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Morden Carthew

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General Morden Carthew CB (25 October 1804 - 4 September 1888) was an officer in the service of the East India Company (E.I.C.) Army in the Madras Presidency, India and South East Asia during the mid 19th century.

Early Life

Morden Carthew was the eldest son of the Reverend Morden Carthew and Elizabeth Tweed-Pyke and was born in Frettenham, Norfolk where his father was the Rector.[1]

Military Career

Carthew was nominated as an officer cadet by East India Company director, Sir William Taylor Money and joined the Company on the 12 January 1821.[2]. Throughout his 56 year career he served in the Madras Presidency, Burma (modern Myanmar) and Singapore. He first arrived in Madras aboard the ship Jupiter on the 29 June 1821 as an Ensign and was appointed to the 11th Madras Native Infantry.[2] He was promoted from Senior Ensign to Lieutenant on 19 April 1823 and shortly after transferred to the 21st Madras Native Infantry (M.N.I.) where he would spend the remainder of his career.[3][2]. Carthew continued to rise through the ranks and became Commanding Officer of the 21st M.N.I. He commanded the 21st M.N.I. in Singapore from 1846 to 1849 and later was Divisional Commander of Pegu Province in Burma from 1861 to 1863.[4][5][6][7][2]

Involvement in the Indian Mutiny of 1857

On the 10 May 1857 a continent of Sepoy soldiers rose up against the East India Company in an action that was to spread across the upper Ganges and central India and was variously known as the Indian Mutiny, Sepoy Mutiny and Indian Uprising. Carthew was promoted to the rank of Brigadier on the 18 August 1857 in order to command troops in Bengal against the mutinous Gwalior regiment.[2]

On the 26 August 1857, Brigadier Carthew was given orders to assist in holding the Bithoor Road at Cawnpoor, preventing the Gwalior troops from entering Cawnpoor. For several days Carthew and the E.I.C. troops succeeded in repelling the mutineers but on the evening of the 28 August 1857, following heavy fighting, Brigadier Carthew ordered the retreat of the E.I.C. troops, effectively surrendering the town of Cawnpoor to the mutineers.[8]

Carthew's withdrawal initially drew the ire of his superior officers with his commander-in-chief, General Colin Campbell, in response to Carthew's dispatch explaining his decision to withdraw, responded, "... although his excellency fully admits the arduous nature of the service which Brigadier Carthew had been engaged during the 28th of November, he cannot recall his approval of that officers retreat on the evening of that day. Under the instruction of Major-general Windam, his commanding officer, Brigadier Carthew had been placed in position. No discretion of retiring [retreating] was allowed him".[9]. General Campbell's dispatch goes on to berate the Brigadier for retreating without first seeking permission from his immediate superior officer (Maj. Gen. Windham) and for failing to wait for reinforcements which Windham had already ordered to Carthew's position in Cawnpoor.[9]. Whilst first denying any concession for retreat given to Brigadier Carthew, Major General Windham later conceded to General Campbell that he had, indeed, given permission for Carthew to withdraw from his position should the need arise, and the order to withdraw given by Carthew was correctly issued given the circumstances, thus exonerating Brigadier Carthew from any wrong doing.[10]

Carthew would eventually be awarded a Companion of the Order of Bath, Military Division, on the 13 March 1867, in recognition of his service during the uprising.[2]

The Bandar and Kirwee Booty

General Carthew was a claimant in the case of the Bandar and Kirwee booty, a treasure horde captured from the towns of Bandar and Kirwee in Bengal by British forces under the command of Lord Clyde and General Whitlock during mop-up operations following the 1857 mutiny. The total value of the booty was estimated as in excess of £700,000 Sterling in 1858 or more than £92million Sterling today. The case of the booty was originally taken before the English Parliament and then deferred to the High Court of the Admiralty before the Right Honourable Stephen Lushington D.L.C. Ultimately General Carthew's claim was denied.[11] [12]

Family

Morden Carthew married Jemima Ewart, daughter of John Ewart of Mullock in Bombay, India, on the 16 July 1827.[13]. Interestingly, John Ewart is also the 4th great grandfather of Sir Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, through Jemima's elder sister, Jane.[14]

Inherited Woodbridge Abbey in Woodbridge Suffolk from his uncle, Admiral William Carthew.[15]

Great great Grandson of prominent London Serjeant-at-law, Thomas Carthew esq.[16]

Together, Morden and Jemima had 10 children:

  • Margaret - Born 17 September 1828, Married E.I.C. officer and Aide-de-camp to General Carthew, Lt. Col. Hugh Rigg
  • Emily Jane - Born 6 November 1830
  • Morden - Born 21 June 1832, would go on to have a career of note as an officer in the E.I.C.
  • John Ewart - Born 17 November 1834, died as an infant
  • Catherine Alicia - Born 27 September 1836, died as an infant
  • Frederick Chalmers - Born 28 March 1840, died as an infant
  • Charles Alfred - Born 3 September 1841
  • Jemima Fanny - Born 24 December 1842, died aged 19 in 1862
  • Mary - Born 3 July 1844
  • Ewart - Born 24 January 1847[17]

Morden Carthew CB retired under Royal Warrant on the 1 October 1877 and was promoted to full General upon retirement and passed away on the 4 September 1888 at Denton, Norfolk.[18]

References

  1. ^ Norfolk Record Office; Norwich, Norfolk, England; Norfolk Church of England Registers; Reference: PD 279/2. Ancestry.com. Norfolk, England, Church of England Baptism, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812
  2. ^ a b c d e f Carthew, Morden. India Office Official Biography, British Library. Available upon request from the British Library, India Office.
  3. ^ "The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and Its Dependencies, vol. 17. p. 106". Google Books. 1824. Retrieved 12 July 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ "The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser".
  5. ^ "Asiatic Intelligence - Madras". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. 1 October 1846. p. 2. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  6. ^ "The Free Press". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. 4 January 1849. p. 2.
  7. ^ Buckley, Charles (1902). An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore : (with portraits and illustrations) from the foundation of the settlements under the Honourable the East India Company, on February 6th, 1819, to the transfer of the Colonial Office as part of the colonial possessions of the Crown on April 1st, 1867. Vol. II (1902). p.450. Fraser & Neave Limited, Singapore. p. 450.
  8. ^ Adye, John (1858). Defence Of Cawnpore by The Troops Under The Orders of Major General Charles A. Wyndham C.B in November 1857. Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts. pp. 29, 30, 32, 36, 39, 40, 44.
  9. ^ a b Forrest C.I.E., G.W. (1904). A History of the Indian Mutiny Reviewed and Illustrated from Original Documents (Vol. 1 ed.). Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons. pp. 196–198.
  10. ^ Kaye & Malleson (1889). Kaye's and Malleson's History of the Indian Mutiny of 1857–8. London: W.H. Allen & Co. p. 178.
  11. ^ "India: Banda and Kirwee Booty". 1864.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ Banda and Kirwee Booty: Judgment of the Right Honourable Stephen Lushington, D.C.L., Delivered on the 30th of June 1866. London: H.M. Stationary Office. 1866.
  13. ^ "Births, Marriages & Deaths". The Oriental Herald and Colonial Review, Volume 16. 1828. p. 396. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  14. ^ Davies, Edward J. (2008). "A Descent of Tony Blair from James V, King of Scots". The Genealogist. 22 (2): 247–255.
  15. ^ Burke, John & John Bernard (1849). A genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the landed gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Henry Colburn. p. 58.
  16. ^ Woolrych, Humphry William (2002). Emminent Serjeants at Law of the English Bar. New Jersey: The Law Book Exchange. pp. 459–463. ISBN 1-58477-217-4.
  17. ^ "National Archives, British Library, Asian and African Studies, Roll of subscribers to Madras Military Fund: CARTHEW, Morden, 1804-1888". 13 July 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ "England & Wales General Register Office, GRO Online Index - Death ( : accessed database entry for Morden Carthew GRO Reference: 1888 S Quarter in Depwade, Volume 04B Page 136". General Register Officer, United Kingdom. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
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