Sbahin: done

2026-08-02T19:01:35Z

done

New page

{{short description|Indian police officer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Sir Edward Lee French''', [[Royal Victorian Order|KCVO]] (22 July 1857 – 17 May 1916) was an English-born senior officer in the Indian Police Force and a first-class [[cricket]]er.

== Life ==
Edward Lee French was born on 22 July 1857,<ref name="Dods1923">''Dod's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, Etc. of Great Britain and Ireland'' (1923), p. 340.</ref> the son of Rev. Frederic French (1823–1907), JP, rector of [[Worlingworth]] with [[Southolt]], in [[Suffolk]], and his wife, Anna Maria (d. 1901), eldest daughter of John Davis, JP, DL (d. 1864), of Cranbrooke Park, [[Essex]]. He was baptised at [[Worlingworth]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=R_961889463|access-date=2020-08-11|website=www.findmypast.co.uk}}</ref> The Rev. French's family came from [[Eye, Suffolk]]; his father Thomas was banker to the Henniker family, [[Advowson|patrons]] of Worlingworth's rectory. This connection helped secure Frederic French, newly graduated from the [[University of Cambridge]] (BA 1847, MA 1850), the living at Worlingworth, which he held from 1853 to his death in 1907.<ref>See, for parentage, ''Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland ...'' (1914), p. 471; and ''Walford's County Families of the United Kingdom'' (1913), p. 447. ''Dod's'' gives his maternal grandfather as William Davis, but he is John Davis in B. Burke, ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland'' (1879), vol. 1, p. 434; the marriage, between Anna Maria, eldest daughter of John Davis, of Cranbrooke Park, and Frederic French, rector of Worlingworth, was recorded in the ''Bury and Norwich Post'', 2 November 1853, p. 2.</ref><ref>For details of the Rev. French, see J. Venn and J. A. Venn (eds), ''Alumni Cantabrigienses'' (Cambridge, 1944), vol. 2, part 2, p. 576; and [http://www.wlhg.org/?pagename=05.People-Frederic+French "Revered Frederic French (1823–1907)"], ''Worlingworth Local History Group''. Retrieved 18 April 2017.</ref>

Following schooling at [[Marlborough College|Marlborough]],<ref>"Sir Edward Lee French", ''The Annual Register'', vol. 158 (1917), p. 170.</ref> Edward French entered the [[Indian Imperial Police|Indian Police]] in 1879. He was appointed Deputy Inspector-General in the Criminal Investigation Department for the [[Punjab (region)|Punjab]] in 1905. Three years later, he was made Inspector-General of the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–55)|North-West Frontier]] Police and then, in 1909, of the Punjab Police. In this capacity, he placed in charge of the police during the [[Delhi Durbar|Coronation Durbar]] of 1911,<ref name="WhWaWh">[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U196646 "French, Sir Edward Lee"], ''Who Was Who'' (online edition), Oxford University Press, 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2017.</ref> when King-Emperor [[George V]] appointed him a Knight Commander of the [[Royal Victorian Order]].<ref>P. Galloway, D. Stanley and D. Martin (1996), ''Royal Service'', vol. 1 (London: Victorian Publishing, 1996), pp. 120–125.</ref>

French was also a [[first-class cricket]]er, playing cricket in both England and India. In England he played two matches for [[W. G. Grace]]'s [[London County Cricket Club|London County]] in 1902, having previously played for [[India national cricket team|India]] against [[Lord Hawke's XI cricket team in Ceylon and India in 1892–93|Lord Hawke's touring team]] in 1893. He played one further match in India in 1903, for the [[Gentlemen of India]] against the touring [[Oxford University Authentics]] team.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/13/13473/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Edward French|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=26 September 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In 1886,<ref name="Dods1923"/> he married Wilna, daughter of David Ross, [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]] at [[Hoxne]]. He died on 17 May 1916.<ref name="WhWaWh"/>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Indian civil servants}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Edward Lee}}

[[Category:1857 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Police Service officers]]
[[Category:Indian Police Service officers in British India]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:London County cricketers]]
[[Category:Gentlemen of India cricketers]]
[[Category:British sportspeople in British India]]

Edward Lee French - Revision history

Sbahin: done