Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Strachey GCSI FRS | |
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Sir Richard Strachey
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Born | 24 July 1817 |
Died | 12 February 1908 (aged 90) |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ |
British Indian Army |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Battles/wars | First Anglo-Sikh War |
Awards | Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India |
Lieutenant General Sir Richard Strachey GCSI FRS (24 July 1817 – 12 February 1908) was a British soldier and Indian administrator, the third son of Edward Strachey and grandson of Sir Henry Strachey, 1st Baronet.
He was born on 24 July 1817, at Sutton Court, Stowey, Somerset. From Addiscombe Military Seminary he passed into the Bengal Engineers in 1836, and was employed for some years on irrigation works in the North-Western Provinces. So many members of the family were in the Indian government that sarcastic mentions were made of the "Government of the Stracheys".
Strachey served in the First Anglo-Sikh War of 1845–46, and was at the battles of Aliwal and Sobraon, was mentioned in dispatches, and received a brevet-majority.
In 1848, with J. E. Winterbottom, he entered Tibet to explore Lakes Manasarovar and Rakshastal, which his brother Henry Strachey had visited in 1846. In 1849, the two brothers briefly re-entered Tibet by following the Niti Pass out of Garhwal.
From 1858 to 1865 he was chiefly employed in the public works department, either as acting or permanent secretary to the government of India, and from 1867 to 1871 he filled the post of director-general of irrigation, then specially created.