Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir Frederick Parkinson Lester, KCB, (3 February 1795 – 3 July 1858) was an army officer in the East India Company, third son of John Lester, merchant, of Racquet Court, Fleet Street, and his wife, Elizabeth Parkinson.

Early life

Born on 3 February 1795, to John Lester a member of the prominent Lester merchant family of Poole,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

and the nephew of Benjamin Lester, MP for Poole, his mother was Elizabeth Parkinson, daughter of John Parkinson. Educated at Mr Jephson's academy at Camberwell and at Addiscombe Military Seminary. He qualified for a commission into the

Bombay artillery The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India. It was established in 1662 and governed by the East India Company until the Government of India Act 1858 transferred all presidencies to the ...

on 22 April 1811.

Military career

Lester's commissions, all in the Bombay artillery, were: second-lieutenant (25 October 1811),

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

(3 September 1815), captain (1 September 1818), major (14 May 1836), lieutenant colonel (9 August 1840), brevet

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

(15 March 1851), and

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

(28 November 1854). he was finally promoted to

on 3 July 1858. Lester's career was marked by its efficiency, resulting in his being 'specially thanked for his zealous and efficient services' by the governor of Bombay in April 1847. His career during his service in India chiefly involved acting commissary of ordnance, commissary of stores, and secretary to (and afterwards ordinary member of) the military board. A system of double-entry bookkeeping introduced by him was, in 1834, ordered to be generally adopted in the Ordnance department. Lester was appointed to command the southern division of the Bombay army in April 1857, he assumed command there at his headquarters at Belgaum on 12 May 1857.

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sir George Le Grand Jacob stated that his actions between May and September 1857 'in all probability to have prevented an explosion at Belgaum.' He repaired the fort, moved the powder and ammunition inside the fort, deported suspected sepoys, and moved guns, gun carriages, and horses into the fort. In addition he organized night-time patrols (chiefly of civilian volunteers) and moved the depot of Her Majesty's 64th regiment, with 400 European women and children, into the fort. He vetoed the proposal of the commanding officer of the 29th Bombay native infantry, backed by the political agent, Mr Seton-Karr, to disarm the regiment as potential mutineers on the ground of the inadequacy of any European force for the task, and the possibility of a failure which would end in disaster. On the arrival of British troops (10 August 1857) he supervised the court-martial, execution, and other punishment of rebels. One of these courts-martial consisted entirely of Indian non-commissioned officers, a testament to Lester's wise leadership. The measures were among the precautions which prevented the insurrection spreading to western India, and Lester was hardly given the credit due to him for them.

Personal life

Lester was a deeply religious man. During his period in India, a profane conversation at which

Sir John Keane, 5th Baronet Sir John Keane, 5th Baronet, DSO (3 June 1873 – 30 January 1956) was an Irish barrister and politician. Early life Keane was the son of Sir Richard Keane, 4th Baronet and Adelaide Vance, daughter of John Vance MP. He was educated at Clifton ...

was present resulted in his leaving a mess breakfast table in protest against the conversation and it placed him temporarily under an official cloud. Lester married twice, first, in 1828, at St Thomas's Church,

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

, Helen Elizabeth Honner, they had two children, both of whom died in infancy. He married secondly, in 1840, at

Mahabaleshwar Mahabaleshwar () is a small town and a municipal council in Satara district, Maharashtra, India. It is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus because Krishna river has its origin here. The British colonial rulers developed the town as a hill station ...

, Charlotte Pratt Fyvie, daughter of the Revd William Fyvie (nephew of Elizabeth Simpson, wife of

Henry Bridgeman, 1st Baron Bradford Henry Bridgeman, 1st Baron Bradford (7 September 1725 – 5 June 1800),Doyle (1886), p. 208. known as Sir Henry Bridgeman, 5th Baronet, between 1764 and 1794, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons for 46 years from 1748 to 17 ...

; through the Simpsons he was also first cousin of

Henry Liddell, 1st Earl of Ravensworth Henry Thomas Liddell, 1st Earl of Ravensworth (10 March 1797 – 19 March 1878) was a British peer and Member of Parliament for several constituencies. Liddell was the eldest son of Thomas Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth. He was educated at Eton ...

and

Sir John Dean Paul, 1st Baronet Sir John Dean Paul, 1st Baronet (December 1775 – 16 January 1852), of Rodborough, was an English landowner, banker, painter, and occasional author. Most of Paul’s works as a painter were landscapes and paintings of horses. In 1821 he was crea ...

); they had five children, including: * Charlotte Elizabeth Lester (1842-1874), married James Rhoades. * Rev.

John Moore Lester John Moore Lester (4 September 1851 – 24 December 1919) was a British priest who served as Rector of Litchborough and Rural Dean of Lichfield. He was the son of Frederick Lester. Lester was a clergyman and academic and grandfather of James ...

(1851-1919), Rector of

Litchborough Litchborough is an historic village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 300 people,

, married twice, his descendants included his grandchildren, James Shaw, Baron Kilbrandon and Katherine DeMille, nee Lester. * Horace Frank Lester (1853-1896) Lester was found dead in his bed of heart disease at 7 a.m. on 3 July 1858, at Belgaum.

References

External links

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lester, Frederick 1795 births 1858 deaths Graduates of Addiscombe Military Seminary British East India Company people British East India Company Army officers British East India Company Army generals British Army lieutenant generals British Army officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Sikh War Bombay Artillery officers