Sir John Spencer Login (9 November 1809 – 18 October 1863) was a Scottish surgeon in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, best remembered as the guardian of Maharajah Duleep Singh and the

Koh-i-Noor The Koh-i-Noor ( ; from ), also spelled Kohinoor and Koh-i-Nur, is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing . It is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The diamond is currently set in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Q ...

diamond following the annexation of Punjab and Last Treaty of Lahore. Born in the seaport of

Stromness Stromness (, non, Straumnes; nrn, Stromnes) is the second-most populous town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the southwestern part of Mainland Orkney. It is a burgh with a parish around the outside with the town of Stromness as its capital. E ...

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

, in 1809, Login went on to study medicine at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and was, within a few years, offered the post of assistant surgeon for the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. Arriving in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in 1832, he initially had appointments with the Bengal establishment and the Nizam’s army. Later roles included, amongst others, a medical charge of the

horse artillery Horse artillery was a type of light, fast-moving, and fast-firing artillery which provided highly mobile fire support, especially to cavalry units. Horse artillery units existed in armies in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, from the early 17th to t ...

in the Afghan campaign, residency surgeoncy 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 ...

, action in the

Second Anglo-Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company, British East India Company that took place in 1848 and 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab r ...

and in 1849, the appointment as the Governor of

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. ...

. It was under Login and his wife's guidance that Duleep Singh converted to Christianity and was escorted to England in 1854. After a final trip to India, Login died shortly after his return to England in 1863.

Early life and family

John Spencer Login was born in Stromness, Orkney, on 9 November 1809, to John Login of the merchant navy and his wife Margaret Spence, from Kirbuster,

Birsay Birsay () (Old Norse: ''Birgisherað'') is a parish in the north west corner of The Mainland of Orkney, Scotland. Almost all the land in the parish is devoted to agriculture: chiefly grassland used to rear beef cattle. There are various ancient ...

. He was ten years older than his brother, the Reverend William S. Login and there were at least two other brothers, Tom and James. Login's father had settled in Stromness after retiring from the merchant navy and set up his own shipping business, part owning shipping vessels. At the time, Stromness was a busy trading port. Login's paternal grandfather had worked for the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

and was a regular visitor to Stromness, and his maternal grandfather had commanded a

merchant vessel A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are us ...

to the West Indies. His maternal grandmother was the daughter of Edward Groundwater from

Orphir Orphir (pronounced , Old Norse: Jorfjara/OrfjaraPedersen, Roy (January 1992) ''Orkneyjar ok Katanes'' (map, Inverness, Nevis Print)) is a parish and settlement on Mainland, Orkney. It is approximately southwest of Kirkwall, and comprises a se ...

.John Login.
''About Orkney''. Retrieved 14 June 2018. With frequent travellers in town, the Login family would often have short-term lodgers who would share their travel stories. Login, perhaps, became inspired by these stories of the sea. The fear of their son going to sea led, Login's parents to send him to school in

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

. Here, however, Login continued to hear sea stories from fishermen. Login's family encountered financial hardship when Login's father died prematurely and due to the absence of insurance, the family could no longer afford to repair the increasing number of shipwrecks. They eventually became reliant on the charity and hospitality of friends. As the Hudson Bay agent for Stromness, Margaret managed the inn, near the Login's Well.

Early medical career

James Syme James Syme (7 November 1799 – 26 June 1870) was a pioneering Scottish surgeon. Early life James Syme was born on 7 November 1799 at 56 Princes Street in Edinburgh. His father was John Syme WS of Cartmore and Lochore, estates in Fife ...

at around the age of 15. Subsequently, he became surgeon-dresser to Adam Hunter and John Campbell at the Infirmary in Edinburgh. He received his licentiate (

LRCSE The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located on ...

) in 1828 at age 19. In 1829, he became house surgeon to

Robert Liston Robert Liston (28 October 1794 – 7 December 1847) was a British surgeon. Liston was noted for his speed and skill in an era prior to anaesthetics, when speed made a difference in terms of pain and survival. He was the first Professor of Cli ...

and

John Lizars Prof John Lizars FRSE (15 May 1792–21 May 1860) was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist and medical author. He was Professor of surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and senior surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He perfo ...

, following which he became physician's clerk to James Gregory, Thomas Shortt and

Robert Christison Sir Robert Christison, 1st Baronet, (18 July 1797 – 27 January 1882) was a Scottish toxicologist and physician who served as president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1838–40 and 1846-8) and as president of the British ...

. He obtained his MD at the age of 21 years in 1831. At the recommendation of Thomas Shortt, Login was sent to provide medical supervision to the Lord Chief Commissioner Adam. Pleased with his treatment, Login was subsequently offered the post of assistant surgeon for the

by John Loch, the Lord Chief’s son-in-law.

Early years in India

Login arrived in Calcutta in July 1832, as assistant surgeon on the Bengal establishment, initially posted to the Buffs and then accompanying the regiment to

Dinapore Danapur is a Indian satellite town and one of the 6 sub-divisions (Tehsil) in Patna district of Bihar state. He was appointed to the Bengal

in the same year.Dod, Robert P. (1863) In 1834, he was appointed to the Nizam’s army and in 1836, to the staff of Lord Metcalfe, Lieutenant-Governor 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 ...

. In 1838, he was appointed medical charge of the horse artillery in the Afghan campaign.

Lucknow

Considered an appointment of good fate and fortune due to subsidies and favours from the

Vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...

Oudh The Oudh State (, also Kingdom of Awadh, Kingdom of Oudh, or Awadh State) was a princely state in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the British in 1856. The name Oudh, now obsolete, was once the anglicized name of ...

, Login was appointed to the Resident Surgeon at

in 1838 as well as physician to the court of Oudh and

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official respons ...

of Oudh. Unlike his predecessors, his wife noted in her diaries that he did not take advantage of this position. Login became an effective member of the Board of Management as the Honorary Secretary of the Martiniere College in Lucknow, compiling the College rules. It was in Lucknow that Login met Lena Campbell in 1842. She too was from Scotland and had come to India with her sister and brother-in-law, Major Hope Dick. They married in July of that year. Their children were depicted in a miniature on ivory by an anonymous Indian artist in 1846. The scene shows their oldest son Edward William Spencer Login (born 1843) on a rocking horse, their daughter Lena Margaret Campbell Login (1845) in a blue dress, and the infant Louisa Marion d’Arcy Login (1846) held by the children's ayah. The Indian child in the picture is unidentified. Ultimately, they had six childrenLogin (née Campbell), Lena, Lady Login.
Rosemary Cargill Raza, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', Oxford University Press, Oxford. Online edition. Retrieved 14 June 2018. one of whom was Spencer Login, an early rugby union international who represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1875 and also had a career in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, rising to the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

. As physician to the Court of Oudh, Login was barred from directly examining women in the

zenana Zenana ( fa, زنانه, ur, , bn, জেনানা, hi, ज़नाना) literally meaning "of the women" or "pertaining to women", in Persian language contextually refers to the part of a house belonging to a Muslim, Sikh, or Hindu f ...

. However, here, his wife Lena was able assist in diagnosing the medical conditions. In 1839, Login took responsibility for two thousand poor in

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...

. After assisting with the re-building of the carpet weaving industry, political instability in the area caused the British mission to leave and Login to move to

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

and then

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

, eventually returning again to Lucknow. Rejoining the Horse Artillery in 1848, Login sent his wife and children back to England. He then fought in the Second Anglo-Sikh War.

Maharajah Duleep Singh and the Koh-i-Noor

Following the death of

Maharajah Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

in 1839 and the ensuing decade of power struggles, civil war and

First Anglo-Sikh War The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company in 1845 and 1846 in and around the Ferozepur district of Punjab. It resulted in defeat and partial subjugation of the Sikh empire and cession of ...

, the

army defeated the Sikhs in 1849, resulting in the inducement of the ten year old Maharajah Duleep Singh to sign the Last Treaty of Lahore with the consequential annexation of Punjab.William Dalrymple on the Koh-i-Noor diamond, colonialism and Brexit.
''The Scotsman'', 22 June 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2018.Dalrymple and Anand, 2017, p. 3. Subsequently, Login was entrusted with the Company’s two most significant possessions, the guardianship of Maharajah Duleep Singh and the protection of the

diamond.Dalrymple and Anand, 2017, p. 188-195. In addition, Login was put in charge of cataloguing the newly acquired treasures of the Sikh government's

toshakhana Toshakhana is a word of Sanskrit/Hindi origin that literally translates into "treasure-house". In Mughal ruled India, a toshakhana was a place where princes store "gifts and emblems of honor that they received for their posterity ... an archive o ...

(treasury). He meticulously measured, described and recorded the details of each jewel. He was also in charge of the post office in Punjab. It was said that the British regarded Login as the most trustworthy man in all India. Login was first introduced to the ten year old Maharajah Duleep Singh on 6 April 1849, just a few days after he had been appointed Governor of "the Citadel of Lahore and all that it contains". They moved from Lahore to Fatehgarh Park,

Fatehgarh Fatehgarh is a cantonment town in Farrukhabad district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located on the south bank of the Ganges River. It is the administrative headquarters of Farrukhabad District. Fatehgarh derives its name from a ...

, where Login introduced an English type of learning. Impressed with the young Duleep Singh's handsome looks and attitudes, Login noted his (Duleep's) preferences for isolation, but attributed this to the "maharajah's contemplative nature" rather than to unhappiness. Apprehensive about the manner in which the diamond had been obtained, he avoided the subject with Duleep Singh. In addition, he avoided conversation about Singh's mother

Jind Kaur Maharani Jind Kaur ( – 1 August 1863) was regent of the Sikh Empire from 1843 until 1846. She was the youngest wife of the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, Ranjit Singh, and the mother of the last Maharaja, Duleep Singh. She was renowned fo ...

. It was, according to

George Bruce Malleson Colonel George Bruce Malleson (8 May 1825 – 1 March 1898) was an English officer in India and author. Biography Malleson was born in Wimbledon. Educated at Winchester, he obtained a cadetship in the Bengal infantry in 1842, and served t ...

, under Login's guidance that Duleep Singh "developed into a Christian gentleman, an English courtier, and a Scottish laird", Reprint of 1897 original published by Longmans, Green & Co., London. who saw Login as a significant figure in his life, calling him "MaBap", a collective appellation for mother and father. The Koh-i-Noor was eventually handed over to Governor-General Dalhousie at the end of 1849 by Login, whilst still set in the armlet that Maharajah Ranjeet Singh had once worn. Lena Login returned to India to assist in the upbringing of Duleep Singh and later they escorted Duleep Singh to England in 1854.

Later life

Back in England, Login was knighted in 1854, and with his wife continued the guardianship of the Duleep Singh until 1858. In the same year, he retired from the Bengal Medical Service. Following the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

, he sat on the committee that was set up to investigate all reported brutalities, being one of the interviewers himself.

Death and legacy

In 1862-3 he visited India for the last time, to establish the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

. Upon his return to Britain, he died suddenly at

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northeast of London. His ...

on 18 October 1863 following a short illness and two months after the death of Duleep Singh's mother. Local coastguards in Felixstowe carried his coffin for one mile to the church. He had been described as "truthful" by Lord Lawrence, past

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

and "a thoroughly good, conscientious man" by Queen Victoria's private secretary, Sir Charles Phipps. For a "heartbroken" Duleep Singh, Login's death was likened to the loss of a father. His tombstone, erected by Duleep Singh, was engraved with words chosen by Queen Victoria. In 1890 Login's wife, Lady Lena Login, published ''Sir John Login and Duleep Singh'', her memoirs of their relationship. In 2015, photograph albums thought to have once belonged to Login were sold at auction.

References

Citations

William Dalrymple William Dalrymple may refer to: * William Dalrymple (1678–1744), Scottish Member of Parliament * William Dalrymple (moderator) (1723–1814), Scottish minister and religious writer * William Dalrymple (British Army officer) (1736–1807), Scott ...

and

Anita Anand Anita Anand (born May 20, 1967) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who serves as the minister of national defence since 2021. She has represented the riding of Oakville in the House of Commons since the 2019 federal election, sitting as ...

''Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond''
Bloomsbury Publishing (2017).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Login, John Spencer 1809 births 1863 deaths Scottish surgeons Knights Bachelor People from Orkney Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School