CHESNEY, SIR GEORGE TOMKYNS (1830-1895)

This article appears in Volume V06, Page 93 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: CHA-CHR

CHESNEY, SIR GEORGE TOMKYNS (1830-1895) , English general, brother of Colonel C. C. Chesney, was born at Tiverton, Devonshire, on the 3oth of April 1830. Educated at Blundell's school, Tiverton, and at Addiscombe, he entered the Bengal Engineers as second lieutenant in 1848. He was employed for some years in the public works department and, on the outbreak' of the Indian Mutiny in 1857, joined the Ambala column, was' field engineer at the battle of Badli-ke-serai, brigade-major of engineers throughout the siege of Delhi, and was severely wounded in the assault (medal and clasp and a brevet

majority

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

). In 186o he was appointed head of a new department in connexion with the public works accounts. His

work

WORK

on Indian Polity (1868), dealingwith the administration of the several departments of the Indian government, attracted wide attention and remains a permanent text-book. The originator of the Royal Indian Civil Engineering College at Cooper's Hill, Staines, he was also its first president (1871-1880). In 1871 he contributed to Blackwood's Magazine, " The Battle of Dorking," a vivid account of a supposed invasion of England by the Germans after their victory over France. This was republished in many editions and translations, and produced a profound impression. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel, 1869; colonel, 18i7; major-general, 1886; lieutenant-general, 1887; colonel-commandant of Royal Engineers, 189o; and general, 1892. From 1881 to 1886 he was secretary to the military department of the government of India, and was made a C.S.I. and a C.I.E. From 1886 to 1892, as military member of the

governor

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

-general's council, he carried out many much-needed military reforms. He was made a C.B. at the

jubilee

JUBILEE (or JUBILE), YEAR OF

of 1887, and a K.C.B. on leaving India in 1892. In that year he was returned to

parliament

PARLIAMENT (Anglo-Lat. parliamentum, Fr. parlement, from parler, to speak)

, in the Conservative

interest

INTEREST

, as member for

Oxford

, and was chairman of the committee of service members of the

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of Commons until his death on the 31st of March 1895. He wrote some novels, The Dilemma, The Private Secretary, The Lesters, &c., and was a frequent contributor to periodical literature.

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