Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence (1806-57) was a 19th century British military officer and administrator. He founded the Lawrence Military Asylum, a hill station boarding school in Kasauli/Kussowlie (Himachal Pradesh) for the children of British soldiers to relieve them...
Sir John Laird Mair Lawrence was Viceroy of India, 1864-69. Tragically, his greatest failure was the Orissa Famine of 1866. It affected more than 47 million people along the eastern coast northwards from Madras. One million died. It is argued that by moving from...
‘Hell-pit Island’ From Tam: naraka, ‘hell’; and Tam: kuṇṭam, ‘deep cavity’, ‘pit’. This is a volcano island with a 710m peak. 150km further south is Barren Island which still has an active volcano.
[Ross Island] This island (measuring less than 1.0km²) and the surrounding region was surveyed in 1788 by Sir Daniel Ross, a British hydrographer famed for his scientific accuracy and nicknamed “the Father of the Indian Surveys” landed on the small island in 1788 and...
‘Port Blair’ – City/Capital Lieutenant Archibald Blair surveyed the Islands in the late 18thC for the British East India Company. Port Blair is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Its infamous Cellular Jail [also Kala Pani from ...
Ritchie’s Archipelago is a group of small islands which form part of the Andamans. The main islands are: Havelock Island – 92.2 sq. km Henry Lawrence Island – 54.7 sq. km John Lawrence Island – 34.8 sq. km Peel Island – 23.7 sq. km Wilson...
(Hin): शहीद द्वीप śahīd dvīp ‘Martyr’s Island’ [Neill Island] From Skt: shahīd, ‘martyr’; and Skt: dvīpa, ‘ island’. James George Smith Neill was a British soldier who was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the 1857-9 Indian Rebellion . He is infamous for...
Sir Hugh Henry Rose, 1st Baron Strathnairn (1801–1885), was a British Army officer who eventually rose to the rank of Field Marshal and Commander-in-Chief of the British army in India. In 1858 he commanded troops in important victories at Jhansi, Lahore and Gwalior...
(Hin/Skt): स्वराज द्वीप svarāj dvīp ‘Independence Island’ [Havelock Island] From Skt: svarāj, ‘self-rule’, ‘independence’; and Skt: dvīpa, ‘ island’. Sir Henry Havelock was a British General famous for recapturing Kanpur (Cawnpore) during the 1857 Indian Rebellion. He...
H.M.S. Viper was the ship Lieutenant Blair used to survey the islands in 1789. Following a storm it was shipwrecked close to the island. The island was the site of a penal colony and prison built in 1864-7. It was used for incarcerating and executing convicts and...
