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Sir Henry Pottinger

Lieutenant-General The Right Honourable
Sir Henry Pottinger
Bt GCB
Henry Pottinger.jpg
Portrait of Pottinger by Francis Grant, 1845
Governor of Madras
In office
1848–1854
Preceded by The Marquess of Tweeddale
Succeeded by The Lord Harris
Governor of the Cape Colony
In office
1847–1847
Preceded by Sir Peregrine Maitland
Succeeded by Sir Harry Smith
Governor of Hong Kong
In office
26 June 1843 – 8 May 1844
Preceded by Office established
Succeeded by Sir John Davis
Administrator of Hong Kong
In office
1841–1843
Preceded by Alexander Johnston (acting)
Succeeded by Office abolished
Personal details
Born (1789-10-03)3 October 1789
County Down, Ireland
Died 18 March 1856(1856-03-18) (aged 66)
Malta
Spouse(s) Susanna Maria Cooke
Alma mater Belfast Academy
Signature
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Bombay Army
Years of service 1804–1856
Rank Lieutenant General
Battles/wars Third Anglo-Maratha War
First Opium War

Lieutenant General Sir Henry Pottinger, 1st Baronet, GCB, PC (Chinese: 砵甸乍; 3 October 1789 – 18 March 1856), was an Anglo-Irish soldier and colonial administrator who became the first Governor of Hong Kong.

Henry Pottinger was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1789. He was the fifth son of Eldred Curwen Pottinger, Esq., of Mount Pottinger, County Down, and his wife Anne, who was the daughter of Robert Gordon, Esq., of Florida House in the same county. They had three daughters and eight sons.Eldred Pottinger was his nephew. Henry studied at the Belfast Academy, today known as Belfast Royal Academy.

In 1804, he went to India to serve in the army and explored the lands between the Indus and Persia, travelling in disguise as a Muslim merchant and studying local languages, under the orders of Sir John Malcolm. In 1806, he joined the British East India Company and in 1809, he was a Lieutenant who fought in one of the Anglo-Mahratta wars. In 1810, he and Charles Christie undertook an expedition from Nushki (Balochistan) to Isfahan (Central Persia) disguised as Muslims. Christie went north to Herat and then west while Pottinger went west across two deserts to Kerman and Isfahan where they rejoined. The expedition was funded by the East India Company to map and research the regions of Balochistan and Persia because of concerns about India being invaded by French forces. It would be 100 years before another European took this route, and Pottinger rose to the rank of Colonel. Pottinger later became Resident Administrator of Sindh in 1820. He later held the same post in Hyderabad.


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