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{{Short description|British Army general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
| name =Sir Richard Hieram Sankey
| image = RH_Sankey.jpg
| caption = Albumen [[Carte de visite]] from the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1829|03|22|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1908|11|11|1829|03|22|df=y}}
| placeofburial_label = Interred
| placeofburial = [[Hove, Sussex]]
| birth_place = Rockwell Castle, [[County Tipperary]], [[Ireland]]
| death_place = [[St George's Hospital]], London
| placeofburial_coordinates = 
| nickname =
| allegiance ={{UK}}
| branch = [[East India Company]] Army [[British Army]]
| serviceyears = 1846–1884
| rank = [[Major General (United Kingdom)|Major-general]] (honorary [[Lieutenant General (United Kingdom)|lieutenant-general]] on retirement)
| servicenumber =
| unit = [[Madras Sappers]] [[Royal Engineers]]
| commands = Royal Engineer detachment, Kandahar Field Force
| battles = [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]]
| awards = [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]]
| relations =
| laterwork = Chairman, Irish Board of Works
}}
Lieutenant-General '''Sir Richard Hieram Sankey''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB}} (22 March 1829 – 11 November 1908) was an officer in the [[Madras Sappers|Royal (Madras) Engineers]] in the [[East India Company]]'s army in [[British India]], later transferring to the [[British Army]] after the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] and the assumption of [[Crown rule in India]].<ref name=dictionary>''Dictionary of National Biography'', 1901-1911. Volume III. Smith-Elder London 1912 Page 267-8 See also {{cite ODNB |author=R. H. Vetch |title=Sankey, Sir Richard Hieram (1829–1908) |author2=Roger T. Stearn |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/35943|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/35943}}</ref> [[Sankey Tank]] which he constructed to meet the water demands of [[Bangalore]] is named after him.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/bangalore/Sankey-tank-Fairly-clean/articleshow/1259704639.cms|title=Sankey Tank: Fairly Clean|last=Hirani|first=Kanak|date=29 May 2001|work=The Times of India|accessdate=17 September 2009}}</ref> The high court building in Bangalore, ''Attara Kacheri'', was designed by him and built by [[Arcot Narrainswamy Mudaliar]].

==Early life==
Richard Sankey was born in 1829 at Rockwell Castle, [[County Tipperary]], [[Ireland]] on 22 March 1829. He was the fourth son of Eleanor and Matthew Sankey. Eleanor was herself from a family of military men, her father being Colonel Henry O'Hara, J.P of O'Hara Broom, [[County Antrim]]. Matthew Sankey was a [[barrister]] at Bawnmore, Co. Cork and Modeshil, Co. Tipperary. Richard Sankey did his schooling at Rev. Flynn's School on Harcourt Street in [[Dublin]] and entered the [[East India Company]]'s [[Addiscombe Military Seminary|military seminary at Addiscombe]] in 1845. At Addiscombe he was awarded for his excellence at painting.<ref name="dictionary" />

==Career in India==
[[Image:Head of the Ganges Canal, Hardwar, c1876.jpg|thumb|right|Water-colour painting showing the head of the [[Ganges]] Canal at [[Haridwar]] in Uttar Pradesh (Now [[Uttarakhand]]), by Sir Richard Hieram Sankey c.1876.]]
He was commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[Madras Sappers]] in November 1846,<ref name="indialist" /> he was then trained in military engineering with the [[Royal Engineers]] at [[Chatham, Kent|Chatham]] from 1 January 1847 (holding temporary rank as an [[ensign (rank)|ensign]] in the British Army).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=20688|page=7|date=1 January 1847}}</ref> He then arrived in India in November 1848. After two years of service at Mercatur, he officiated in 1850 as Superintending Engineer at [[Nagpur]]. During this time he made a small collection of fossils of ''[[Glossopteris]]'' from the Nagpur district and wrote a paper on the geology of the region in 1854. The collection was moved from the Museum of Practical Geology to the British Museum in 1880.<ref>{{cite journal | pages= 55–56 | issue= 1–2 | last1= Sankey | volume= 10 | year= 1854 | doi = 10.1144/GSL.JGS.1854.010.01-02.07 | journal= Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society | first1= R. H. | title = On the Geology of some parts of Central India | s2cid= 130242835 }}</ref><ref>Arber, EA Newell (1905) Catalogue of the fossil plants of the Glossopteris flora in the Department of Geology. British Museum. [https://archive.org/details/catalogueoffossi00brit scan]</ref> In 1856, he was promoted as the superintendent of the East Coast Canal at Madras. In May 1857, he was promoted Under-Secretary of the Public Works Department under Col. [[William Erskine Baker]] in Calcutta. During the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], he was commissioned as the captain of the Calcutta Cavalry Volunteers, but was soon despatched to [[Allahabad]] where he led the construction of several embankments and bridges across the [[Yamuna]] and [[Ganges]]. He was involved in the construction of shelters to advancing troops along the [[Grand Trunk Road]] to aid the quelling of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. He arrived in course of this work at [[Cawnpore]] (now Kanpur) a day before the attack by [[Tantya Tope]] ([[Second Battle of Cawnpore]]).<ref name=dictionary /> He also was involved in crucial civil works that aided the quelling of the rebellion by bridging the [[Gogra]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22137|pages=2287–2288|date=7 May 1858}}</ref> and [[Gomti]] rivers at [[Gorakhpur]] and [[Phulpur, Allahabad|Phulpur]] that enabled the [[Gurkha|Gorkha regiment]] to cross these rivers. He received several commendations from his commanders here and later in the taking of the fort at [[Jumalpur]], Khandua nalla and Kaisar Bagh, vital actions in the breaking of the [[Siege of Lucknow]]. For his actions at Jumalpur he was recommended for the [[Victoria Cross]], although he did not receive this honour. He received the a medal for the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and was promoted to second captain on 27 August 1858, and given [[brevet (military)|brevet]] promotion to [[major (United Kingdom)|major]] the following day<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23092|page=2141|date=30 March 1866}}</ref> for his services in the quelling of the rebellion. He was sent to the [[Nilgiris]] due to ill-health during this time.<ref name=dictionary />

[[File:AttaraKacheriPlan.jpg|thumb|left|Plan of the government building in Bangalore, now housing the High Court and known as the ''Attara Kacheri'']]
He spent a year in [[Burma]] as the executive engineer and superintendent of the jail at [[Moulmein]]. On 29 June 1861, he was promoted to substantive [[captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23333|page=6879|date=17 December 1867}}</ref> and was posted as the [[Garrison]] Engineer at [[Fort William, India|Fort William]], [[Calcutta]] and later as the assistant to [[Chief Engineer]], [[Mysore]]<ref name="indialist">{{cite book|title=The India List and The India Office List for 1905|publisher=Great Britain India Office|location=London|year=1905|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_3VQTAAAAYAAJ/page/n611 607]|chapter=Record of Services|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_3VQTAAAAYAAJ|quote=richard hieram sankey biography.|author1=India Office, Great Britain}}</ref> until 1864, when he was made the chief engineer at [[Mysore]]. During this period he created a system within the irrigation department to deal with old Indian water catchment systems, surveying the catchment area and determining the area drained and the flows involved. Due to the reorganisation of the armed forces following the assumption of [[Crown rule in India]] he was transferred to the Royal Engineers on 29 April 1862.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22621|pages=2239–2240|date=29 April 1862}}</ref> In Mysore, he was involved in [[public works]] and built several roads, buildings, tanks and canals.

In 1870, at the request of the [[Victoria (Australia)|Victorian]] Colonial Government, in view of his experience with hydrological studies in Mysore,<ref>{{cite journal|last=James|first=Patrick|author2=Hubert Chamson |year=2002|title=Historical Development of Arch Dams. From Roman Arch Dams to Modern Concrete Designs|journal=Australian Civil Engineering Transactions|publisher= Institution of Engineers|location=Australia|volume=CE43|pages=39–56|url=http://www.traianvs.net/textos/archdams_en.htm|accessdate=17 September 2009}}</ref> he was invited to be chairman of the Board of Enquiry on Victorian Water Supply.<ref>'Victorian Water Supply, Report of Board' V&P LA VIC 1871 A24.</ref> During this visit, he also gave evidence to the Victorian Select Committee on Railways,<ref>'Report of Select Committee on Railways' V&P LA VIC 1871 D5.</ref> as well as reports on the Yarra River Floods,<ref>'Yarra Floods' V&P LA VIC 1871 A21.</ref> and the Coliban Water Supply,<ref>'Water Supply, Coliban Scheme' VIC PP 1871 (48).</ref> and later contributed to the report on the North West Canal.<ref>'North-West Canal' V&P LA VIC 1880-1 C20.</ref> While in Australia, he was also invited to the Colony of South Australia to report on the Water Supply of Adelaide.

He was brevetted [[Lieutenant Colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]] on 14 June 1869,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23511|page=3693|date=29 June 1869}}</ref> and substantive promotion followed on 15 October 1870 (without him ever having held the substantive rank of major),<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23694|page=37|date=6 January 1871}}</ref> he was brevetted [[colonel (United Kingdom)|colonel]] on 15 October 1875.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24269|page=5623|date=23 November 1875}}</ref>

[[Image:Sankey Tank.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Sankey Tank]] in [[Bangalore]] was constructed by Richard Sankey and bears his name.]]
He was appointed as an under-secretary to the Government of India in 1877.<ref name=dictionary /><ref name="Otago" /> which earned him the [[Afghanistan Medal (United Kingdom)|Afghanistan Medal]]. In 1878, he was promoted as the secretary in the [[public works]] department at [[Madras]], and was promoted substantive colonel on 30 December.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24670|page=283|date=21 January 1879}}</ref> He was appointed [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] on 25 July 1879,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24747|page=4697|date=29 July 1879}}</ref> and also commanded the Royal Engineers on the advance from [[Kandahar]] to [[Kabul]] during the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]].<ref name=dictionary /><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24780|pages=6293–6294|date=7 November 1879}}</ref> For about five years he was in Madras, where became a member of the legislative council in Madras and was elected as a Fellow of the [[Madras University]]. He also helped in the creation and improvements of the Marina, the gardens and the Government House grounds.<ref name=dictionary /> He was promoted [[Major General (United Kingdom)|major general]] on 4 June 1883,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25244|page=3206|date=22 June 1883}}</ref> and retired from the army on 11 January 1884 with the honorary rank of [[Lieutenant General (United Kingdom)|lieutenant general]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25322|page=968|date=26 February 1884}}</ref> He also received the distinguished service award in India.
[[File:High Court of Karnataka, Bangalore MMK.jpg|thumb|The High Court building]]
[[Image:Sankey Plaque.jpg|thumb|alt=Plaque dated 1894 bearing the name of Sir R.H. Sankey.|Plaque in ''Sankey's Wood'', reads "Planted by Sir. R.H. Sankey 1894".]]

Sankey married Sophia Mary, daughter of [[William Henry Benson]] of the [[Indian Civil Service]], at [[Ootacamund]] in 1858. After her death in 1882 he married Henrietta, widow of Edward Browne JP, at Dublin in 1890.

==Contributions to Bangalore==
* [[St. Andrew's Church, Bangalore]] (1864)
* [[Cubbon Park]] (1864)
* [[Sankey Tank]] (1860)
* [[Government Museum (Bangalore)|Bangalore Museum]] (1877)
* [[Mayo Hall (Bangalore)|Mayo Hall]] (designed in 1870)<ref name=Meera-2015>{{cite news|last1=Iyer|first1=Meera|title=Why we shouldn't forget Sankey...|location=Bangalore|newspaper=[[Deccan Herald]]|date=18 August 2015}}</ref>

==Return to Ireland and death==
[[Image:Sankeyswood.jpg|thumb|alt=A plot of trees in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland.|''Sankey's Wood'', Phoenix Park, Dublin.]]
After retirement, he went back to Ireland, where he became the chairman of the Board of Works.<ref name="Otago" /> He was promoted [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] on 25 May 1892 for his work in Ireland.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26291|page=3137|date=25 May 1892}}</ref> He also undertook projects in [[Mexico]]. Later he settled in [[London]] where he died at [[St George's Hospital]] in 1908 and was [[Burial|inter]]red at [[Hove]], [[Sussex]].<ref name=dictionary /><ref name="Otago">{{cite news|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/imageserver/imageserver.pl?oid=OW19081118.1.24&getpdf=true|title=Obituary in Otago Witness|work=Otago Witness|accessdate=16 September 2009}}</ref>

Sankey is memorialised in [[Phoenix Park]], Dublin, Ireland. A circle of trees bears the name '''Sankey's Wood'''. A plaque (dated 1894) lies half-hidden in the undergrowth there.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |first=H.M. |last=Vibart |title=Addiscombe: its heroes and men of note |place=Westminster |publisher=Archibald Constable |year=1894 |pages=540–46 |ol=23336661M }}

==External links==
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5854597 Newspaper report on the Coliban waterworks]
* Le Messurier, A (1880) [https://archive.org/details/kandaharin02messgoog Kandahar in 1879]. W H Allen.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sankey, Richard Hieram}}
[[Category:1829 births]]
[[Category:1908 deaths]]
[[Category:Irish engineers]]
[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:British Army generals]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:People from County Tipperary]]
[[Category:Alumni of Addiscombe Military Seminary]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]

Richard Hieram Sankey - Revision history

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