Hugh Fraser (East India Company Officer)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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 of ...
Hugh Fraser, CB (7 August 1808 – 12 August 1858) was a British
military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...
and administrator in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
. Hugh Fraser was born in Inverness-shire on 7 August 1808, the second, but eldest surviving, son of Hugh Fraser of Jamaica and Stoneyfield House, Inverness-shire and his wife Elizabeth Dunbar, daughter of John Dunbar, minister of
Knockando, Moray Knockando ( gd, Cnoc Cheannachd) is a village in Moray, Scotland. It is a farming centre and the location of both the Knockando distillery and the Tamdhu distillery. It is also the location of Knockando Woolmill, which has been producing texti ...
. He was educated at The Inverness Academy and at
Addiscombe Military Seminary The East India Company Military Seminary was a British military academy at Addiscombe, Surrey, in what is now the London Borough of Croydon. It opened in 1809 and closed in 1861. Its purpose was to train young officers to serve in the East India ...
. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the
Bengal Engineers The Bengal Engineer Group (BEG) (informally the Bengal Sappers or Bengal Engineers) is a military engineering regiment in the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The unit was originally part of the Bengal Army of the East India Company's Ben ...
, Honourable East India Company Army on 15 December 1826 and was promoted to Lieutenant on 28 September 1827. He arrived in India on 11 August 1828. For the following years he served with the Department of Public Works undertaking land and road surveys as well as building projects including the European Artillery Hospital at Mhow, 1837–38; the Allahabad Trunk Road, 1840; and the iron bridge at
Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
, 1843–45. He was promoted to captain on 12 August 1840. Fraser was appointed Garrison Engineer of Fort William and Civil Architect of the
Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...
in August 1847 and was promoted to major on 7 October 1851. In March 1852 Fraser was appointed Commanding Engineer during the Second Anglo-Burmese War. He distinguished himself at the attack on
Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
on 12 April 1852.
General Godwin ''General Godwin'' was a convict ship that transported fifteen convicts from Calcutta, India to Fremantle, Western Australia in 1854. It arrived in Fremantle on 28 March 1854. The fifteen convicts were all soldiers who had been convicted by court ...
in his official despatch stated, 'Major Fraser took the Ladders to the Stockade most gallantly, and alone mounted the defences of the enemy, where his example soon brought around him the storming party, which carried the Stockade; but at very severe loss on our part.' 'The conspicuous gallantry of Major Fraser commanding the Engineers and his indefatigable exertions since the expedition was resolved upon, more especially in the field, commanded the highest praise and the best thanks of the Supreme Government.' He remained in Burma for the next two years during which he supervised extensive building work and was later described as the 'Grand Architect of Rangoon'. For his services in Burma he was created a Companion of the Order of the Bath and promoted to Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel. Fraser was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 1 May 1855, to Brevet Colonel on 15 April 1857 and to colonel on 8 September 1857. In February 1856 he was appointed to officiate as Chief Engineer of the Punjab and in April 1857 Chief Engineer, North-Western Provinces at Agra. At the battle of Sussia (or Shahgunge) on 5 July 1857 Fraser, who rode with the Agra Militia Cavalry, distinguished himself by spiking the largest enemy canon, the only success of the day From 30 September 1857 to 9 February 1858 he held the position of
Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
of the
North-Western Provinces The North-Western Provinces was an administrative region in British India. The North-Western Provinces were established in 1836, through merging the administrative divisions of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces. In 1858, the nawab-ruled kingdom ...
with the title Chief Commissioner. Fraser died at Mussoorie on 13 August 1858 and is buried there. He married Florence Charlotte Penney, daughter of
William Penney, Lord Kinloch The Hon William Penney, Lord Kinloch (1801–1872) was a Scottish judge, and Senator of the College of Justice. Life The son of William Penney, a manufacturer at Castlepens Wynd in Glasgow, and Elizabeth, daughter of David Johnston, D.D., Nort ...
,
Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court of Session); ...
, at Calcutta on 4 November 1850. He had four children, Hugh Fraser (1851–1920), Magistrate and Collector, Indian Civil Service; Florence Fraser (1854–1884), artist; Charles Arthur Fraser (1857–1917), Colonial Secretary, Falkland Islands, Legislative Council Bahamas; Lennox Robertson Fraser (1858–1895), Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, Bengal.History of the Frasers of Lovat to which is added those of Dunballoch and Phopachy, Alexander Mackenzie, Inverness 1896, pp 732-733


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Hugh British East India Company Army officers Lieutenant-Governors of the North-Western Provinces 1858 deaths 1808 births