor of one of the constitutive British islands colonies. The High Commissioners were concurrently Governor of Fiji from 1877 to the end of 1952, although the office was suspended from 1942 through 1945, with most of the islands under British military rule and others, namely the Solomon Islands, Gilbert Islands and Phoenix Islands, under Japanese occupation. From 1 January 1953 to 1976, when the office was abolished, the Governor of the Solomon Islands doubled as High Commissioner, they administered from Honiara, respectively. WorldStatesmen Deryck Scarr, Fragments of Empire.
A History of the Western Pacific High Commission. 1877-1914, Canberra: Australian National University Press & London: C. Hurst & Co. 1967
Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a Crown colony on 1 April 1867; the colony was dissolved in 1946 as part of the British reorganisation of its Southeast Asian dependencies following the end of the Second World War. The Straits Settlements consisted of the four individual settlements of Penang, Singapore and Dinding. Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands were added in 1886; the island of Labuan, off the coast of Borneo, was incorporated into the colony with effect from 1 January 1907, becoming a separate settlement within it in 1912. Most of the territories now form part of Malaysia, from which Singapore separated in 1965; the Cocos Islands were transferred to Australian control in 1955. Christmas Island was transferred in 1958, their administration was combined in 1996 to form the Australian Indian Ocean Territories.
The first settlement was the Penang territory, in 1786. This comprised Penang Island known as the'Prince of Wales Island'; this was extended to encompass an area of the mainland, which became known as Province Wellesley. The first grant was in 1800, followed by another in 1831. Further adjustments to Province Wellesley's border were made in 1859, with the Treaty of Pangkor in 1874. Province Wellesley, on the mainland opposite the island of Penang, was ceded to Great Britain in 1800 by the Sultan of Kedah, on its northern and eastern border; the boundary with Kedah was rectified by treaty with Siam in 1867. It was administered by a district officer, with some assistants, answering to the resident councillor of Penang. Province Wellesley consisted, for the most part, of fertile plain, thickly populated by Malays, occupied in some parts by sugar-planters and others engaged in similar agricultural industries and employing Chinese and Tamil labour. About a tenth of the whole area was covered by low hills with thick jungle.
Large quantities of rice were grown by the Malay inhabitants, between October and February, there was snipe-shooting in the paddy fields. A railway from Butterworth, opposite Penang, runs into Perak, thence via Selangor and Negri Sembilan to Malacca, with an extension via Muar under the rule of the Sultan of Johor, through the last-named state to Johor Bharu, opposite the island of Singapore. Singapore became the site of a British trading post in 1819 after its founder, Stamford Raffles involved the East India Company in a dynastic struggle for the throne of Johore. Thereafter the British came to control the entire island of Singapore, developed into a thriving colony and port. In 1824 the Dutch conceded any rights they had to the island in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, by 1836 Singapore was the seat of government of the Straits Settlements; the Dutch colony of Malacca was ceded to the British in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 in exchange for the British trading post of Bencoolen and for British rights in Sumatra.
Malacca's importance was in establishing an exclusive British zone of influence in the region, it was overshadowed as a trading post by Penang, Singapore. The Dindings —named after the Dinding River in present-day Manjung District— which comprised Pangkor Island, the towns of Lumut and Sitiawan on the mainland, were ceded by Perak to the British government under the Pangkor Treaty of 1874. Hopes that its excellent natural harbour would prove to be valuable were doomed to disappointment, the territory sparsely inhabited and altogether unimportant both politically and financially, was returned to and administered by the government of Perak in February 1935; the establishment of the Straits Settlements followed the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, by which the Malay archipelago was divided into a British zone in the north and a Dutch zone in the south. This resulted in the exchange of the British settlement of Bencoolen for the Dutch colony of Malacca and undisputed control of Singapore; the Settlements were Chinese in population, with a tiny but important European minority.
Their capital was moved from George Town, the capital of Penang, to Singapore in 1832. Their scattered nature proved to be difficult and, after the company lost its monopoly in the china trade in 1833, expensive to administer. During their control by the East India Company, the Settlements were used as penal settlements for Indian civilian and military prisoners, earning them the title of the "Botany Bays of India"; the years 1853 saw minor uprisings by convicts in Singapore and Penang. Upset with East India Company rule, in 1857 the European population of the Settlements sent a petition to the British Parliament asking for direct rule; when a "Gagging Act" was imposed to prevent the uprising in India spreading, the Settlements' press reacted with anger, classing it as something that subverted "every principle of liberty and free discussion". As there was little or no vernacular press in the Settlements, such an act seemed irrelevant: it was enforced and ended in less than a year. On 1 April 1867 the Settlements became a British Crown colony, making the Settlements answerable directly to the Colonial Office in London instead of the government of British India based in Calcutta.
Earlier, on 4 February 1867, Letters Patent had granted the Settlements a colonial constitution. This allocated much power to the Settlements' Governor, who administered the colony of the Straits Settlements with the aid of an Executive Coun
Henry Bulwer, 1st Baron Dalling and Bulwer
Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer, 1st Baron Dalling and Bulwer GCB, PC was a British Liberal politician and writer. Bulwer was the second son of General William Bulwer and his wife, Elizabeth Barbara, daughter of Richard Warburton-Lytton, he was an elder brother of Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, uncle of Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, Viceroy of India, 1876–1880, the uncle of Sir Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer. He was educated at Harrow School, Trinity College and the founded Downing College, both at Cambridge. After graduating and touring the continent, he joined the Life Guards in 1824 and exchanged to the 58th Regiment of Foot two years later. After having unsuccessfully contested Hertford in 1826, Bulwer joined the Diplomatic Service in 1827 and was sent to Berlin in August that year, to Vienna in April 1829 and to The Hague in April 1830. In July 1830, he entered the House of Commons as MP for the rotten borough of Wilton and was sent to Brussels the following month to report on the Belgian Revolution.
A year he was returned for Coventry, again in 1833 for Marylebone in 1835. That year, Bulwer planned to join General Evans, raising a legion to help Isabella II of Spain in the First Carlist War, but was instead sent back to the newly independent Belgium as secretary of legation; when a general election was called two years on the death of William IV, Bulwer decided not to contest his current seat for Marylebone and after having commuted between Parliament and his diplomatics posts for seven years, decided to become a full-time diplomat and was sent to Constantinople. A year Bulwer was due to go to St Petersburg after accepting a new post there, but caught a fever just before leaving Constantinople and instead went back to London. Upon his arrival, the government was embroiled in the Bedchamber Crisis and because of the delays involved, Bulwer did not take up his post in Russia and was instead sent to Paris in June 1839. After having dealt with the poor Anglo-French relations prior to the London Straits Convention, Bulwer was sent to Madrid in November 1843 and served there until Narváez instructed him to leave in 1848, after being accused of implicating liberal risings against the former's conservative government.
By now a diplomatic embarrassment in Europe, the British government formally showed its support of Bulwer by making him a KCB that year, but sent him far from Europe, to Washington a year later. Bulwer enjoyed his three years in America, having been promoted to GCB during his office, but wished to return to Europe and so was posted to Florence, Tuscany, in 1852, his two years in Italy were uneventful and ill health forced him back to London in 1854. He was granted a pension a year and it was at this time that he and his wife separated; when his health improved, Bulwer was in Eastern Europe from 1856–58, where he took part in the uniting of the provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia to form Romania. In 1858, he succeeded Lord Stratford de Redcliffe as Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and his wife joined him; this was his final diplomatic post before his semi-retirement in 1865. On his return to England, Bulwer went back to politics and contested Tamworth in 1868, he returned to literature after his retirement and was raised to the peerage as Baron Dalling and Bulwer, of Dalling in the County of Norfolk, in 1871.
Lord Dalling and Bulwer married the Honourable Georgiana, youngest daughter of Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley and a niece of the Duke of Wellington, at Hatfield House in December 1848. They had no children. On his return from a trip to Egypt in 1872, Bulwer died in Naples, aged 71, when the barony became extinct, his will was valued at less than £5,000. His estranged wife died in August 1878, aged 61. A Freemason, he became the first District Grand Master for Turkey under the United Grand Lodge of England in 1862. Ode on the Death of Napoleon. 1822 An Autumn in Greece. In Letters, Addressed to C. B. Sheridan, Esq. 1826 France, Literary, Political. 1834 The Monarchy of the Middle Classes. France, Literary, Second Series. 1836 Historical characters: Talleyrand, Mackintosh, Canning 2 vols. 1868 The Life of Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston: With Selections from His Diaries and Correspondence. 1870 Sir Robert Peel. An Historical Sketch. 1874 Kunitz, Stanley, ed.. "Bulwer, Sir Henry". British Authors of the Nineteenth Century.
H. W. Wilson. ISBN 978-0-8242-0007-7. Sommer, Dorothe. Freemasonry in the Ottoman Empire: A History of the Fraternity and Its Influence in Syria and the Levant. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-78076-313-2. Worldcat.org Burke's Peerage & Gentry Chamberlain, Muriel E. "Bulwer, Henry Lytton Earle". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/3935. Portraits of Henry Bulwer, 1st Baron Dalling and Bulwer at the National Portrait Gallery, London Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry Bulwer
