Lieutenant-Colonel John Pitt Kennedy (8 May 1796 – 28 June 1879) was a British military engineer, agricultural reformer and civil servant.

Biography

Grave of John Pitt Kennedy in Highgate Cemetery (east)

Kennedy was born at Carndonagh, County Donegal, Ireland and was educated at

Foyle College Foyle College is a co-educational non-denominational voluntary grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland. The school's legal name is Foyle and Londonderry College. In 1976, two local schools, Foyle College and Londonderry High School, merged unde ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, and the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

, becoming lieutenant in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

in 1815. Four years afterwards, he was sent to Malta, and thence to

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

. He superintended the construction of a canal at Lefkada (1820), served next under Sir Charles Napier at

Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It i ...

(building

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

s, roads, and quays) and was sub-inspector of militia in the Ionian Islands (1828–31). During a spell in India he met Sir Charles Napier and when he returned to Ireland he set up agricultural schools designed to improve the economy of the country. One was at Cloghan near Ballybofey, and another at Eglinton near Derry. He became a farm manager and married Anna, daughter of Sir Charles Styles, who owned large estates around Ballybofey, in 1838. In 1837, Kennedy established the Loughash Institute and hired James Moore as director (see ''Digest of Evidence Taken Before Her Majesty's Commissioners of Inquiry'') pp. 43–44. Kennedy's methods of improving the condition of the agricultural classes are indicated by the title of his work, ''Instruct; Employ; Don't Hang Them'': or ''Ireland Tranquilized without Soldiers and Enriched without English

Capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

'' (1835). He wrote several others of similar nature, and as

inspector general An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is "inspectors general". Australia The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia) (IGIS) is an independent statutory off ...

for Irish education (1837), as secretary to the

Devon Commission The Devon Commission (officially 'Commission on Occupation of Land (Ireland)') was a commission that was appointed by Sir Robert Peel to research the problems with land leases. It was formed by a queen's proclamation issued 20 November 1843 and r ...

(1843), and to the Famine Relief Committee (1845), his labours were unceasing in behalf of his native land.Profile
historyofdonegal.com He returned to the army in 1849 as military secretary to Sir Charles Napier and accompanied him to India, where he built the military road named after him and extending from Kalka via Simla to Kunawur and Tibet. He published ''British Home and Colonial Empire'' (1865–69), as well as a number of technical works relating to his Indian career. He was District Grandmaster of Bengal. His son,

George Kennedy George Harris Kennedy Jr. (February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016) was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions. He played "Dragline" opposite Paul Newman in ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), winning the Academ ...

, was a first-class cricketer. He died in June 1879 and was buried on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery.

References

Profile
catalogue.nli.ie {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, John Pitt 1796 births 1879 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Royal Engineers officers People from County Donegal Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich People educated at Foyle College Members of the Metropolitan Board of Works