Alan Maxwell Boisragon (22 January 1860 – 18 March 1922) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer, and author, and was Captain Superintendent of the

Shanghai Municipal Police The Shanghai Municipal Police (SMP; ) was the police force of the Shanghai Municipal Council which governed the Shanghai International Settlement between 1854 and 1943, when the settlement was retroceded to Chinese control. Initially composed of ...

from 1901 to 1906.

Life

Born in Bengal, India, on 22 January 1860, the son of an army officer of

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

ancestry, Major-General Theodore Boisragon, CB, A. M. His father divorced his wife, Margaret Emma Boisragon (born Gerrard), in 1864 after she ran off with Charles William Moore, a judge in Bengal. Charles and Margaret's children included Ethel Moore, his half-sister, who was born in 1867. Boisragon entered the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

in 1878, and served in the Royal Irish Regiment—with seven years in India, and action in the 1884-85

Nile expedition The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–1885), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to Sudan to help the Egyptians withdraw their garr ...

—until 1891, when he retired. He joined the colonial service in the Gold Coast, where he initially served as Assistant Inspector of Constabulary. In 1894 he was appointed Commandant of the newly established Niger Coast Protectorate Force, in which position he came to know

Roger Casement Roger David Casement (; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during World War I. He worked for the Britis ...

. In January 1897 he was only one of two survivors of a small British expedition to Benin which was attacked and defeated, the incident prompting the

Benin Expedition of 1897 The Benin Expedition of 1897 was a punitive expedition by a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British force of 1,200 men under Harry Rawson, Sir Harry Rawson. It came in response to the ambush and slaughter of a 250-strong party led ...

. Boisragon published his account of the incident as ''The Benin Massacre'' in 1897. He then rejoined the Royal Irish Regiment as a captain in the 3rd Battalion, its

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

battalion. In early 1901 Boisragon was seconded from the army, and appointed Captain Superintendent of the

, arriving in March 1901 to take over command. He was forced to resign in the aftermath of the 1905 Shanghai Mixed Court Riot. In 1915 Boisragon published a book for boys, ''Jack Scarlett Sandhurst cadet: A story for boys'', with illustrations by J. F. Campbell. He died in London on 18 March 1922.

Family

He married Ethel Rosling on 9 January 1893 at South Nutfield, Christ Church, Surrey, England. Their son Leslie Alan Maxwell Boisragon was born in 1909 in Shanghai, China. Boisragon's first cousin Guy Hudleston Boisragon was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

in 1891.

References

(Citing this Record "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch) (Citing this Record "England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch)

Bibliography

Captain Alan Boisragon, ''The Benin Massacre'' (London: Methuen, 1897)
* https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-90000369344

External links

*
Artist's proofs and correspondence for 'Jack Scarlett' by Major Alan Boisragon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boisragon, A.M. British colonial officials Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Royal Irish Regiment (1684–1922) officers British Army personnel of the Mahdist War Gold Coast (British colony) people 1860 births 1922 deaths British expatriates in China