Lieut.-Gen. Sir John Bennet Hearsey (21 January 1793 – 23 October 1865) was a British military commander in the

Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Govern ...

who was colonel of the

21st Hussars The 21st Lancers (Empress of India's) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1858 and amalgamated with the 17th Lancers in 1922 to form the 17th/21st Lancers. Perhaps its most famous engagement was the Battle of Omdurman, where Win ...

and of the left wing of the

3rd Bengal Light Cavalry The 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry, also known as the 3rd Bengal Native Cavalry, was a locally recruited regiment of the East India Company's Bengal Army. Raised in 1797, the regiment took part in conflicts throughout British India, serving with dist ...

. He was also an amateur naturalist and

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

and collected a large number of insects from Asia.

Biography

Hearsey was born in

Midnapore Medinipur or Midnapore (Pron: med̪iːniːpur) is a city known for its history in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the West Medinipur district. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River (variously known as '' ...

, West Bengal, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Wilson Hearsey and Charlotte Crane. At the time of his birth, his father commanded the 9th Native Infantry at Midnapore. He married his cousin Harriet Zihur-Ul-Nissa (1806–48), the only daughter of his cousin Maj. Hyder Young Hearsey and the Khanum Zihur-ul-nissa. His mother-in-law was the daughter of the deposed Prince of Cambay. They had four sons and three daughters. After her death in London, he married Emma Rumball, with whom he had four sons and a daughter. Emma died in 1865. He died in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, from complications of bronchitis, aged 72. He was the great-uncle of Archdeacon Henry Hearsey.

Career

Hearsey enlisted in the British Indian army in 1808. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1809, captain in 1819, major in 1833, lieutenant colonel in 1838, brevet colonel in 1849, colonel in 1852, major general in 1854, and lieutenant general in 1862. In 1817, Hearsey fought at the

battle of Sitabuldi Sitabuldi Fort ( Marathi: सीताबर्डी किल्ला), site of the Battle of Sitabuldi in 1817, is located atop a hillock in central Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. The fort was built by the British after they won this area fo ...

and the 1825–26 siege and capture of Bhurtpore. During the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1848-49, he fought at Battle of Chillianwala and Battle of Gujrat, and commanded the calvary in final pursuit and surrender of the Sikh army. He was injured in battle several times during his career. In 1857, he was the commanding officer at

Barrackpore Barrackpore (also known as Barrackpur) is a city and a municipality of urban Kolkata of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA ...

when

sepoy ''Sepoy'' () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its oth ...

Mangal Pandey attempted to start a mutiny and was threatening to shoot British officers. When confronted by Maj.-Gen. Hearsey and ordered to surrender, Pandey shot himself but survived. He and another Indian sepoy—who had refused to arrest Pandey—were later hanged, despite Pandey's pleas that he had been under the influence of

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

and bhang at the time of his actions. The incident contributed to the Indian Rebellion of 1857. In July 1857, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath for his role in suppressing the rebellion.

Naturalist

Hearsey had a keen interest in insects, collecting specimens from South Asia. He was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1847. He regularly exhibited his specimens from China and India, which were of great interest to British entomologists. ''

Prophalangopsis obscura ''Prophalangopsis obscura'' is an winged insect species found in North India and the Tibetan Plateau. It is one of only a few surviving species in the family Prophalangopsidae. F. Walker described it in 1869 from a single male specimen from In ...

'', a winged insect species found North India, was identified in 1865 by Francis Walker from Hearsey's specimen. His collection was a significant source for

John O. Westwood John Obadiah Westwood (22 December 1805 – 2 January 1893) was an English entomologist and archaeologist also noted for his artistic talents. He published several illustrated works on insects and antiquities. He was among the first entomologist ...

's illustrated book ''Cabinet of Oriental Entomology; Being a Selection of Some of the Rarer and More Beautiful Species of Insects, Natives of India and the Adjacent Islands'' (1848). Species named after Hearsey include the stalk-eyed fly ''

Sphyracephala hearseiana ''Sphyracephala'' is a genus of stalk-eyed flies in the family Diopsidae. It resembles the presumed extinct genus ''Prosphyracephala'', known from Baltic amber The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber, called Baltic am ...

''. Hearsey's entomological and botanical diary (1838-46) is held at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. ;Gallery

's illustrations from ''Cabinet of Oriental Entomology'' based on Hearsey's collection: Image:CabinetOrientalEntomology35.jpg, ''Campsosternus templetonii'' Image:CabinetOrientalEntomology42.jpg, ''Hestia lasonia '' Image:CabinetOrientalEntomology6.jpg, ''Deilephila cyrene'' Image:CabinetOrientalEntomology21.jpg, ''Charaxes Psaphon'' Image:CabinetOrientalEntomology23.jpg, Image:CabinetOrientalEntomology29.jpg,

References

1793 births 1865 deaths People from Midnapore Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Linnean Society of London British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Sikh War British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 British Indian Army officers British naturalists {{BritishIndia-mil-stub