Major-General Saunders Alexius Abbott (9 July 1811 – 7 February 1894) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

military officer 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 ...

and administrator serving 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 ...

Family background

Saunders was the fourth son of Henry Alexius Abbott, a retired

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 ...

merchant of Blackheath, Kent,Biog. Of Henry Alexius Abbot per the obituaries of his prominent sons and his wife Margaret Welsh, the daughter of William Welsh of Edinburgh. He had the following siblings: * Margaret (1801–1877) * Major General

Augustus Abbott Major-General Augustus Abbott (7 January 1804 – 25 February 1867) was an army officer in the British East India Company. He was the eldest of several prominent brothers. He served in various military campaigns including the First Anglo-Afghan Wa ...

CB (1804–1867) * Major General Sir Frederick Abbott CB (1805–1892) * General Sir James Abbott KCB (1807–1896) * Emma Abbott (1809–1875) *

Keith Edward Abbott Keith Edward Abbott (1814–1873) was a British diplomat and consul general at Tabriz and later Odessa. Family background Keith was born in London, the 5th son of Henry Alexius Abbott, a retired Calcutta merchant of Blackheath, Kent, and his wi ...

, Consul General (1814–1873) * Edmund Abbott (1816–1816)

Career

Abbott was educated privately and (like his brothers Augustus and Frederick) 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 ...

. In 1828, he joined the

Bengal Infantry The regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, alongside the regiments of Bengal European Infantry, were the regular infantry components of the East India Company's Bengal Army from the raising of the first Native battalion in 1757 to the passing int ...

. He was appointed in 1836 to be Assistant in the Revenue Survey under Henry Montgomery Lawrence. He held Survey charges from 1838 to 1842. He fought in the

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 ...

of 1845–46. At the Battle of Mudki, he forced marched reserves from

Kasauli Kasauli is a town and cantonment, located in Solan district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The cantonment was established by the British Raj in 1842 as a Colonial hill station,Sharma, Ambika"Architecture of Kasauli churches" ''The Trib ...

and Sabathu. He served later as aide-de-camp to Sir

Henry Hardinge Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge, (30 March 1785 – 24 September 1856) was a British Army officer and politician. After serving in the Peninsular War and the Waterloo Campaign he became Secretary at War in Wellington's ministry. After ...

at the Battle of Ferozeshah, during which he was dangerously wounded. In 1846 he was a

brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. Abbott was appointed Deputy Commissioner of Umbala in 1847. He was appointed to the same post in

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...

in 1849 to 1854 and held the post during a mutiny. From 1858 to 1863 he was Commissioner of

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 ...

. He was an honorary aide-de-camp to the

governors-general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

until his retirement in September 1864. After his retirement, Abbott became an agent for a railway company in

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. ...

before being promoted to its board of directors. He died in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

on 7 February 1894.

Sources

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Saunders Alexius 1811 births 1894 deaths Graduates of Addiscombe Military Seminary British East India Company Army officers British military personnel of the First Anglo-Sikh War Administrators in British India 19th-century English businesspeople