Sam Hanna Bell Samuel Beckett John Hewitt Bernard (Barney) Hughes James Joseph Magennis VC Frances Elizabeth Clarke Stewart Parker William Carleton Rosamond Praegar

Sir Henry Pottinger (1789 - 1856):
Colonial Governor


Sir Henry Pottinger

Henry Pottinger was born on 3 October 1789 in Mountpottinger, County Down, and was educated at 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 Mohammedan merchant and studying native languages. In 1816 he published his Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde. He served in the Mahratta War and rose to the rank of colonel. He undertook a mission to Sind, which is said to have opened up the traffic of the Indus. He was created a baronet when he returned to England in 1839/40.

He was sent as a plenipotentiary to China in 1842 and eventually made peace by which Hong Kong was ceded. He became Governor of Hong Kong and later Governor of the Cape and Governor of Madras. The Grand Cross of the Bath was conferred upon him, and he was made a Privy Councillor. He died in Malta on his way home on 18 March 1856.



Born: 3 October 1789
Died: 18 March 1856
Kate Newmann