Major-General Saunders Alexius Abbott (9 July 1811 – 7 February 1894) was an English military officer in the

Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Gover ...

and administrator serving in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

Family background

Saunders was the fourth son of Henry Alexius Abbott, a retired

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

merchant of Blackheath, Kent,Biog. Of Henry Alexius Abbot per the obituaries of his prominent sons and his wife Margaret Welsh, the daughter of William Welsh of Edinburgh. He had the following siblings: * Margaret Abbott (1801–1877) * Major General Augustus Abbott CB (1804–1867) * Major General Sir Frederick Abbott CB (1805–1892) * General Sir James Abbott KCB (1807–1896) * Emma Abbott (1809–1875) * Keith Edward Abbott, Consul General (1814–1873) * Edmund Abbott (1816–1816)

Career

Abbott was educated privately and (like his brothers Augustus and Frederick) at

Addiscombe Military Seminary The East India Company Military Seminary was a British military academy at Addiscombe, Surrey, in what is now the London Borough of Croydon. It opened in 1809 and closed in 1861. Its purpose was to train young officers to serve in the East India ...

. In 1828, he joined the Bengal Infantry. He was appointed in 1836 to be Assistant in the Revenue Survey under Henry Montgomery Lawrence. He held Survey charges from 1838 to 1842. He fought in the

First Anglo-Sikh War The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company in 1845 and 1846 around the Firozpur district of Punjab. It resulted in the defeat and partial subjugation of the Sikh empire and cession of Jammu ...

of 1845–46. At the Battle of Mudki, he forced marched reserves from

Kasauli Kasauli is a town and cantonment, located in the Solan district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The cantonment was established by the British Raj in 1842 as a Colonial hill station,Sharma, Ambika"Architecture of Kasauli churches" ''The ...

and Sabathu. He served later as aide-de-camp to Sir Henry Hardinge at the Battle of Ferozeshah, during which he was dangerously wounded. In 1846 he was a brevet-

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. Abbott was appointed Deputy Commissioner of Umbala in 1847. He was appointed to the same post in

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...

in 1849 to 1854 and held the post during a mutiny. From 1858 to 1863 he was Commissioner of

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

. He was an honorary aide-de-camp to the

governors-general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

until his retirement in September 1864. After his retirement, Abbott became an agent for a railway company in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

before being promoted to its board of directors. He died in

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 ...

on 7 February 1894.

Sources

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Saunders Alexius 1811 births 1894 deaths Graduates of Addiscombe Military Seminary British East India Company Army officers British military personnel of the First Anglo-Sikh War Administrators in British India 19th-century English businesspeople