https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=William_Sinclair_Smith_BissetWilliam Sinclair Smith Bisset - Revision history2026-08-20T10:48:47ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Sinclair_Smith_Bisset&diff=545778&oldid=prevGodrejsplende at 14:02, 27 September 20252025-09-27T14:02:11Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|British army officer and administrator}}<br />
Colonel Sir '''William Sinclair Smith Bisset''' (23 November 1843<ref name="DIB" /> – 30 July 1916<ref name="Prob" />) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator.<br />
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==Life==<br />
Born in [[Aberdeen]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11300920|title=1911 Census Schedules (RG 14/438, Piece 464)|work=The National Archives}}</ref> to [[James Bisset (minister)|James Bisset]] and his second wife Elizabeth Sinclair Smith, he was educated at the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]] before becoming an officer in the [[Royal Engineers]] in 1863,<br />
<ref name="DIB">{{Cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_Indian_Biography/Bisset,_Sir_William_Sinclair_Smith|title=BISSET, SIR WILLIAM SINCLAIR SMITH (1843–), in Charles Edward Buckland, ''Dictionary of Indian Biography'', 1906}}</ref><ref name="Dod">{{Cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Dod%27s_Peerage,_Baronetage,_Knightage_etc._of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland.djvu/687|title=''Dod's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage etc. of Great Britain and Ireland'', 1915, page 637}}</ref> gaining promotion to captain in 1877.<ref name="Dod" /> He initially held some junior posts linked to managing and building the railways of British India before serving in the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]], winning a [[mention in despatches]] and promotion to [[Brevet (military)#United Kingdom|Brevet Major]], made [[Military rank#Types of rank|substantive]] in 1881.<ref name="Dod" /><br />
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Though he remained in the Army after the war (rising to lieutenant colonel in 1890 and his final rank of colonel in 1895<ref name="Dod" />), what was effectively a civil service career followed, as manager of the [[Rajputana-Malwa Railway]] (1875–1884), agent of the [[Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway]] (1884–1893), secretary to the Government of India, [[Central Public Works Department#History|Public Works Department]] (1893–1897), director-general of Railways, chairman of the [[South Mahratta Railway Company]] and finally government director of Indian Railway Companies at the [[India Office]] (1897–1901).<br />
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On 20 November 1888 in [[Mumbai]] he married Henrietta Mary La Touche (1875–1945, Belgravia<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp66988/henrietta-mary-nee-la-touche-lady-bisset|title=Henrietta Mary (née La Touche; 1875, ), Lady Bisset|work=National Portrait Gallery}}</ref><ref>''India, Select Marriages, 1792-1948'', FHL Film Number 523862</ref>), daughter of Major General William Paget La Touche (1838–1904), Indian Army, and their issue included the Royal Navy Vice Admiral [[Arthur William La Touche Bisset]]. Rewarded with appointments as Companion (1888) and Knight Commander (1897) of the [[Order of the Indian Empire]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/26947/page/1677/data.pdf|title=''London Gazette Extraordinary'', 14 March 1898, page 1677}}</ref> William finally retired from the Army in 1898 and India Office in 1901<ref name="DIB" /> and died in [[Stoke Poges]] in 1916.<ref name="Prob">''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995'', 1916, Aaron-Cuxson</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stokepogesparishcouncil.gov.uk/files/np/0324-spnp-with-appendices-march24.pdf|title=Stoke Poges Neighbourhood Plan - Submission Plan 2020-2024|pages=55|work=Stoke Poges Parish Council|date=March 2024}}</ref><br />
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==References==<br />
<references/><br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisset, William Sinclair Smith}}<br />
[[Category:1843 births]]<br />
[[Category:1916 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Civil servants in the India Office]]<br />
[[Category:Railway officers in British India]]<br />
[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]<br />
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War]]<br />
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]<br />
[[Category:Military personnel from Aberdeen]]<br />
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]]<br />
[[Category:Corporate directors]]<br />
[[Category:History of rail transport in India]]<br />
[[Category:History of rail transport in Gujarat]]</div>Godrejsplende