Quick Search
Advanced
Browse Records
Personal papers > Percy-Smith / Bullock
Share this page 
Go to record Graves and monuments Graves and monuments
 Group Memorials and others

click to hide Data table details
Date transcribed2013-00-20
Transcribed byRobert Charnock

View all other items of "Name" with value "BRENDISH" in "Group Memorials and others" Name  BRENDISH    
First names  William    
Rank  Signaller    
Regt  Telegraph Dept - Delhi    
Dates  11 May 1857    
Cause of death  killed    
View all other items of "Place" with value "Telegraph Monument" in "Group Memorials and others" Place  Telegraph Monument    
Inscription  The following is a full descrption of the Telgraph Monument , which was unveiled by Lord Curzon at Delhi on Saturdaty last (19 April 1902). It consists of an obelisk of polished grey granite specially obtained from Aberdeen by Messrs Llewelyn & Co. Calcutta, rising to 18 feet (5.45m) above ground, and very closely resembles the one erected in the Zoological Gardens Calcutta, in memory of the late Mr. L. Schwendler. The inscriptions engraved on the 4 sides of the base are as follows: Front - erected 19th April 1902 by the members of the Telegraph Department to commorate the loyal and devoted services of the Delhi Telegraph Office staff on the eventful 11 May 1857. On that day , two young signallers, William Brendish and J. W. Pilkington, remained on duty till ordered to leave, and by telegraphing to Umballa giving information of what was happening in Delhi, rendered invaluable service to the Punjab Government. In the words of Sir Robert Montgomery ""the Electric Telegraph has saved India"". Reverse - The Delhi Telegraph Office staff on the 11 May 1857, consisted of the following:- Charles Todd, Assistant in charge, killed near cable house on left bank River Jumna on the morning of the above date while edeavouring to restore telegraphic communication with Meerut. W. Brendish, signaller retired 1st September 1896. J.W. Pilkington. - Signaller, voluntarily returned to the Telegraph Office from Flagstaff Tower and signalled a despatch to C-C containing a full report of the Mutiny. Taked prisoner after doing so but escaped. Died at Rookee 24th March 1867. Third face - Delhi Telegraph Office of 1857 was situated 2415 yards (2195 m) 31 ?? west of north from this spot. Fourth face - Casualties during the Mutiny:- Charles Todd, Henry Farmer, Edwin Brierly all from Delhi. Thomas Couzens, Francis Scallen, Thomas Goodings, William Ramsay - all from Cawnpore. John Devere, James Butler, Thomas Brooke - all from Lucknow. William Avery, David Bone, G. H. Gartlan from Indore and J. Hall from Chanda. The monument is erected immediately in front of the present Delhi Telegraph Office and is some 100 feet (30 m)or so west of, and in line with the west gate and attached vaulted verandah of the Old Magazine enclosure.    
  << first    < previous   next >    last >>  

The data reproduced here was accumulated over many years by the late genealogists Lt.-Col Hubert Kendall Percy-Smith, FSG, and Brigadier Humphry Bullock, CIE, OBE, who realized the need to gather records of persons who served in British India as gravestone inscriptions were already subject to damage and erosion. They gathered them from a variety of sources published about the sub-continent, from church records, by transcribing records of gravestones, etc. The co-operation between these two gentlemen was very close and it is difficult, on many occasions, to determine which of them was responsible for the differing details of their work.

On his death, Lt.-Col. Percy-Smith bequeathed his work to the National Army Museum who subsequently made a gift of it to BACSA, the 'British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia'. BACSA have most kindly licensed us to reproduce their holdings here. Brigadier Bullock's daughter, Mrs Anne Macdonald, has generously given us to permission to publish his work.

It may be pointed out that Percy-Smith and Bullock endeavoured to compile service histories and even pedigrees using their source material. Their data in this respect is included in our transcriptions but it should be understood that it represents deductions made by these two gentlemen.

It should also be pointed out that some of their data may have been obtained directly, or otherwise, from the same sources that we present elsewhere. This may, of course, result in duplication which we trust will be acceptable to researchers
click to expand  More details

© Families in British India Society. Unless stated otherwise, all rights including those in copyright in the content of this website are owned by or controlled for these purposes by the Families in British India Society.The content of this site may not be copied, reproduced, republished, downloaded, posted, broadcast or transmitted in any way without first obtaining written permission from the Families in British India Society or that of the copyright owner.
If you found this useful then why not join FIBIS to get all the benefits from membership and help this work to continue. You can now join on-line in the FIBIS Shop...
Frontis V4.20.04.06 Rev: 217. Web site engine code is Copyright © 2005-2020 Frontis. All Rights Reserved.
Decrease text size text size  Increase text size
Powered by Frontis, The Archive Publishing System