George Robert Elsmie (31 October 1838 – 26 March 1909) was a Scottish civil servant and judge in India, known also as an author.
Early life
Born at
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
on 31 October 1838, he was only child of George Elsmie, a ship-owner there and from 1843 on the Southampton staff of the
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping group ...
; his mother was Anne (1804-1879), daughter of Robert Shepherd, parish minister of
Daviot, Aberdeenshire. Educated at private schools at Southampton and from 1852 to 1855 at
Marischal College, Aberdeen
Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long- ...
, Elsmie was studying German at
Canstatt
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's bo ...
in August 1855, when he was nominated to a writership in India by his maternal uncle
John Shepherd. He was among the entrants, at the end of 1855, to the
East India College at Haileybury, and passed out on the eve of its abolition in December 1857.
In India
Arriving in India on 12 February 1858, Elsmie was appointed assistant commissioner in the
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
, and served in various districts until 1863, when he acted as a judge of the small causes courts at
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
,
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
, and
Simla
Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, th ...
. In March 1865 he became deputy commissioner (i.e. magistrate and collector) of
Jullundur, and in October 1868 under-secretary to the government of India in the home department. Taking furlough in the spring of 1869, he entered
Lincoln's Inn as a student, and was
called to the bar on 27 January 1871.
Returning to India, Elsmie was appointed additional commissioner of the
Amritsar and Jullundur divisions, his duties being almost entirely judicial. In October 1872 he was transferred to
Peshawur, the lieutenant-governor wishing to improve the judicial administration and reduce crimes of violence in the district. He left there in January 1878 to officiate as judge of the Punjab chief court for a year.
After furlough in December 1880 Elsmie became commissioner of Lahore, and in April 1882 was appointed permanently to the chief court bench. In the same year he served on the Punjab re-organisation committee. In agreement with its recommendations the Lahore commissionership was enlarged in area and relieved of judicial appellate work, and Elsmie was appointed again in February 1885. He was on special duty for the
Rawalpindi durbar for
Lord Dufferin
Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (21 June 182612 February 1902) was a British public servant and prominent member of Victorian society. In his youth he was a popular figure in the court of Queen Vict ...
to meet the Amir
Abdur Rahman Khan
Abdur Rahman Khan GCSI (Pashto/Dari: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for uniting the country after years of internal fighting and negotiation of the Durand Line Ag ...
(April 1885) and was vice-chancellor of
Punjab University (1885-7).
Elsmie was made second financial commissioner in April 1887, a member of the governor-general's legislative council in May 1888, and first financial commissioner from March 1889. He was re-appointed to the governor-general's legislative council in June 1892, and was made
Companion of the Order of the Star of India
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:
# Knight Grand Commander (GCSI)
# Knight Commander ( KCSI)
# Companion ( CSI)
No appointments ...
in January 1893.
Later life
Elsmie left India on 4 February 1894. On 20 July 1904 he received from Aberdeen University the honorary degree of LL.D. He died at
Torquay
Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...
on 26 March 1909, and was buried at Deeside cemetery, Aberdeen.
Works
Elsmie prepared an ''Epitome of Correspondence regarding our Relations with Afghanistan and Herat, 1854-63'' (Lahore, 1863). Suggestions to the government in ''Crime and Criminals on the Peshawur Frontier'' (Lahore, 1884) contributed to the ''Frontier Criminal Regulations'' (1887).
With
Peter Lumsden
General Sir Peter Stark Lumsden (9 November 1829 – 9 November 1918) was a British military officer who served in India. Born in Belhelvie, Aberdeenshire, he was the fourth son of Colonel Thomas Lumsden CB. He studied at Addiscombe Milit ...
, Elsmie wrote
Sir Harry Lumsden's biography, ''Lumsden of the Guides'' (1899). With material collected by
Sir Henry Cunningham he wrote the authorised life of Field-marshal
Sir Donald Stewart, and he edited letters of his mother as ''Anne Shepherd or Elsmie: a Character Sketch of a Scottish Lady of the Nineteenth Century as disclosed by her Letters'' (Aberdeen, 1904). ''
Thirty-Five Years in the Punjab'' (Edinburgh, 1908) was dedicated to his university.
Family
Elsmie married at
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, on 27 October 1861, Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Thomas Spears of
Kirkcaldy, who survived him. Of a family of three sons and eight daughters, two sons became officers in the Indian army, four daughters married Indian civil servants, one of the husbands being
Thomas Holderness
Sir Thomas William Holderness, 1st Baronet, (11 June 1849 – 16 September 1924) was the first former member of the Indian Civil Service to be appointed to the post of Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India (although Sir George Russell Cler ...
, and two daughters married officers in the army.
Notes
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elsmie, George Robert
1838 births
1909 deaths
19th-century Scottish judges
Administrators in British India
Companions of the Order of the Star of India
Scottish biographers
People from Aberdeen
Members of Lincoln's Inn
Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
Indian Civil Service (British India) officers
Vice-Chancellors of the University of the Punjab
British India judges