Henry Marion Durand

Not to be confused with Henry Mortimer Durand.

Sir Henry Marion Durand
Sir Henry Durand
Born	(1812-11-06)6 November 1812
Died	1 January 1871(1871-01-01) (aged 58) Tank, Pakistan
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Indian Army
Years of service	1828-1871
Rank	Major General
Battles / wars	First Anglo-Afghan War Second Anglo-Sikh War Indian Rebellion
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India Companion of the Order of the Bath

Major-General Sir Henry Marion Durand, KCSI CB (6 November 1812 – 1 January 1871) was a British Indian Army officer and colonial administrator.

Career

Henry Marion Durand, standing third from left, with John Lawrence, Viceroy of India and other council members. c. 1864

After training at the East India Company's Military Seminary at Addiscombe (1827-8), Durand left Britain for India in 1829, arriving in May 1830. He served initially as Second Lieutenant in the Bengal Engineers. He attained the rank of Major-General, and served in the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842), and the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–1849). He also served as Commissioner of Tenasserim (1844–1846), as Resident of Gwalior (1849–1852), and Acting Resident of Baroda (March 1852 – March 1854). During the Indian Rebellion (1857–1858), he served as a military commander in western Malwa. Promoted to major-general, he served finally as Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab (1 June 1870 – 1 January 1871).

Family

Henry Marion Durand was one of two illegitimate sons of Major the Hon. Henry Percy and Mlle Marion Durand, a French woman he met while prisoner-of-war in the Napoleonic Wars. Percy became famous for bringing the news of the victory at Waterloo back to England. His son, Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, served in the Indian Civil Service and later in the British diplomatic service. He lived at Furness Lodge, East Sheen, Richmond.

Death

On the evening of 31 December 1870 Durand was thrown from an elephant as it attempted to pass under a low gateway in the city of Tonk (now Tank, Pakistan). He fell heavily, and died the following day. He was buried in a church in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

References

• Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1888). "Durand, Henry Marion" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 16. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

Further reading

• The First Afghan War and Its Causes
• Durand, H.M. (1883). The Life of Major-General Sir Henry Marion Durand, KCSI, CB, of the Royal Engineers. London: W.H. Allen.
• Vibart, H.M. (1894). Addiscombe: its heroes and men of note. Westminster: Archibald Constable. pp. 431–8.