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[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]] '''Sir Frederick Parkinson Lester''', [[Order of the Bath|KCB]], (3 February 1795 – 3 July 1858) was an army officer in the East India Company, third son of John Lester, merchant, of Racquet Court, Fleet Street, and his wife, Elizabeth Parkinson.<ref name=OxfordDNB>{{cite |
[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]] '''Sir Frederick Parkinson Lester''', [[Order of the Bath|KCB]], (3 February 1795 – 3 July 1858) was an army officer in the East India Company, third son of John Lester, merchant, of Racquet Court, Fleet Street, and his wife, Elizabeth Parkinson.<ref name=OxfordDNB>{{cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-16505|title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/16505 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}</ref> |
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==Early life== |
==Early life== |
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Born on |
Born on 3 February 1795, to John Lester a member of the prominent Lester merchant family of [[Poole]], [[Dorset]] and the nephew of [[Benjamin Lester]], [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] for [[Poole (UK Parliament constituency)|Poole]], his mother was Elizabeth Parkinson, daughter of John Parkinson.<ref name=CanadianDB>{{cite web|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/lester_benjamin_5E.html.|title=Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, 2005|publisher=University of Toronto/Université Laval}}</ref> Educated at Mr Jephson's academy at Camberwell and at [[Addiscombe Military Seminary]].<ref name=OxfordDNB/> He qualified for a commission into the [[Bombay Army|Bombay artillery]] on 22 April 1811.<ref name=OxfordDNB/> |
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==Military career== |
==Military career== |
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Lester's commissions, all in the Bombay artillery, were: second-lieutenant (25 October 1811), [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] (3 September 1815), [[Captain (United Kingdom)|captain]] (1 September 1818), [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]] (14 May 1836), [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]] (9 August 1840), brevet [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|colonel]] (15 March 1851), and [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|major-general]] (28 November 1854).<ref name=OxfordDNB/><ref name=LondonGazette>{{cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/21658/page/431|title=The London Gazette 1855|publisher=Official Public Records}}</ref> he was finally promoted to [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]] on 3 July 1858.<ref name=LondonGazette1858>{{cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/22181/page/4100|title=The London Gazette 1858|publisher=Official Public Records}}</ref> Lester's career was marked by its efficiency, resulting in his being 'specially thanked for his zealous and efficient services' by the governor of Bombay in April 1847.<ref name=OxfordDNB/> |
Lester's commissions, all in the Bombay artillery, were: second-lieutenant (25 October 1811), [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] (3 September 1815), [[Captain (United Kingdom)|captain]] (1 September 1818), [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]] (14 May 1836), [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]] (9 August 1840), brevet [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|colonel]] (15 March 1851), and [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|major-general]] (28 November 1854).<ref name=OxfordDNB/><ref name=LondonGazette>{{cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/21658/page/431|title=The London Gazette 1855|publisher=Official Public Records}}</ref> he was finally promoted to [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]] on 3 July 1858.<ref name=LondonGazette1858>{{cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/22181/page/4100|title=The London Gazette 1858|publisher=Official Public Records}}</ref> Lester's career was marked by its efficiency, resulting in his being 'specially thanked for his zealous and efficient services' by the governor of Bombay in April 1847.<ref name=OxfordDNB/> His career during his service in India chiefly involved acting commissary of ordnance, commissary of stores, and secretary to (and afterwards ordinary member of) the military board. A system of double-entry bookkeeping introduced by him was, in 1834, ordered to be generally adopted in the Ordnance department.<ref name=OxfordDNB/> Lester was appointed to command the southern division of the Bombay army in April 1857, he assumed command there at his headquarters at [[Belgaum]] on 12 May 1857.<ref name=Jacob212>{{cite book|title=Western India Before and During the Mutinies|publisher= Henry S. King & Co.|date=1871|page=212}}</ref> [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] [[George Le Grand Jacob|Sir George Le Grand Jacob]] stated that his actions between May and September 1857 'in all probability to have prevented an explosion at Belgaum.'<ref name=Jacob213>{{cite book|title=Western India Before and During the Mutinies|publisher= Henry S. King & Co.|date=1871|page=213}}</ref> He repaired the fort, moved the powder and ammunition inside the fort, deported suspected sepoys, and moved guns, gun carriages, and horses into the fort.<ref name=edFalkner>{{cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-16505|title=General Sir Frederick Lester DNB, Edited, James Falkner|author=Charles Manners Chichester|year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/16505 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}</ref> In addition he organized night-time patrols (chiefly of civilian volunteers) and moved the depot of [[Queen Victoria|Her Majesty's]] 64th regiment, with 400 European women and children, into the fort.<ref name=edFalkner/> He vetoed the proposal of the commanding officer of the 29th Bombay native infantry, backed by the political agent, Mr Seton-Karr, to disarm the regiment as potential mutineers on the ground of the inadequacy of any European force for the task, and the possibility of a failure which would end in disaster.<ref name=edFalkner/> On the arrival of British troops (10 August 1857) he supervised the court-martial, execution, and other punishment of rebels.<ref name=edFalkner/> One of these courts-martial consisted entirely of Indian non-commissioned officers, a testament to Lester's wise leadership.<ref name=edFalkner/> The measures were among the precautions which prevented the insurrection spreading to western India, and Lester was hardly given the credit due to him for them.<ref name=edFalkner>{{cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-16505|title=General Sir Frederick Lester DNB, Edited, James Falkner|author=Charles Manners Chichester|year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/16505 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}</ref> |
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==Personal life== |
==Personal life== |
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Lester was a deeply religious man. During his period in India, a profane conversation at which [[Sir John Keane, 5th Baronet]] was present resulted in his leaving a mess breakfast table in protest against the conversation and it placed him temporarily under an official cloud.<ref name=OxfordDNB/> |
Lester was a deeply religious man. During his period in India, a profane conversation at which [[Sir John Keane, 5th Baronet]] was present resulted in his leaving a mess breakfast table in protest against the conversation and it placed him temporarily under an official cloud.<ref name=OxfordDNB/> |
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Lester married twice, first, in 1828, at St Thomas's Church, Bombay, Helen Elizabeth Honner, they had two children, both of whom died in infancy.<ref name=OxfordDNB/> He married secondly, in 1840, at Mahabaleshwar, Charlotte Pratt Fyvie, daughter of the Revd William Fyvie (nephew of Elizabeth Simpson, wife of [[Henry Bridgeman, 1st Baron Bradford]]); they had five children, including:<ref name=OxfordDNB/> |
Lester married twice, first, in 1828, at [[St. Thomas Cathedral, Mumbai|St Thomas's Church]], [[Bombay]], Helen Elizabeth Honner, they had two children, both of whom died in infancy.<ref name=OxfordDNB/> He married secondly, in 1840, at [[Mahabaleshwar]], Charlotte Pratt Fyvie, daughter of the Revd William Fyvie (nephew of Elizabeth Simpson, wife of [[Henry Bridgeman, 1st Baron Bradford]]; through the Simpsons he was also first cousin of [[Henry Liddell, 1st Earl of Ravensworth]] and [[Sir John Dean Paul, 1st Baronet]]); they had five children, including:<ref name=OxfordDNB/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cokayne |first1=G.E. |title=The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed. |date=1910–1959 |page=194 |edition=II}}</ref> |
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* Charlotte Elizabeth Lester (1842-1874), married [[James Rhoades]].<ref name= |
* Charlotte Elizabeth Lester (1842-1874), married [[James Rhoades]].<ref name=JRWho'sWho>{{cite book|url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-202146|title=James Rhoades' Who's Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U202146 |isbn=978-0-19-954089-1 }}</ref> |
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* Rev. John Moore Lester (1851-1919), Rector of [[Litchborough]], married twice, his descendants included his grandchildren, [[James Shaw, Baron Kilbrandon]] and [[Katherine DeMille|Katherine DeMille, nee Lester]]. |
* Rev. [[John Moore Lester]] (1851-1919), Rector of [[Litchborough]], married twice, his descendants included his grandchildren, [[James Shaw, Baron Kilbrandon]] and [[Katherine DeMille|Katherine DeMille, nee Lester]]. |
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* Horace Frank Lester (1853-1896) |
* Horace Frank Lester (1853-1896) |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*[https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-16505 |
*[https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-16505 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography] |
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[[Category:People of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]] |
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[[Category:British East India Company people]] |
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[[Category:British Army generals]] |
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[[Category:British Army lieutenant generals]] |
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[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]] |
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]] |
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[[Category:British people of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]] |
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[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]] |
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[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Sikh War]] |
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Latest revision as of 22:16, 28 October 2024
Sir Frederick Lester | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Frederick Parkinson Lester |
| Born | 3 February 1795 |
| Died | 3 July 1858 (aged 63) Belgaum, Bombay Presidency, India |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  British Army.svg){kind=small} East India Company |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Commands | Southern Division of the Bombay Army |
| Battles / wars | Indian Mutiny |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath |
Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Parkinson Lester, KCB, (3 February 1795 – 3 July 1858) was an army officer in the East India Company, third son of John Lester, merchant, of Racquet Court, Fleet Street, and his wife, Elizabeth Parkinson.[1]
Early life
[edit]Born on 3 February 1795, to John Lester a member of the prominent Lester merchant family of Poole, Dorset and the nephew of Benjamin Lester, MP for Poole, his mother was Elizabeth Parkinson, daughter of John Parkinson.[2] Educated at Mr Jephson's academy at Camberwell and at Addiscombe Military Seminary.[1] He qualified for a commission into the Bombay artillery on 22 April 1811.[1]
Military career
[edit]Lester's commissions, all in the Bombay artillery, were: second-lieutenant (25 October 1811), lieutenant (3 September 1815), captain (1 September 1818), major (14 May 1836), lieutenant colonel (9 August 1840), brevet colonel (15 March 1851), and major-general (28 November 1854).[1][3] he was finally promoted to Lieutenant General on 3 July 1858.[4] Lester's career was marked by its efficiency, resulting in his being 'specially thanked for his zealous and efficient services' by the governor of Bombay in April 1847.[1] His career during his service in India chiefly involved acting commissary of ordnance, commissary of stores, and secretary to (and afterwards ordinary member of) the military board. A system of double-entry bookkeeping introduced by him was, in 1834, ordered to be generally adopted in the Ordnance department.[1] Lester was appointed to command the southern division of the Bombay army in April 1857, he assumed command there at his headquarters at Belgaum on 12 May 1857.[5] Major-General Sir George Le Grand Jacob stated that his actions between May and September 1857 'in all probability to have prevented an explosion at Belgaum.'[6] He repaired the fort, moved the powder and ammunition inside the fort, deported suspected sepoys, and moved guns, gun carriages, and horses into the fort.[7] In addition he organized night-time patrols (chiefly of civilian volunteers) and moved the depot of Her Majesty's 64th regiment, with 400 European women and children, into the fort.[7] He vetoed the proposal of the commanding officer of the 29th Bombay native infantry, backed by the political agent, Mr Seton-Karr, to disarm the regiment as potential mutineers on the ground of the inadequacy of any European force for the task, and the possibility of a failure which would end in disaster.[7] On the arrival of British troops (10 August 1857) he supervised the court-martial, execution, and other punishment of rebels.[7] One of these courts-martial consisted entirely of Indian non-commissioned officers, a testament to Lester's wise leadership.[7] The measures were among the precautions which prevented the insurrection spreading to western India, and Lester was hardly given the credit due to him for them.[7]
Personal life
[edit]Lester was a deeply religious man. During his period in India, a profane conversation at which Sir John Keane, 5th Baronet was present resulted in his leaving a mess breakfast table in protest against the conversation and it placed him temporarily under an official cloud.[1]
Lester married twice, first, in 1828, at St Thomas's Church, Bombay, Helen Elizabeth Honner, they had two children, both of whom died in infancy.[1] He married secondly, in 1840, at Mahabaleshwar, Charlotte Pratt Fyvie, daughter of the Revd William Fyvie (nephew of Elizabeth Simpson, wife of Henry Bridgeman, 1st Baron Bradford; through the Simpsons he was also first cousin of Henry Liddell, 1st Earl of Ravensworth and Sir John Dean Paul, 1st Baronet); they had five children, including:[1][8]
- Charlotte Elizabeth Lester (1842-1874), married James Rhoades.[9]
- Rev. John Moore Lester (1851-1919), Rector of Litchborough, married twice, his descendants included his grandchildren, James Shaw, Baron Kilbrandon and Katherine DeMille, nee Lester.
- Horace Frank Lester (1853-1896)
Lester was found dead in his bed of heart disease at 7 a.m. on 3 July 1858, at Belgaum.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16505. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, 2005". University of Toronto/Université Laval.
- ^ "The London Gazette 1855". Official Public Records.
- ^ "The London Gazette 1858". Official Public Records.
- ^ Western India Before and During the Mutinies. Henry S. King & Co. 1871. p. 212.
- ^ Western India Before and During the Mutinies. Henry S. King & Co. 1871. p. 213.
- ^ a b c d e f Charles Manners Chichester (2004). "General Sir Frederick Lester DNB, Edited, James Falkner". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16505. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Cokayne, G.E. (1910–1959). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed (II ed.). p. 194.
- ^ James Rhoades' Who's Who. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U202146. ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1.
External links
[edit]Categories:
- 1795 births
- 1858 deaths
- Graduates of Addiscombe Military Seminary
- British East India Company people
- British East India Company Army officers
- British East India Company Army generals
- British Army lieutenant generals
- Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
- British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
- British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Sikh War
- Bombay Artillery officers