FIGHTING DACOITS, BURMA, 1887
Lieutenant Charles Brownlow Macdonald, HMS Ranger
St. Anne's, Portsea, Hampshire
November, 1855, and The Craig, a mediaeval castellated house overlooking the Montrose Basin, had seen the arrival of another child into the Macdonald family. Charles Brownlow Farquharson Macdonald was the third child of William Macdonald Farquharson Colquhoun Macdonald, of St. Martin's Abbey, an estate near Perth. I assume that the family came into possession of The Craig through William's wife, born Clara Anne Brownlow, who was the daughter of a prominent Ulster politician, the first Baron Lurgan. It is a beautiful spot, on the market for one and a half million pounds in 2016; it is a shame that Charles did not have the lifetime to enjoy it.
Although father William was nominally a Colonel, he was Colonel of the 2nd Perthshire Highland Rifle Volunteers, and there is no evidence that he ever saw action, and I suspect he was more a gentry landlord than a soldier. The Censuses locate the family variously in Edinburgh (Canaan House in Morningside, now a children's home), the Isle of Wight, and Kensington, and twice he is described as a Magistrate. Three of his sons, however, joined the forces: the eldest, William Montague, in the Grenadier Guards; Charles in the Royal Navy, entering the training ship HMS Britannia in 1869, aged fourteen; and the third son, Harry, became a Major in the Seaforth Highlanders.
I do not know the earlier stages of Charles' naval career, but he was made Lieutenant in 1879, and in 1885 was appointed to HMS Ranger, a former survey vessel converted to a gunvessel to serve in Burma, where Britain was fighting in what it called the Third Burmese War, a conflict which was what we now call "regime change", deposing the Burmese King Thibaw Min as retribution for his not allowing British companies the freedom to do as they wished in his kingdom. Look it up in the books and you will be told that the war lasted a mere three weeks, and ended with the overthrow of the monarch and the imposition of British rule.
Unfortunately no-one convinced the Burmese that the war had ended. With the deposition of the King the Burmese army had been disbanded, which sent thousands of fighting army out into the jungled countryside, with their weapons.
What actually happened to Lieutenant Charles Brownlow Macdonald is difficult to describe in detail. That a force from HMS Ranger attacked a stockade is known. Those defending the stockade are described on Macdonald's memorial as "dacoits", but what does that mean? Were they just bandits, thieves ravaging the countryside? Were they men fighting under the aegis of a local chieftain, defending his localised power? Were they disbanded members of the defeated king's army, waging a guerrilla war? Whichever, they were behind the stockade when Lieutenant Charles Brownlow Macdonald led the attack. He was shot and killed.
Charles' death meant that he never inherited the title of Laird of St. Martin's. His father died in Funchal on Madeira in 1893. Eldest brother William Montague died in 1922, without heir. Henry died in London, also childless, in 1924. The youngest son, Francis Roderick, died in 1936, described as "the last Laird of St. Martin's".
That is not the end of the Macdonald line though. Charles had an elder sister, Emily Jane (1853-1918), who married the M.P. for Co. Monaghan, Sewallis Evelyn Shirley, of Ettington Park, Warwickshire (now a hotel). Lovers of pedigree dogs might want to visit the hotel, as Sewallis Shirley is regarded as the founder of The Kennel Club. He and Emily have descendants living today; I wonder if they have thought of buying land near Perth and re-establishing the Lairdship?
Although father William was nominally a Colonel, he was Colonel of the 2nd Perthshire Highland Rifle Volunteers, and there is no evidence that he ever saw action, and I suspect he was more a gentry landlord than a soldier. The Censuses locate the family variously in Edinburgh (Canaan House in Morningside, now a children's home), the Isle of Wight, and Kensington, and twice he is described as a Magistrate. Three of his sons, however, joined the forces: the eldest, William Montague, in the Grenadier Guards; Charles in the Royal Navy, entering the training ship HMS Britannia in 1869, aged fourteen; and the third son, Harry, became a Major in the Seaforth Highlanders.
I do not know the earlier stages of Charles' naval career, but he was made Lieutenant in 1879, and in 1885 was appointed to HMS Ranger, a former survey vessel converted to a gunvessel to serve in Burma, where Britain was fighting in what it called the Third Burmese War, a conflict which was what we now call "regime change", deposing the Burmese King Thibaw Min as retribution for his not allowing British companies the freedom to do as they wished in his kingdom. Look it up in the books and you will be told that the war lasted a mere three weeks, and ended with the overthrow of the monarch and the imposition of British rule.
Unfortunately no-one convinced the Burmese that the war had ended. With the deposition of the King the Burmese army had been disbanded, which sent thousands of fighting army out into the jungled countryside, with their weapons.
What actually happened to Lieutenant Charles Brownlow Macdonald is difficult to describe in detail. That a force from HMS Ranger attacked a stockade is known. Those defending the stockade are described on Macdonald's memorial as "dacoits", but what does that mean? Were they just bandits, thieves ravaging the countryside? Were they men fighting under the aegis of a local chieftain, defending his localised power? Were they disbanded members of the defeated king's army, waging a guerrilla war? Whichever, they were behind the stockade when Lieutenant Charles Brownlow Macdonald led the attack. He was shot and killed.
Charles' death meant that he never inherited the title of Laird of St. Martin's. His father died in Funchal on Madeira in 1893. Eldest brother William Montague died in 1922, without heir. Henry died in London, also childless, in 1924. The youngest son, Francis Roderick, died in 1936, described as "the last Laird of St. Martin's".
That is not the end of the Macdonald line though. Charles had an elder sister, Emily Jane (1853-1918), who married the M.P. for Co. Monaghan, Sewallis Evelyn Shirley, of Ettington Park, Warwickshire (now a hotel). Lovers of pedigree dogs might want to visit the hotel, as Sewallis Shirley is regarded as the founder of The Kennel Club. He and Emily have descendants living today; I wonder if they have thought of buying land near Perth and re-establishing the Lairdship?
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF LIEUT CHARLES BROWNLOW MACDONALD RN HMS RANGER KILLED IN ACTION BURMA/ JANUARY 9TH 1887 AND TO THE OFFICERS, SEAMEN AND/ MARINES OF HMS RANGER WHO DIED DURING HER COMMISSION IN THE EAST INDIES 1884 - 1887 ERECTED BY THEIR SHIPMATES
'Sources
Pictures
'A group of dacoits captured near Mandalay' - photo by Willoughby McKinlay Cooper. 1886. From the British Library Online Gallery @ www.bl.uk. This wonderful site has a stunning collection of images.
'S stockade occupied by the Myinzein Myntha, a Prince who aspired to the vacant throne of Burma' - ibid.
Military
Wikipedia - Third Anglo-Burmese War
The London Gazette 2/9/1887, page 4767
www.dreadnaught.project.org - fascinating site working on logging all ships and officers of the dreadnaught period of the British Navy.
www.britishempire.co.uk
Genealogy
www.ancestry.co.uk
Macdonald Macdonald Family Records' (Jesse Montgomery Seaver, American Historical-Genealogical Society, Philadelphia, 1929)
The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 156 (September 1834, p.317)
www.thepeerage.com
Pictures
'A group of dacoits captured near Mandalay' - photo by Willoughby McKinlay Cooper. 1886. From the British Library Online Gallery @ www.bl.uk. This wonderful site has a stunning collection of images.
'S stockade occupied by the Myinzein Myntha, a Prince who aspired to the vacant throne of Burma' - ibid.
Military
Wikipedia - Third Anglo-Burmese War
The London Gazette 2/9/1887, page 4767
www.dreadnaught.project.org - fascinating site working on logging all ships and officers of the dreadnaught period of the British Navy.
www.britishempire.co.uk
Genealogy
www.ancestry.co.uk
Macdonald Macdonald Family Records' (Jesse Montgomery Seaver, American Historical-Genealogical Society, Philadelphia, 1929)
The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 156 (September 1834, p.317)
www.thepeerage.com
