George Anson (British Army Officer, Born 1797)
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Major-General George Anson CB (13 October 1797 – 27 May 1857) was a British military officer and Whig politician from the
Anson family The Anson family is a British aristocratic family. Over time, several members of the Anson family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Anson family include the earldom of Lichfield (since 1831) and the Anson baron ...
.


Early life

Anson was the second son of
Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson (14 February 1767 – 31 July 1818) was a British politician and British Peerage, peer from the Anson family. Background and career Thomas Anson was born 14 February 1767, the first son of George Anson (1731β€ ...
, and his wife Lady Anne Margaret Coke, daughter of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester of
Holkham Hall Holkham Hall ( or ) is an 18th-century English country house, country house near the village of Holkham, Norfolk, England, constructed in the Neo-Palladian style for Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (fifth creation), Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of ...
, Norfolk.
Thomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield Thomas William Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC (20 October 1795 – 18 March 1854), known as Viscount Anson from 1818–31, was a British Whig (British political faction), Whig politician from the An ...
was his elder brother. He was educated at
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
.


Military and political career

Anson entered the Army in 1814 as an ensign in the 3rd (Scots Fusiliers) Guards and served at an early age in the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
and fought at the
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
. He later sat as a Member of Parliament (MP) for
Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...
from 1818 to 1835, for
Stoke-upon-Trent Stoke-upon-Trent, also known as Stoke, is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton and Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall form the city of Stoke-o ...
from 1836 to 1837, and for Staffordshire South from 1837 to 1853 and served as
Storekeeper of the Ordnance The Principal Storekeeper of the Ordnance was a subordinate of the Master-General of the Ordnance and a member of the English (and later British) Board of Ordnance from its constitution in 1597. He was responsible for the care and maintenance o ...
under
Lord Melbourne Henry William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (15 March 177924 November 1848) was a British Whig politician who served as the Home Secretary and twice as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His first premiership ended when he was dismissed ...
from 1835 to 1841 and as
Clerk of the Ordnance {{Infobox official post , post = Office of the Clerk of the Ordnance , body = , nativename = , insignia = File:Badge of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on a RML 10 inch 18 ton gun in Gibraltar.jpg , insigniasize ...
under Melbourne in 1841 and under
Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and again from 1865 to 186 ...
from 1846 to 1852.


Indian appointment

In 1853 Anson was promoted to the rank of major-general. The following year he was appointed to the command of the
Madras Army The Madras Army was the army of the Presidency of Madras, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations manda ...
in 1854, and early in 1856 became
Commander-in-Chief in India During the period of the Company and Crown rule in India, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the Indian Army from 1833 to 1947. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...
. He was colonel of the
55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot The 55th Regiment of Foot was a British Army infantry regiment, raised in 1755. After 1782 it had a county designation added, becoming known as the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 34th (Cu ...
from 12 December 1856. Since Anson's prior military career consisted of a few months' active service as a subaltern in the Guards (admittedly including
Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...
), a decade on home service in London while also sitting in Parliament as an MP, and 26 and a half years on half-pay, these appointments caused disgruntled comment in some quarters and were presented as an example of " Horse Guards Patronage" at its worst. His decision to accept the Madras appointment caused surprise in English political and social circles, where he was noted mainly for his gentlemanly ways, his good looks and attractive wife, and his skill at cards.


In India

During his short period as Commander-in-Chief in India Anson caused resentment by showing bias against the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
's army and its
sepoys ''Sepoy'' () is a term related to ''sipahi'', denoting professional Indian infantrymen, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire and the Maratha. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its Europ ...
. He appointed all of his aides-de-camp from the Queen's Army, from which he had come. He was quoted as stating that he could never see a sepoy sentry "without turning away in disgust at his unsoldierlike appearance". The Governor-General
Lord Canning Charles John Canning, 1st Earl Canning (14 December 1812 β€“ 17 June 1862), also known as the Viscount Canning and Clemency Canning, was a British politician and Governor-General of India during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the first ...
commented that Anson "was rather a disappointment - but that it would be very difficult to quarrel with anyone so imperturbably good tempered, and so thoroughly a gentleman". Anson's appointment as C-in-C coincided with the beginning of the period of tension and disaffection leading up to the outbreak of the
Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...
. On 23 March 1857 Anson told a parade of Indian officers of the Bengal Army that rumors that the government would interfere with their religious beliefs and caste were completely false. He called on the officers to satisfy the sepoys under their command that this was the case. Anson himself reported a week later that the greased cartridge issue was simply a pretext for protest, adding that "the sepoys have been pampered - and have grown insolent beyond bearing". He did however order the postponement of target practice at musketry depots; which would have involved the actual biting of cartridges and was accordingly the immediate cause of distrust amongst the soldiers. While Anson appears to have realised the seriousness of the situation and to have ordered an analysis of the cartridge wrappings in question, he left the training centre at Ambala without taking more decisive action. "Redress and inquiry were both inconvenient so the headquarters' camp marched to Simla" commented the British Instructor of Musketry, left at the depot in the midst of swirling discontent amongst the sepoys there. On 12 May Anson and his staff were at
Simla Shimla, also known as Simla (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summe ...
when the news of the outbreak of the
mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military or a crew) to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, ...
at
Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''MΔ“raαΉ­h'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...
and
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
reached him. He immediately ordered that European troops take possession of the various arsenals in the
Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Δ€b) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
but delayed his own departure for the centre of rebellion while logistical problems were resolved. Anson finally left
Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab (India), Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala ...
for Delhi on 23 May at the head of three regiments of British troops and some sepoy units that he considered reliable. His intention was to join with the Meerut Brigade and press on to retake
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
. However, Anson died of
cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
four days into the march, at the age of 59. He was buried in Kurnaul (now Karnal). His body was later exhumed and taken back to England to be buried in
Kensal Green cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...
.


Character

In spite of his personal charm Anson did not enjoy much professional respect amongst his fellow officers in Bengal. A staff colonel commented immediately after his sudden death that the sepoys had "a great hatred for him, honestly thinking that he was commissioned to convert them". A more valid criticism was that his immediate response to the outbreak of the mutiny was a laborious one, at a moment when quick and energetic action could still have been decisive.


Private life

Anson married The Hon. Isabella Elizabeth Annabella Weld-Forester, daughter of
Cecil Weld-Forester, 1st Baron Forester Cecil Weld-Forester, 1st Baron Forester (baptised 7 April 1767 – 23 May 1828) was a Tory British Member of Parliament and later peer. Early life Born Cecil Forester and baptised at St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury, Editors Vicary Gibbs and H. A ...
, and wife Lady Katherine Mary Manners, in 1830. They had three daughters: the first was Isabella Maria Katherine Curzon-Howe, Countess Curzon, the second was Alice Louisa, The Hon. Mrs. Wentworth-Fitzwilliam and the third Geraldine Georgiana Mary Hervey, Marchioness of Bristol, Isabella survived her husband by only a year and died in December 1858. Anson was a prominent owner of racehorses: he won The Derby with
Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...
in 1842 and The Oaks two years later with The Princess.


Other

It has been asserted mistakenly that 'Famous British Olympian Sir
Matthew Pinsent Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent, (; born 10 October 1970) is an English rower and broadcaster. During his rowing career, he won 10 world championship gold medals and four consecutive Olympic gold medals. Since retiring, he has worked as a sports b ...
is George's great-great-great-grandson', but in fact that was a different George Anson - the uncle of the subject of this article.Burke's Peerage, 107th edition, p. 2324


See also

* 1835 Wolverhampton riot


References

* (thePeerage.com)


External links

*
History of Parliament account of George Anson's parliamentary career
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Anson, George 1797 births 1857 deaths British Army major generals British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Companions of the Order of the Bath Deaths from cholera in India Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 Younger sons of viscounts Politics of the Borough of Great Yarmouth
George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...
Scots Guards officers People educated at Eton College People of the Battle of Waterloo Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Owners of Epsom Derby winners British military personnel killed in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 British Commanders-in-Chief of India