Ross Lowis Mangles VC (14 April 1833 – 28 February 1905) was a British administrator in India and the recipient of 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 ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

forces. Mangles is one of only five civilians to be awarded the Victoria Cross.

Biography

Early life

Mangles was the son of

Ross Donnelly Mangles Ross Donnelly Mangles (1801 – 1877) was an English politician, Member of Parliament for Guildford between 1841 and 1857. In the latter year he became Chairman of the East India Company. Career and appointments He was the son of James Mangles ...

, sometime chairman of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. He was educated at

Windlesham House School Windlesham House School is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 4 to 13 on the South Downs, in Pulborough, West Sussex, England. It was founded in 1837 by Charles Robert Malden and was the first boys' preparatory sc ...

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

(1842–43),

Bath Grammar School King Edward's School (KES), in Bath, Somerset, England, is a private co-educational day school providing education for 1,134 pupils aged 3 to 18. The school is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school was establis ...

and

East India Company College The East India Company College, or East India College, was an educational establishment situated at Hailey, Hertfordshire, nineteen miles north of London, founded in 1806 to train "writers" (administrators) for the East India Company. It provi ...

(1851–52). He took up a place in the

Bengal Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

in 1853.

Victoria Cross

He was 24 years old, and a

civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...

in the Bengal Civil Service during 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 form ...

when the following deed took place at

Arrah Arrah (also transliterated as Ara) is a city and a municipal corporation in Bhojpur district, India, Bhojpur district (formerly known as Shahabad district) in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the headquarters of Bhojpur district, India, Bhojpur ...

for which he was awarded the VC: His Victoria Cross is displayed at the

National Army Museum The National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the " Chelsea Pensioners". The museum is a non-departmental public bod ...

, Chelsea, England.

Subsequent life and career

Mangles held various positions in India, including those Judicial Commissioner of Mysore, Secretary to the Government of Bengal, and member of the Board of Revenue of the Lower Provinces. He retired from Indian service in 1883, having completed thirty years' service, and returned to England, where he was a justice of the peace for

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. He died at his residence, The Lodge,

Pirbright Pirbright () is a village in Surrey, England. Pirbright is in the Guildford (borough), borough of Guildford and has a civil parish council covering the traditional boundaries of the area. Pirbright contains one buffered sub-locality, Stanford ...

, Surrey, on 28 February 1905. Ross Mangles VC Grave

He is buried in

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

. On the north wall of St Michael and All Angels Church,

is a brass memorial to Mangles. The oaks on the plaque represent England, his native land; the palms are for India, scene of his life's work; his passion for growing roses after his retirement is also commemorated.Julia Douëti
Welcome to St Michael and All Angels Church, Pirbright

Family

Mangles married in 1860 Henrietta Molyneux, youngest daughter of

James More Molyneux James More Molyneux (c. 1723–1759), was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1754 and 1759. Molyneux was the son of Sir More Molyneux of Loseley Park and his wife Cassandra Cornwallis, daughter of Thomas Cornwallis of ...

, of

Loseley Park Loseley Park is a large Tudor manor house with later additions and modifications south-west of Guildford, Surrey, England, in Artington close to the hamlet of Littleton. The estate was acquired by the direct ancestors of the current owners, th ...

, Surrey.

References

External links

Location of grave and VC medal
''(Brookwood Cemetery)''

''(Known holders of the Victoria Cross commemorated in Brookwood Cemetery)''

Welcome to St Michael and All Angels Church, Pirbright
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mangles, Ross Lowis British recipients of the Victoria Cross English justices of the peace 1833 births 1905 deaths Indian Rebellion of 1857 recipients of the Victoria Cross Burials at Brookwood Cemetery People educated at Windlesham House School British East India Company civil servants Indian Civil Service (British India) officers