Henry Ramsay (Indian Army officer) - Revision history

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	[[General]] the Hon. '''Sir Henry Ramsay''' {{post-nominals\|KCSI\|CB}} (1816 – 16 December 1893) was a British general in the Indian Army, who served as Commissioner of the [[Kumaon division]]. He is regarded as one of the great soldier-administrators of [[British India]]<ref>The Indian Civil Service, 1601-1930. LSS O’Malley.</ref> and was dubbed "The King of Kumaon."<ref name="times">{{cite news \|title=Obituary \|work=[[The Times]] \|page= 4\|date=21 December 1893 }}</ref>		[[General]] the Hon. '''Sir Henry Ramsay''' {{post-nominals\|KCSI\|CB}} (1816 – 16 December 1893) was a British general in the Indian Army, who served as Commissioner of the [[Kumaon division]]. He is regarded as one of the great soldier-administrators of [[British India]]<ref>The Indian Civil Service, 1601-1930. LSS O’Malley.</ref> and was dubbed "The King of Kumaon".<ref name="times">{{cite news \|title=Obituary \|work=[[The Times]] \|page= 4\|date=21 December 1893 }}</ref>

	==Family==		==Family==

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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{infobox military person
|honorific_prefix=General Sir
|name=Henry Ramsay
|honorific_suffix={{post-nominals|KCSI|CB}}
|image=SirHenryRamsay.JPG
|image_size=160
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|branch=[[Bengal Army]]<br>{{army|British India|23px}}
|birth_date=1816
|death_date=16 December 1893
|rank=[[General]]
|awards=[[Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]<br>[[Companion of the Order of the Bath]]
}}
[[General]] the Hon. '''Sir Henry Ramsay''' {{post-nominals|KCSI|CB}} (1816 – 16 December 1893) was a British general in the Indian Army, who served as Commissioner of the [[Kumaon division]]. He is regarded as one of the great soldier-administrators of [[British India]]<ref>The Indian Civil Service, 1601-1930. LSS O’Malley.</ref> and was dubbed "The King of Kumaon."<ref name="times">{{cite news |title=Obituary |work=[[The Times]] |page= 4|date=21 December 1893 }}</ref>

==Family==
Ramsay was the son of Lieutenant-General the Hon. John Ramsay, fourth son of [[George Ramsay, 8th Earl of Dalhousie]], and Mary Delise. His elder brother [[George Ramsay, 12th Earl of Dalhousie|George]] was an admiral in the Royal Navy. Upon the death of his cousin, [[Fox Maule-Ramsay, 11th Earl of Dalhousie]] without issue in 1874, [[Queen Victoria]] issued a special allowance to allow Henry and his siblings the style and precedence as if their father had still been alive to inherit the earldom. Thus he was styled as '''The Honourable Henry Ramsey''' from 1874.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=24145 |date= 27 October 1874|page=5113}}</ref>

==Career==
In 1840, Ramsay was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Kumaon, when a colonel in the Bengal Army. Ramsay was amongst the most able of the British officials posted to the Kumaon district and came to enjoy the respect and support of the people. His modest and genial approach ensured the region remained loyal to the British. In 1856 Ramsay became Commissioner and worked another 28 years in the Garhwal and Kumaon.

==Residences==
The Commissioner was based in [[Almora]], but moved the administration 23 km to the cooler [[Binsar]] during the summer. In 1866, Ramsay bought land measuring about {{convert|26|acre|m2}} at Binsar from Sri Jai Sah of Almora. It was known as Binsar Estate, situated in Pargana Baramandal District, Almora (formerly called Kumaon District), now a heritage property named [[Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary#Grand Oak Manor|Grand Oak Manor]]. Here he built his residential bungalow having a ballroom, a private chapel and staff quarters from which he used to administer the region. The civil and criminal courts were also held here. He also bought another property near Binsar known as 'Khali', meaning empty, where a bungalow was built along with orchards though he never lived there. Khali is now a resort. After retiring in 1884, Ramsay had hoped to live in Binsar, but had to return to England.<ref>[http://www.villageways.com/index.php?pageid=1616 Henry Ramsay]</ref> In the 1930s [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]], [[Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru]]'s sister lived in the house at Khali.

==Personal life and honours==
For his services in the Kumaon Ramsay was appointed a Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]] (C.B.) in the [[1860 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=22387 |page=1916 |date=18 May 1860 }}</ref> He was invested as Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Star of India]] (K.C.S.I.) in the [[1876 New Year Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=8649 |date=4 January 1876 |page=1 |city=Edinburgh}}</ref> According to P Whalley, "Henry Ramsay not only consolidated the earlier gains (of previous Kumaon Commissioners' Traill, Gardner, Batten & Lushington) but propelled Kumaon-Garwhal into the mainstream of modern India".<ref>British Kumaon. P Whalley, 1870. (Re-printed 1991 by Vishwavidyalaya Prakashan, Varanasi, with foreword by RS Tolia)</ref>

He married Laura Lushington (daughter of the previous Commissioner of the Kumaon) in 1850 and together they had five children. He died at [[West Norwood|Norwood]] on 16 December 1893 at the age of 77.<ref name="times"/>

In his obituary in ''[[The Times]]'', he was eulogised as "A man, keenly observant and sagacious, of cool, clear judgment and strong will, tempered by Scotch caution with a single-hearted desire for the well being and prosperity of the people over whom he was set in authority, he was trusted alike by them and by his official superiors."<ref name="times"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsay, Henry}}
[[Category:1816 births]]
[[Category:1893 deaths]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:Administrators in British India]]
[[Category:History of Uttarakhand]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]