Arthur Marcus Hill Cheek

Arthur Marcus Hill Cheek
Nickname(s)	The young Martyr of Allahabad
Born	(1840-07-31)31 July 1840 Evesham, Worcestershire, United Kingdom
Died	16 June 1857(1857-06-16) (aged 16) Fort Allahabad, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Buried	Fort Allahabad
Allegiance	United Kingdom East India Company
Service / branch	Bengal Army
Years of service	1857
Rank	Ensign
Unit	6th Bengal Native Infantry

Ensign Arthur Marcus Hill Cheek (31 July 1840 - 16 June 1857) was an East India Company Officer known posthumously as "The young Martyr of Allahabad."

Early life

Arthur Marcus Hill Cheek, the fourth child of Oswald Cheek and Emma Ashwin, was born in Evesham, Worcestershire, United Kingdom on the 31st of July 1840. He was given the names "Arthur Marcus Hill" in honour of his Godfather, Lord Arthur Marcus Cecil Hill who was the Member of Parliament for Evesham at the time of his birth. He was baptised on the 15th of August 1840 at the Parish Church of All Saints, Evesham.

Military Service

When Arthur was 16 his father obtained, with the help of Arthur's Godfather Lord Hill, a direct appointment for him with the East India Company's Army. He was not required to attend Addiscombe Military Seminary for the standard two years but he was required to pass an examination, which he did on the 3rd of February 1857. He was appointed as an Ensign in the Bengal Army on the 4th of February 1857. He departed from Southampton on the 20th of March, arriving in Calcutta on the 28th of April. He was then assigned to the 6th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry who were currently stationed in Allahabad. After taking leave for three weeks to visit family who were living in India Ensign Cheek made his way to his Regiment, arriving on the 19th of May.

Mutiny of the 6th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry

The Indian Mutiny began at Meerut on the 10th of May 1857. The Officers of the 6th Bengal Native Infantry had full confidence in their men and around 80 members of that Regiment formed the Guard at Allahabad Fort. On the evening of the 6th of June the Officers were called out from the Mess to the parade square by a Bugle sounded by members of the 6th Bengal Native Infantry, who then shot the officers. Ensign Cheek, however, was not among them. He had returned to his own home.

Ensign Cheek sustained a cut from a sabre on that evening but managed to escape from the Fort, although the details of his method of escape are not recorded. After five days he was discovered badly injured in a ravine by mutinying members of the 6th Bengal Native Infantry and taken prisoner. On the morning of the 16th of June, Ensign Cheek was brought into the Fort on a stretcher. He died that same evening and was buried in the grounds of the Fort following a Christian funeral on the morning of the 17th of June.

Account of "Martyrdom"

The Reverend Gopenauth Nundy stated that he was held prisoner with Ensign Cheek during his captivity. He said that attempts were made by their captors to convert them from Christianity to Islam by keeping the prisoners in Stocks in the sun without water until they capitulated. Reverend Nundy claimed that Ensign Cheek said to him "Padre Sahib, hold onto your faith - don't give it up!" A fellow prisoner, Mrs Coleman, reported that Ensign Cheek told her to "be true to your faith and hope."

A memorial tablet, inscribed with the following, was placed on the Cheek family tomb in the graveyard next to the Parish Church of All Saints in Evesham:

" 'The young Martyr of Allahabad' Ensign in the 6th. Bengal Native Infantry and 2nd son of O.and E Cheek. born 31 July 1840. He fell a victim to the wretched Indian Mutiny in 1857 and is memorable for his heroic conduct and faithful confession in his dying moments testified by the encouraging words which he then addressed to a native Christian catechist tormented by the Mohammedans 'Come what may, do not deny the Lord Jesus ' He was interred in the covered way of the Fort at Allahabad 17th June 1857."