John Low (East India Company officer) - Revision history

Bsdmission: refined information per sources and improved wording

2026-02-09T08:52:50Z

refined information per sources and improved wording

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:22, 9 February 2026
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	{{Short description\|~~Scottish army~~ officer ~~in the East India Company~~}}		{{Short description\|Madras Army officer and colonial administrator}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=September 2019}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=September 2019}}
	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
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	\| name = John Low		\| name = John Low
	\| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals\|country=GBR\|size=100%\|GCSI\|KCB\|FRSE}}		\| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals\|country=GBR\|size=100%\|GCSI\|KCB\|FRSE}}
	\| image = ~~File:~~The Late General Sir John Low (cropped-1).jpg		\| image = The Late General Sir John Low (cropped-1).jpg
	\| image_size =		\| image_size =
	\| alt =		\| alt =
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	\| placeofburial_label =		\| placeofburial_label =
	\| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord\|LAT\|LONG\|display=inline,title}} -->		\| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord\|LAT\|LONG\|display=inline,title}} -->
	\| allegiance = ~~[[File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg\|22x20px\|border]] [[United Kingdom]]<br>[[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg\|22x20px\|border]]~~ [[East India Company]]		\| allegiance = [[East India Company]]
	\| branch = ~~{{unbulleted list\|[[Presidency armies]]\|~~[[~~British~~ Army]]}}		\| branch = [[Madras Army]]
	\| serviceyears = 1805–1857		\| serviceyears = 1805–1857
	\| rank = {{unbulleted list\|[[General (United Kingdom)\|General]]}}		\| rank = {{unbulleted list\|[[General (United Kingdom)\|General]]}}
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	\| battles = {{Tree list}}		\| battles = {{Tree list}}
	*[[Napoleonic Wars]]		*[[Napoleonic Wars]]
	**[[Invasion of Java (1811)~~\|Invasion of Java~~]]		**[[Invasion of Java (1811)]]
	*[[Third Anglo-Maratha War]]		*[[Third Anglo-Maratha War]]
	**[[Battle of Sitabuldi]]		**[[Battle of Sitabuldi]]
	**[[Battle of Mahidpur]]		**[[Battle of Mahidpur]]
			{{tree list/end}}
	\| battles_label =		\| battles_label =
	\| awards =		\| awards =
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	}}		}}

	[[General (United Kingdom)\|General]] '''Sir John Low''' {{post-nominals\|country=GBR\|size=100%\|GCSI\|KCB\|FRSE}} (13 December 1788 – 10 January 1880) was a ~~Scottish officer army~~ officer and ~~political~~ administrator ~~in the service of the British East India Company~~.		[[General (United Kingdom)\|General]] '''Sir John Low''' {{post-nominals\|country=GBR\|size=100%\|GCSI\|KCB\|FRSE}} (13 December 1788 – 10 January 1880) was a [[Madras Army]] officer and colonial administrator.

	==Early life==		==Early life==
	Born at Clatto House, near [[Cupar]] in [[Fife]],<ref>{{cite book\|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002\|date=July 2006\|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh\|isbn=0-902-198-84-X\|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf}}</ref> the eldest son of Captain Robert Low of Clatto, and his wife (the daughter of Dr. Robert Malcolm).		Born at Clatto House, near [[Cupar]] in [[Fife]],<ref>{{cite book\|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002\|date=July 2006\|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh\|isbn=0-902-198-84-X\|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf\|access-date=27 May 2017\|archive-date=4 March 2016\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf\|url-status=dead}}</ref> the eldest son of Captain Robert Low of Clatto, and his wife (the daughter of Dr. Robert Malcolm).

	He was educated at St. Andrews University, attending the sessions of 1802–3 (Register), and in 1804 obtained a Madras cadetship on the nomination of [[John Hudleston]].<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB\|wstitle=Low, John\|volume=34}}</ref>		He was educated at St. Andrews University, attending the sessions of 1802–3 (Register), and in 1804 obtained a Madras cadetship on the nomination of John Hudleston.<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB\|wstitle=Low, John\|volume=34}}</ref>

	==Military career==		==Military career==
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	The history of John Low and his family is told in [[Ferdinand Mount]]'s book ''The Tears of the Rajas: Mutiny, Money and Marriage in India 1805–1905''.{{cn\|date=December 2022}}		The history of John Low and his family is told in [[Ferdinand Mount]]'s book ''The Tears of the Rajas: Mutiny, Money and Marriage in India 1805–1905''.{{cn\|date=December 2022}}

	==~~Notes~~==		== Honours ==

			* [[File:ImperialOrderCrownIndiaRibbon.svg\|40x40px]] [[Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India]] (GCSI)
			* [[File:Order of the Bath UK ribbon.svg\|40x40px]] [[Knight-Commander of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath\|Knight Commander of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath]] (KCB)

			==References==
	{{Reflist}}		{{Reflist}}

	==~~External links~~==		==Sources==
	;Attribution		;<nowiki>Attribution:</nowiki>
	{{DNB\|wstitle=Low, John\|volume=34}}		{{DNB\|wstitle=Low, John\|volume=34}}
	{{Authority control}}		{{Authority control}}

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← Older revision		Revision as of 11:18, 2 December 2022
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	{{Short description\|Scottish army officer in the East India Company}}		{{Short description\|Scottish army officer in the East India Company}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=September ~~2022~~}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=September 2019}}
	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
	\| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]		\| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]

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New page

{{Short description|Scottish army officer in the East India Company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| name = John Low
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCSI|KCB|FRSE}}
| image = File:The Late General Sir John Low (cropped-1).jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = ''The Late General Sir John Low'' (24 January 1880)<ref>{{Cite news |date=24 January 1880 |title=The Late General Sir John Low |pages=85 |work=[[The Illustrated London News]] |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_illustrated-london-news_1880-01-24_76_2121/page/84/mode/2up}}</ref>
| birth_date = 13 December 1788
| death_date = 10 January 1880 (aged 91)
| birth_place = Clatto House, [[Fife]]
| death_place = [[Norwood, Surrey]]
| placeofburial =
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial_coordinates = 
| allegiance = [[File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|22x20px|border]] [[United Kingdom]]<br>[[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg|22x20px|border]] [[East India Company]]
| branch = {{unbulleted list|[[Presidency armies]]|[[British Army]]}}
| serviceyears = 1805–1857
| rank = {{unbulleted list|[[General (United Kingdom)|General]]}}
| commands =
| battles = {{Tree list}}
*[[Napoleonic Wars]]
**[[Invasion of Java (1811)|Invasion of Java]]
*[[Third Anglo-Maratha War]]
**[[Battle of Sitabuldi]]
**[[Battle of Mahidpur]]
| battles_label =
| awards =
| spouse = {{marriage|Augusta Shakespear|1829}}
| children = 9 (see below)
| laterwork =
| memorials =
}}

[[General (United Kingdom)|General]] '''Sir John Low''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCSI|KCB|FRSE}} (13 December 1788 – 10 January 1880) was a Scottish officer army officer and political administrator in the service of the British East India Company.

==Early life==
Born at Clatto House, near [[Cupar]] in [[Fife]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf}}</ref> the eldest son of Captain Robert Low of Clatto, and his wife (the daughter of Dr. Robert Malcolm).

He was educated at St. Andrews University, attending the sessions of 1802–3 (Register), and in 1804 obtained a Madras cadetship on the nomination of [[John Hudleston]].<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Low, John|volume=34}}</ref>

==Military career==
On 17 July 1805 Low was commissioned as a lieutenant in the [[1st Madras Native Infantry]]. For the part taken by six of its companies in [[Vellore mutiny]] the regiment was disbanded in January 1807; Low became an officer in the reformed 24th Madras Infantry. In 1816 the 24th was renumbered as the 1st Madras Infantry, in recognition of its conduct at the [[Battle of Sitabuldi]]. Low became captain in the regiment in 1820, major 17th Madras infantry (late 2nd battalion 24th) in 1828, and lieutenant-colonel 19th Madras infantry in 1834. In 1839 he obtained the colonelcy of his old corps, the 1st Madras Infantry, which he held for the rest of his life. He became a major-general in 1854, lieutenant-general in 1859, general in 1867, and was placed on the retired list in 1874.<ref name="DNB"/>

Low saw in his early years varied military service. He was attached to the office of the quartermaster-general, 11 May 1810; rejoined his corps in February 1811; was attached to the [[59th Foot]] in the [[Invasion of Java (1811)|Java expedition of 1811]], and was wounded at the storming of [[Fort Cornelis]]. He was brigade-major in the ceded districts, and was Persian interpreter and head of the intelligence staff to Colonel Dowse in the South Mahratta country in 1812–13. He was in commissariat charge of Brigadier [[William Tuyl]]'s force sent against the Guntoor rebels in 1816; and was present at the defeat of the Mahrattas at the [[Battle of Mahidpur]], 21 December 1817, as extra aide-de-camp to [[Sir John Malcolm]]. In March following, as first political assistant to Malcolm, he was employed with a force of three thousand men and ten guns in pacifying the Chindwarra district.<ref name="DNB"/>

== Politics ==
Low induced the Mahratta [[Peshwa]], [[Baji Rao II]], to place himself under British protection. When Baji Rao retired to [[Bithoor]], near [[Kanpur]], Low was appointed Resident there. He filled the post for six years. From that time Low's services were mostly political, though at [[Lucknow]] and later at [[Hyderabad]] his functions included the control of troops. In 1825 he became political agent at [[Jeypore]]. In 1830 he was appointed by [[Lord William Bentinck]] to a similar post in [[Gwalior State]], where he opposed the regent [[Baiza Bai]]. In 1831 he was sent as Resident to Lucknow.<ref name="DNB"/>

In 1837 the [[East India Company]] took over the government of [[Oudh State]]. Low suggested the alternative of deposing the king and placing the heir-apparent on the throne, and the governor-general [[George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland|Lord Auckland]] left the matter to Low. Meanwhile, the king died suddenly; a pretender and court favourite was placed on the throne and the heir was taken prisoner. Summoning a Bengal regiment to his aid, Low, after a parley, had the gates of the palace blown open and the pretender seized. The heir was then installed by the British resident. Low was made [[Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath|CB]] on 20 July 1838. He made efforts to suppress a ''[[taluqdar]]'', [[Bhagwant Singh]], in 1841. In poor health, he returned to the United Kingdom in 1842.<ref name="DNB"/>

Low returned to India in 1847, and in 1848 was appointed the governor-general's agent in [[Rajputana]] and commissioner at [[Ajmer-Merwara]]. There he remained until 1852, when he was sent by [[Lord Dalhousie]] to Hyderabad, in succession to [[James Stuart Fraser]], as resident with the Nizam. There he negotiated the treaty by which the [[Berar Division]] was assigned to the British government, in return for the maintenance of the Hyderabad subsidiary force.<ref name="DNB"/>

On 22 September 1853 Low was appointed a member of council. His experience of Indian princes was wide, but had not made him a hawk. In February 1854, he protested the [[Nagpur]] annexation; on this, and on other occasions, his views were ignored by Dalhousie. In the questions that ended with the annexation of Awadh, Low advocated interference in 1855. When early in May 1857 news presaging the [[Indian Rebellion]], Low at first advised leniency; but the outbreaks at [[Meerut]] and [[Delhi]] saw him advocate the recovery of Delhi.<ref name="DNB"/>

==Last years==
In In April 1858, Low returned to the United Kingdom. He was made a [[Knight Commander of the Bath]] in 1862, and a GCSI in 1873. He died at [[Norwood, Surrey]] on 10 January 1880, at age 91, but was buried near his family home in the churchyard at [[Kemback]] in Fife.

He had received the East India war medal with clasps for Java and Mahidpur, the British war medal for Java, and the [[Indian Mutiny Medal]].<ref name="DNB"/>

==Family==
[[File:Augusta Shakespear Buck.jpg|thumb|Augusta Shakespear (1826)]]
In 1829, Low married Augusta Shakespear, second daughter of John Talbot Shakespear, Bengal civil service, and sister of Sir [[Richmond Shakespear]], one of Low's assistants at Lucknow. They had four sons and five daughters:<ref>[[Ferdinand Mount]], ''The Tears of the Rajas: Mutiny, Money and Marriage in India 1805–1905'' (2015).</ref>

* Susan Elizabeth Low (1830–1831)
* Emily Low (1832–1832)
* Charlotte Herbert Low (1833–1853), who married [[Sir Theophilus John Metcalfe, 5th Baronet]], of the [[Bengal Civil Service]]
* [[Malcolm Low|William Malcolm Low]] (1835–1923), [[Conservative party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament|MP]] for [[Grantham (UK Parliament constituency)|Grantham]], who married Ida Matilda Alice Feilding, daughter of [[William Feilding, 7th Earl of Denbigh]], and is the great-great-grandfather of British politician [[David Cameron]]
* [[Robert Cunliffe Low|General Sir Robert Cunliffe Low]] (1838–1911), [[British Indian Army]] officer
* John Alwes Low R.N. (1840–1932), who married Jane Hooper<ref>{{cite book|author=The Marquis of Ruvigny and Ranieval|title=The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal: The Mortimer-Percy Volume|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uOHHuwI8tD4C&pg=PA532|date=1 May 2013|publisher=Heritage Books|isbn=978-0-7884-1872-3|page=532}}</ref>
* Irvine Low (1841–1881), who married Agnes Harriet Liston Foulis, daughter of [[Sir William Liston-Foulis, 8th Baronet]]<ref>{{cite book|title=The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle|url=https://archive.org/details/gentlemansmagaz59unkngoog|year=1866|publisher=Edw. Cave|page=[https://archive.org/details/gentlemansmagaz59unkngoog/page/n128 118]}}</ref>
* Augusta Georgina Low (1844–1921)
* Selina Morison Low (1845–1927)

The history of John Low and his family is told in [[Ferdinand Mount]]'s book ''The Tears of the Rajas: Mutiny, Money and Marriage in India 1805–1905''.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
;Attribution
{{DNB|wstitle=Low, John|volume=34}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Low, John}}
[[Category:1788 births]]
[[Category:1880 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of St Andrews]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army generals]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Fife]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]