General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir Arthur Power Palmer, (25 June 1840 – 28 February 1904) was

Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company rule in India and the British Raj, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the British Indian Army. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...

between March 1900 and December 1902.

Military career

Power Palmer was born in June 1840, at Karnaul (

Karnal Karnal ( is a city located in the state of Haryana, India and is the administrative headquarters of Karnal District. It was used by East India Company army as a refuge during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Delhi. The Battle of Karnal betw ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, the son of Nicholas Palmer and Rebecca Carter Barrett. Educated at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent SchoolDay and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

, he was commissioned into the 5th Bengal Light Infantry in 1857.Arthur Power Palmer at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> He took part in subduing the

Indian Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

in 1857. In 1880, he was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

and in 1885 was

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

of the 9th Bengal Cavalry for the Suakin Expedition. In 1897 he took part in the

Tirah Campaign The Tirah campaign, often referred to in contemporary British accounts as the Tirah expedition, was an Indian frontier campaign from September 1897 to April 1898. Tirah is a mountainous tract of country in what was formally known as Federally ...

. He was also General Officer Commanding 2nd Division during the action at Chagru Kotal. In January 1898, he became Commander-in-Chief Punjab Command, and on 19 March 1900 he became

after the sudden death of

Sir William Lockhart Sir William Lockhart of Lee (1621–1675), was a Scottish soldier and diplomat who fought for the Covenanters during the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Following Royalist defeat in the 1642 to 1647 First English Civil War, Lockhart to ...

, holding this post for two and a half years. In a farewell dinner held at

Simla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, the ...

in late October 1902, the Viceroy,

Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), styled Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and then Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman ...

said the following about their relationship: Palmer returned to the United Kingdom in December 1902, and retired from the Army. He died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1904 and is buried at

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Es ...

Honours

* KCB:

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

* GCB:

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as ...

* GCIE:

Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

- ''9 November 1901'' - King's birthday Honours

Family

In 1867 he married Julia Helen Aylmer née Harris (1848–1896) who died in October 1896 and is buried at the

Old Christian Cemetery, Abbottabad The Old Christian Cemetery, locally referred to as the ''Gora Qabristan'' (, ), is a cemetery located in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It was established in 1853 during East India Company rule and stayed in regular use following the ...

,British Library IOR Ref No. N/1/254/225

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. they had a daughter Norah Blanche Aylmer née Palmer (1872–?) who married Major Gerard Beechey Howard Rice (1865–?); then in 1898 he married Constance Gabrielle Richardson née Shaw (1864–1912), widow of Walter Milton Roberts. He went on to have two more daughters with Constance: Celia de Courcy née Power-Palmer (1902–1973) and Frances Gabrielle née Power-Palmer (c1903–1987).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Power Palmer, Arthur 1840 births 1904 deaths People educated at Cheltenham College Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire British Commanders-in-Chief of India British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 British military personnel of the Tirah campaign British Indian Army generals Burials at Brompton Cemetery British military personnel of the Abyssinian War British military personnel of the Mahdist War British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War Members of the Council of the Governor General of India

Military career

Honours

Family

Further reading

References

External links