h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Major General Sir Henry Havelock (1795-1857) - A3327419
Author: Frenchbean <6 stars> Front page author - U236943

Hello Peerers

Here's one about a bit of history which I could rant about quite a lot. Victorian society, ethics and beliefs are things that I cannot get my head round. However, there are some individuals who lived in the 19th Century who do interest me. Henry Havelock is one such.

My interest in him was sparked after an evening of fine food and wine in the General Havelock Inn in Haydon Bridge

Comments welcomed, as always

Hello Fb,

Great entry! I had not heard of him before, so this has been a very interesting read.

I'm wondering if you can give us a flavour of some of his writings? This might help to understand the person better, as opposed to the things that he did.

The last sentence - I don't know - it just seems to jar with me a bit. Maybe its my own background, or maybe there is an inherent contradiction there: that we should be full of admiration for people who did something that by the standards of today would be regarded as imperialism at its worst. I don't know. Maybe others have a viewpoint on it.

Two apparent typos -

Allahabad - Allalabad?

seffereing - suffering?

An excellent read. Well done.

Woodpigeon

An interesting question. I often wonder when I see statues of people who are long forgotten.

exellence --> excellence

dates:

May 21 1861 --> 21 May, 1861
May 1 1857 --> 1 May, 1857
July 1 --> 1 July
September 25 --> 25 September

Oops - I have just found out it is spelt Allahabad after all .

Woodpigeon I agree; something about the kind of man he was would really add flesh to the entry. He must have been quite a fella to have become so feted in India and back home. I have tried to find a) writings and b) something about Havelock's personality/character and so far I've come up with a big fat zero on both scores. I shall continue looking

Mixing up Allahabad and Jalallabad I guess?

Ah Gnomon So fasting hasn't affected your typo pedantism? I was waiting for somebody to correct the dates, cos I wasn't sure I'd got it right. (And keep this under your hat, but Gosho couldn't remember )

I'll get onto those changes asap

Okay, Woodpigeon... that last paragraph. I have re-read it. Then read it out loud to myself. Never say I don't take on board all PR comments

I reckon it sums up my view perfectly. We should not damn people who lived before now, for holding views that are not fashionable today. Havelock was a Victorian soldier, living in a society and culture which determined that the expansion of the British Empire and Christianity should be pursued at almost any cost. The ends justified the means. I do not agree with that philosophy (I am a republican athiest ) but I do not presume to know whether I would have been an anti-colonialist had I lived in the 19th Century.

People like Havelock, Gordon, Livingstone, Rhodes etc. were all quite extraordinary people in their own way and I am content to celebrate their part in my history

Take it from that, that I'm not going to alter the final paragraph

You're a dyslexic atheist as well, by the look of it. Do you believe in Dog?

Fb, A well considered response - I won't argue with that!

Oh bloody 'ell Gnomon!

Woodpigeon

I've just added a link to a good webpage from the Queens Own Highlanders, which gives graphic details about Lucknow - including some of Havelock's dispatches back to England

Okay, still very little about the man, as opposed to the military leader, so I've added a paragraph to that effect

Awfully quiet on this thread...

Like it frenchbean - Fame, as you indicate, is a tenuous thing, On a street corner in the centre of Coventry stands The Sir Colin Campbell, a pub.

Its just been renamed because nobody knows who he is. When I've mentioned The Thin Red Line people think its a film. 'Bring on The Tartan.'

Of course, it's very non-pc to celebrate anybody who was famous for Colonialism these days. How short-sighted can we be?

I know I'm probably woefully undereducated but could there be a link somewhere to a map of India? I haven't a clue where these places are and so it makes it difficult for me to imagine the movements etc.

Also...link for the British Empire: A223002

Thanks Kat... I'll go sort that out

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Well, thank you especially, Felonious

Anything for a fellow republican atheist