Pelly, Lewis, Sir, 1825-1892

Indian official and special commissioner for Baroda.

Lewis Pelly was born at Hyde House, Minchinhampton, Stroud, Gloucestershire, on 14 November 1825, the youngest son of John Hinde Pelly (1786-1852) of Bristol and the Bombay civil service, and his wife, Elizabeth Lewis (c 1781-1852) of Brincsombe, Gloucestershire. He was educated at Rugby School and in 1840 was enlisted in the East India Company's Bombay army. Over the course of his career he attained the ranks of lieutenant (1843), captain (1856), major (1861), lieutenant-colonel (1863), colonel (1871), major-general (1882), and lieutenant-general (1887). Early in his career he was seconded to the foreign department, and served in what came to be known as the Indian political service.

In 1851-1852 Pelly served as assistant to the British Resident at the princely court of Baroda. From 1852 to 1856 he worked in a civil capacity in Sind. In 1857 he served as Aide-de-Camp to General John Jacob, commander of the cavalry division of the Indian army during the Anglo-Persian War (1856-1857), and was secretary to Sir James Outram during the occupation of Bushire and Kharack. In 1858 he returned to Sind and served Jacob again as Brigade Major of the Irregular Horse Sind Frontier Force.

In 1859, Pelly was appointed Secretary of Legation at Tehran; in 1860 he became Chargé d'Affaires at Tehran. In the same year he served on a special mission through Persian and Afghanistan, and in 1861 he was involved in an expedition that resulted in Britain taking control of Bahrein [Bahrain]. During the same year he made a journey of 800 miles from Herat to Kandahar on horseback and spent several months in Calcutta with Lord Canning before joining a roving commission in east Africa. At the end of 1861 he was appointed Political Agent and Consul at Zanzibar, where he confirmed earlier treaties with the sultan. In 1862 he succeeded James Felix Jones as Resident in the Persian Gulf, and remained in post until 1872, when he accompanied Sir Bartle Frere on an anti-slavery mission to Zanzibar.

In 1873 Pelly was appointed Agent to the Governor-General in Rajputana, a position he held until his retirement in 1877. From 1874 to 1875 he also served as Resident and Special Commissioner at Baroda. He returned to England in 1878 and married Amy Henrietta Lowder (1847-1924), daughter of the Reverend John Lowder, British Chaplain at Shanghai. In 1879, he published (in two volumes) The Miracle Play of Hasan and Husain: Collected from Oral Tradition. In 1883 he was offered the charge of the Congo Free State by the king of the Belgians, which he declined. Pelly spent part of his early retirement assisting the Royal Geographic and Asiatic societies, and in 1885 he was elected as a Conservative MP for North Hackney, which he represented until his death. He died at Rosemullion, Falmouth, Cornwall, on 22 April 1892, and was posthumously promoted to the rank of General.

Epithet: army and political officer in India

Title: Knight