Lewis Pelly

Sir Lewis Pelly, KCSI, (born 14 November 1825, Minchinhampton; died 22 April 1892, Falmouth), was Conservative Member of Parliament for Hackney North from 1885 to 1892 and an East India Company officer.

He was the son of John Hinde Pelly of Hyde House, Gloucestershire and was educated at Rugby School. He entered the East India Company service in 1840 and served in Sind prior to its annexation. Appointed to the regimental staff in 1842, he was promoted to Lieutenant in 1843.

In 1852, he acted as Assistant Reader at the Court of Guicowar and then he transferred to the Civil Service of Sind until 1856, being promoted to Captain in 1855. As aide-de-camp to General John Jacob in 1857, he commanded a troop of cavalry in that year's Persian expedition. He was secretary to Sir James Outram during the occupation of Bushire and Kharack and was in the Frontier Force of the Sind Irregular Horse in 1858, before being a Judge in Kurrachee in 1859.

He was Secretary of Legation at the Court of Persia from 1859 to 1860, before being appointed chargé d'affaires there. During his time in this post, he was sent on a special mission through Eastern Persia, Herat, Afghanistan and Balochistan in 1860 and to the Comoros Islands and Mozambique in 1861. In May 1861, he was part of the expedition which eventually placed Bahrain under British rule.

Promoted to Major in 1861, he was appointed Political Agent and Consul at Zanzibar, from where he visited and reported on the Seychelle Islands in 1862.

Next he was transferred back to Persia as Political Resident (1862 to 1872). He travelled to Riyadh in 1865, publishing an account of his journey and, on 12 September 1868, he signed a treaty with Sheikh Muhammad bin Thani which recognised the independence of Qatar. In 1872-73, he accompanied Sir Bartle Frere in the Anti-Slavery Mission to the East Coast of Africa. During his time as Political Resident he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1866 and then Colonel in 1871.

On 21 June 1873, he was appointed Agent to the Governor General of Rajpootana and, ex-officio, Chief Commissioner of Baroda, remaining in this post until 1878.

Returning to England, in 1878 he married Amy Henrietta Lowder who was born in 1847 at Calne in Wiltshire. In 1881 they were living at 1, Eaton Square, London.

In 1885, by now a Lieutenant General, he was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for the newly-created North Hackney constituency. He died in Falmouth on 22 April 1892, and is buried at Merstham in Surrey.

Honours

• C. S. I., 1867
• |K. C. S. I., 1874

Publications

• Pelly, Sir Lewis Report on a Journey to Riyadh in Central Arabia, 1865

References

• Debretts Illustrated Baronetage, with the Knightage, 1876, Dean & Son (London), 1876
• Whitaker's Almanack, various editions, 1885 to 1892