DyanLeMessurier: Biography

2026-04-04T09:39:26Z

Biography

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{{Infobox person
| name = John Ferguson Rehill
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 14 July 1868
| birth_place = [[Multan]]
| death_date = 1946
| death_place = [[Newton Abbott]]
| other_names =
| occupation = Superindendent [[Indian Imperial Police]]
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
'''John Ferguson Rehill''' (14 July 1868 - 1946) was a British superindendent of [[Indian Imperial Police|police in Punjab]], [[British India|India]], known for escorting [[Satyapal]] and [[Saifuddin Kitchlew]] to [[Dharamshala]] on 10 April 1919, and [[Reginald Dyer]] to [[Jallianwalla Bagh]] three days later. There, he became eyewitness to the [[Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre]], though claimed he saw nothing.

==Biography==
John Rehill was born in [[Multan]] on 14 July 1868.<ref name=Library>The Wohl Library of the Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London, England, Registers of Employees of the East India company from 1707 to 1861 and the India Office from 1862 to 1947, pp. 652, 701, 857.</ref> He was the second of three sons of John Rehill, an [[apothecary]] who served with the army during the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|1857 rebellion]].<ref name=Perkins.183>Perkins, pp. 183-185</ref> His grandfather had travelled to India from Ireland in the 1830s.<ref name=Perkins.183/> In 1892 Rehill joined the [[Indian Imperial Police]] and became superintendent in 1906.<ref name=Library/><ref name="IOL">{{cite book |title=The India Office List for Great Britain India Office |date=1935 |publisher=Harrison and Sons |page=829 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cnP0tXycCSsC&pg=PA829 |language=en}}</ref>

As superindendent of [[Indian Imperial Police|police in Punjab]], and being familiar with the route,<ref name=Wagner.73>Wagner, pp. 73-74</ref> Rehill was assigned to transport [[Satyapal]] and [[Saifuddin Kitchlew]] to [[Dharamshala]] on 10 April 1919.<ref name=Ilahi2020>{{cite book |last1=Ilahi |first1=Shereen |title=Imperial Violence and the Path to Independence: India, Ireland and the Crisis of Empire |date=2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-350-15306-6 |chapter=Punjab disturbances|pages=39–43 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BQBbEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA39|location=London |language=en}}</ref>

At around 4 p.m. on 13 April 1919, Rehill informed [[Reginald Dyer]] that a meeting at [[Jallianwala Bagh]] was taking place, with at least 1,000 people already gathered.<ref name=Wagner.151>Wagner, p. 151</ref> According to accounts by Dyer’s brigade-major [[Frederic Cecil Currer Briggs|Captain Briggs]], Rehill's deputy [[Reginald C. A. Plomer|R. Plomer]], and an Indian eyewitness to the [[Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre]], [[Girdhari Lal]], Rehill travelled to Jallianwala Bagh that day in a car with Plomer, following an armoured vehicle and a lead car carrying Dyer, [[Mountiford Hickman Llewellyn Morgan|M. H. L. Morgan]], Briggs, and Dyer’s two bodyguards, [[William J. Anderson (bodyguard)|Anderson]] and [[Arthur William Pizzey|Pizzey]].<ref name=Wagner.156>Wagner, pp. 156-160</ref> According to Lal, Rehill "could not bear to see the firing through and went outside the garden to avoid the sight".<ref name=Wagner.247>Wagner, pp. 247-248</ref> Answering the subsequent Hunter Inquiry, Rehill claimed he saw nothing.<ref name=Wagner.247/>

Rehill continued to work in the police at [[Gurdaspur]] for a few more years, and retired in January 1924.<ref name=Library/><ref name=Perkins.183/> According to his niece "After the massacre he took to the bottle and several times was the worst for wear on duty. His colleagues covered up for him. He became depressed and moody... He completely lost his zest and, for very many years had the most appalling nightmares. As a youngster, they tell me, he had been a bold and daring man, but when I knew him, he was a shadow of that former self."<ref name=Wagner.247/> After retirement he moved to England, returning to India three years later before spending his last years in [[Newton Abbott]].<ref name=Perkins.183/>

==Death==
Rehill died in 1946 in Newton Abbott.<ref name=Perkins.183/><ref name=E&W1946>England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007</ref>{{efn|Collector of medals, Roger Perkins, gives Rehill's year of death as 1952,<ref name=Perkins.183/> though it was [[General Register Office for England and Wales|officially registered]] in 1946.<ref name=E&W1946/>}} He never married.<ref name=Perkins.183/>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |title=Report of the Committee Appointed in the Government of India to Investigate the Disturbances in the Punjab, Etc: Amritsar |date=1920 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5cE1AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA189|volume=I-III |language=en}}
*{{cite web |title=Punjab Disturbances: The Case Of General Dyer - Hansard - UK Parliament |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/1920-07-19/debates/a68e5794-4044-4aec-8673-f65850358e66/PunjabDisturbancesTheCaseOfGeneralDyer |website=hansard.parliament.uk |publisher=Hansard |access-date=21 September 2025 |location=London |language=en}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last1=Furneaux |first1=Rupert |title=Massacre at Amritsar |date=2022 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-68932-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U2J6EAAAQBAJ|language=en}}
*{{cite book |last1=Perkins |first1=Roger |title=The Amritsar Legacy: Golden Temple to Caxton Hall, the Story of a Killing |date=1989 |publisher=Picton Publishing|location=Chippenham |isbn=0-948251-44-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CiduAAAAMAAJ|language=en}}
*{{cite book |last1=Wagner |first1=Kim A. |title=Amritsar 1919: An Empire of Fear & the Making of a Massacre |date=2019 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-24546-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bziIDwAAQBAJ|language=en}}

[[Category:1868 births]]
[[Category:Jallianwala Bagh massacre]]
[[Category:People from Multan]]
[[Category:1946 deaths]]
[[Category:British police officers in India]]

John Ferguson Rehill - Revision history

DyanLeMessurier: Biography