Sir Edward Lee French, KCVO (22 July 1857 – 17 May 1916) was an English-born senior officer in the Indian Police Force and a first-class

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er.

Life

Edward Lee French was born on 22 July 1857,''Dod's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, Etc. of Great Britain and Ireland'' (1923), p. 340. the son of Rev. Frederic French (1823–1907), JP, rector of

Worlingworth Worlingworth is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England, located around ten miles south-east of Diss, Norfolk, Diss. In 2011 it had a total population of 802 people. The village has a primary school ...

with Southolt, in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, and his wife, Anna Maria (d. 1901), eldest daughter of John Davis, JP, DL (d. 1864), of Cranbrooke Park,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. He was baptised at

. The Rev. French's family came from

Eye, Suffolk Eye () is a market town and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district, in the north of the English county of Suffolk, about south of Diss, Norfolk, Diss, north of Ipswich and south-west of Norwich. The population in the 2011 census of 2,154 ...

; his father Thomas was banker to the Henniker family,

patrons Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of Worlingworth's rectory. This connection helped secure Frederic French, newly graduated from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

(BA 1847, MA 1850), the living at Worlingworth, which he held from 1853 to his death in 1907. Following schooling at

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

, Edward French entered the Indian Police in 1879. He was appointed Deputy Inspector-General in the Criminal Investigation Department for the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

in 1905. Three years later, he was made Inspector-General of the North-West Frontier Police and then, in 1909, of the Punjab Police. In this capacity, he placed in charge of the police during the Coronation Durbar of 1911,"French, Sir Edward Lee"
''Who Was Who'' (online edition), Oxford University Press, 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2017. when King-Emperor

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

appointed him a Knight Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

. French was also a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er, playing cricket in both England and India. In England he played two matches for

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

's London County in 1902, having previously played for

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

against Lord Hawke's touring team in 1893. He played one further match in India in 1903, for the Gentlemen of India against the touring

Oxford University Authentics Oxford () is a cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world; it has buildings in every ...

team. In 1886, he married Wilna, daughter of David Ross, CIE at

Hoxne Hoxne ( ) is a village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about five miles (8 km) east-southeast of Diss, Norfolk and south of the River Waveney. The parish is irregularly shaped, covering the villages of Hoxne, Cross Stree ...

. He died on 17 May 1916.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Edward Lee Indian Police Service officers 1857 births 1916 deaths English cricketers London County cricketers Gentlemen of India cricketers British people in colonial India British sportspeople in British India Police officers from British India