Henry Loch, 1st Baron Loch
Earl of Hopetoun | |
---|---|
High Commissioner for Southern Africa | |
In office 1889–1895 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Preceded by | Sir Hercules Robinson |
Succeeded by | The Lord Rosmead |
Personal details | |
Born | Henry Brougham Loch 23 May 1827 |
Died | 20 June 1900 | (aged 73)
Henry Brougham Loch, 1st Baron Loch,
Military service
Henry Loch was the son of
At the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854, Loch severed his connection with India, and obtained leave to raise a body of irregular Bulgarian cavalry, which he commanded throughout the war.[1] In 1857 he was appointed attaché to Lord Elgin's mission to East Asia, was present at the taking of Canton (Guangzhou) during the Second Opium War, and in 1858 brought home the Treaty of Yedo.[1]
In April 1860, Loch accompanied Lord Elgin to China again, as secretary of the new embassy sent to secure the execution by the Chinese
In 1862, Loch married Elizabeth Villiers, whose twin sister was
Colonial administrator
Loch never entirely recovered his health after this experience in a Chinese dungeon. Returning home, he was invested as a Companion of the
As
The Transvaal did not fulfil the necessary conditions, and in view of an increasingly hostile attitude from Pretoria administration Loch became a strong advocate of annexation of the territory east of Swaziland, through which the Boer railway would have to pass to the sea. At length he induced the British government to adopt his view; and on 15 March 1895 it was announced that these territories (Amatongaland, etc.), would be annexed by Britain, an announcement received by Kruger "with the greatest astonishment and regret".[5]
Meanwhile, Loch had been forced to intervene in another matter. When the commandeering difficulty of 1894 had roused the Uitlanders in the Transvaal to a dangerous pitch of excitement, he travelled to Pretoria to use his personal influence with President Kruger, and obtained the withdrawal of the obnoxious commandeering regulations.[1] In the following year he entered a strong protest against the new Transvaal franchise law. Nonetheless the general situation in South Africa was assuming year by year a more threatening aspect. Cecil Rhodes, then prime minister of Cape Colony, was strongly in favor of a more energetic policy than was supported by the Imperial government. At the end of March 1895 the high commissioner, finding himself, it is believed, out of touch with his ministers, returned home embarrassed, a few months before the expiry of his term of office.[5] In the same year he was raised to the peerage as Baron Loch, of Drylaw in the County of Midlothian.[6]
When the Second Boer War broke out in 1899 Loch took a leading part in raising and equipping a body of mounted men, named after him Loch's Horse. He died in London on 20 June 1900, and was succeeded as Baron Loch by his son Edward Douglas Loch (1873–1942).[1]
Legacy
Loch, Victoria, Australia is named after the 1st Baron Loch.
A portion of Douglas Promenade is named Loch Promenade in memory of Governor Loch. In addition the Isle of Man Railway locomotive No.4 Loch is named in his honour. Loch Street in the Canberra suburb of Yarralumla is named after him due to Governorship of Victoria.
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Atlay & Benyon 2008
- ISBN 978-1-84954-892-2.
- ^ World Statesmen
- ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 839–840.
- ^ a b Chisholm 1911, p. 840.
- ^ "No. 26645". The London Gazette. 19 July 1895. p. 4102.
References
Attribution:
- Atlay, J. B.; Benyon, John (reviewer) (2008) [2004]. "Loch, Henry Brougham, first Baron Loch of Drylaw (1827–1900)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16882. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Loch, Henry Brougham Loch, 1st Baron". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 839–840. This contains much of the same text as the ONDB article above. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Further reading
- Ringmar, Erik (2006), "Liberal Barbarism and the Oriental Sublime: The European Destruction of the Emperor's Summer Palace" (PDF), Millennium, 34 (3): 917–933, S2CID 145500010