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Lieutenant General Sir John Stokes
Lt Gen Sir John Stokes (11 June 1825 - 17 November 1902) was a British engineer, soldier, diplomat and vice-president of the Suez Canal Company . His career spanned the War of the Axe in South Africa, Crimean War, engineering and diplomatic efforts involved in opening the mouths of the Danube to navigation; while the last 25 years of his life were immersed in the British intervention in Egypt and acquisition and management of a 40% share of the Suez Canal.
Early Life and Education
Stokes was born in Cobham, Kent, the second son of The Reverend John Stokes [1] (himself a graduate in mathematics from Oxford University) and Elizabeth Arabella Franks. He was the second of six children, two of whom died in childhood from scarlet fever. After a private secondary education, he entered the Royal Military Academy and majored in military engineering.
Early Military Career
Shortly after graduation, he was ordered to the Cape Colony in South Africa[[2]], where he spent six years, much of it in service during the War of the Axe. In 1851 he was demobilized to England, where he was an instructor at Woolwich Arsenal until the commencement of the Crimean War. After some delay, he was posted to the Crimea in early 1855, having personally approached the Secretary of War (Lord Panmure) to establish an engineers’ column. Funding was arranged after a direct approach to the assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Sir Charles Trevelyan)[3]. The column included hospital, photography and printing wagons. Once in the Crimea, he witnessed (but was not involved in) combat. He was particularly affected by the sight of the untended wounded. After a peace was negotiated with Russia he had to dispose of much equipment and several thousand horses.
Danube Commission
With the end of the Crimean War, Stokes was called into the British Embassy in Constantinople and asked to be the British representative on a new European Commission for the Danube[[4]]. He accepted the offer and spent until 1871 working with various European representatives and particularly the engineer, Charles Hartley. The objective was the opening of the river to navigation, requiring works at the mouths of the river. Based in Galatz (now Galati), Stokes was involved not only with the engineering aspect, but also diplomatic side of the Commission. Other delegates included Austrian, German, Turkish, Russian and Sardinian diplomats. One of the problems he dealt with was the establishment of an international standard for computation of a vessel’s tonnage. During his fifteen-year stay, he was also appointed Honorary Consul for the British Government, and held regular Anglican services in his home.
Suez Tonnage Commission
At the end of his posting on the Danube, Stokes had to negotiate a tonnage law for the Suez Canal, at that time also within Turkey. His proposal had been adopted as Turkey’s tonnage law He was consulted by Lord Derby on April 1st, 1875 about the Suez Canal Company’s refusal to implement the new tonnage laws, which he recommended be enforced by military action. Egyptian troops under the command of the American General Stone occupied the canal, at which stage Ferdinand de Lesseps(tbe President of the Suez Canal Company) capitulated.
On the 18th of November, 1875, Stokes was called to advise the British Cabinet and Prime Minister Disraeli on the question of purchasing the Khedive of Cairo’s shares in the Suez Canal[5]. Stokes submitted a letter to the affirmative and on 24th, the UK government proceeded with the purchase for four million pounds. Early in December 1875, Stokes was asked to return to Egypt to investigate the state of the country’s finances, as it was on the brink of default with loans taken out by the Egyptian government. This work was done in partnership with Stephen Cave [6], and they co-authored a report to the UK government. As Stephen Cave spoke little French, Stokes was burdened with much of the oral communication with the Khedive. Stokes repeatedly urged the Khedive to discontinue his ruinous wars with Ethiopia. Cave and Stokes proposed a scheme to improve the Egyptian finances, but were recalled London.
Director of Suez Canal Company
After his recall to London, Stokes was appointed a director of Suez Canal Company, along with Rivers Wilson and “Mr Standen”. Stokes was to serve as a director and later Vice President of the company for much of the remaining 26 years of his life. He was awarded a Knight-Commandership of the Bath (KCB) on August 14th, 1877. In 1878, Stokes declined an invitation by de Lesseps to join the board of a Panama Canal company.
Alexandria Harbour Improvements
(The now ) Sir John Stokes was called to Alexandria, Egypt in 1879 [[7]], to negotiate the improvement of the harbour and determine tolls for the use thereof. A secret commission from the British Foreign Office was to convince the Egyptians of the desirability of opening Alexandria Harbour to allow safe entry at night or during bad weather[[8]]. The Egyptians were wary of improving access, lest foreign warships be able to sail into the harbour unimpeded. Stokes convinced them of the desirability of the action and arranged for the merchants of the city to (ultimately) pay for the improvements. The committee recommendations were, however, shelved. This was due to the Al Urabi insurrection, directed at foreign interference in Egyptian affairs.
Channel Tunnel
The construction of a rail tunnel from England to France was the subject of enquiry of a committee in early 1882 [[9]]. Stokes sat as a member of that committee. Work was under way, but despite his enthusiasm for the technical aspects of project, Stokes was strongly against it on strategic grounds. His opposition stalled the project, and construction was completed over a hundred years later.
British Invasion of Egypt
Apart from his Suez commitments, Stokes was deeply involved in the planning of the British invasion of Egypt in 1882, in his role as Deputy Adjutant-General. At the behest of the Commander-in-Chief, HRH the Duke of Cambridge, Sir John Stokes was promoted to Major-General in 1884. In 1887, he became Vice-President of the Suez Canal Company and also was a director of the Roburite Explosives Company (later part of ICI) and the Lady Strangford Hospital in Port Said. In the same year, he was promoted to Lieutenant-General.
At the request of Prime Minister Lord Rosebery, Stokes attended the opening of the railway line to Ismailia in 1893 as the Queen’s representative. Travelling by sea to Egypt, he met Wilfrid Scawen Blunt and had a wide-ranging discussion of strategic issues, later published in Blunt's diaries[[10]]. While in Egypt, he was quartered on HMS Dreadnought and several times had broadsides fired to impress the new Khedive. In Cairo, he was accommodated at the residence of Lord Cromer and made acquaintance with Lord Kitchener.
Stokes attended Ferdinand de Lesseps' funeral in Paris in 1894[[11]]. His involvement with the Suez company continued through the late 1890s, including attending the funeral of de Lesseps successor as President of the Suez Canal Company in 1896. At this funeral, he delivered a eulogy in French. In turn, Ferdinand de Lesseps' son, Charles, attended Stokes' funeral in 1902.
Family and Personal Life
John Stokes married Henrietta Georgina Maynard in Grahamstown, South Africa in 1849. Together they had eight children: four sons and four daughters. He was keen sportsman, playing cricket, tennis and croquet, as well as shooting. Stokes' family lived with him in Galatz (now Galati) in Romania for the duration of his work on the Danube River Commission from 1856 - 1871.
Stokes' wife Etta had a stroke in 1877 and another in 1880. After the second stroke, she was speechless, helpless and under constant care of several servants until her death in 1893. For some of this period, Stokes had a woman ‘dear friend’ living at his home, Miss Isabella Ranken. She and her sister Kate were occasionally mentioned in Stokes’ autobiography, first in 1874. Isabella was at Sir John’s home for the 1881 census and he visited her father in Scotland in the autumn of the same year. They travelled together in France in 1887, where they were the guests of Charles de Lesseps, and again from London to Paris in 1891. She continued to Japan, not returning until 1896. She is one of the last individuals mentioned in his memoir, looking after Stokes’ daughter Edith during an illness in November 1899. Isabella attended Sir John’s funeral in 1902.
John Stokes’ brother Francis, and sons Charles and Francis Herbert emigrated to South Australia in the 1870s. Another son, Arthur, had a birth disfigurement and was sent to Ceylon as a partner in a coffee plantation. Sir John Stokes died suddenly of a stroke on November 17th, 1902 in Ewell, Surrey. He left the typescript of an incomplete autobiography which was discovered in Adelaide, Australia and published privately in 1994.