Colonel Francis Bacon of Spixworth

Sacred to the memory of

COLONEL FRANCIS BACON LONGE C.B.

Of Spixworth Park,

Eldest son of ROBERT BACON LONGE, Esqre

And CAROLINE ELIZABETH his wife.

Born Octr 31st 1856, Die June 2nd 1922.

Entered Royal Engineers 1876, served in Afghan War 1879,

And Kabul Khandahar March 1880, and with Suakim

Expedition 1885, and Wunthu Expedition 1891.

Surveyor General of India 1904-1911,

And Addl Member of Legislative Council 1909-1910.

J.P. for Norfolk.

 

This tablet is placed here by his wife

In proud and loving memory of her beloved husband

 

Background

LONGE, Francis Bacon was born on October 31, 1856.

Education

Cheltenham College; Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. 1235 Lieutenant Royal Engineers, 1870. Transferred to Indian Establishment, and posted to the Bengal Sappers and Miners, 1878.

Career

Appointed to Survey of India, 1880. Substantive Colonel in army, 1905. Served with Kurram, Kabul, and Kandahar Field Forces, 1879-1881.

 

Kabul-Kandahar inarch, 1880 (despatches twice, received thanks of Governor-General, medal, 3 clasps, and bronze star). With Suakim Expeditionary Force, 1886 (medal and clasp, Egyptian Star). Wuntho Expedition (Upper Burma), 1891 (medal and clasp).

 

Served as Survey Officer with the Chin-Manipur and Burma-China Boundary Commissions, 1894 and 1897-1898, respectively, and as a Member of the Indian Survey Committee of 1904-1905. R.E.; Surveyor - General of India since 1904; e. son of Robert Bacon Longe of Spixworth Park, Norwich.

Membership

Club: Junior United Service.

Connections

Spouse 1905, May,daughter of Surgeon - General John Meane.

Source: prabook.com/web/francis_bacon.longe/734315

 

31st October 1856 – birth and baptism

 

(Date from the memorial).

 

The birth of a Francis Bacon Longe was registered with the Civil Authorities in the Yarmouth District of Norfolk in the October to December quarter, (Q4), of 1856.

 

The baptism of a Francis Bacon Longe, born 31st October 1856, took place at St Nicholas, Great Yarmouth on the 20th January 1857. Parents were Robert Bacon, a Gentleman, and Caroline Elizabeth.

Source 1: www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/5818f39fe93790ec8b7c45c...

Source 2: www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J9PP-TRD

 

1861 Census of England and Wales

 

The 4 year old Francis B. Longe, born Yarmouth, Norfolk, was recorded living at No. 30, Nelson Road, Yarmouth. (The next houses on the census return are on Marine Parade so the Longe family was probably living very close to the seafront).This was the household of his parents, Robert Bacon, (aged 31, a Landed Proprietor, born Combs, Suffolk) and Caroline ‘Elizth’, (aged 32, born ’Johano’, Cambridgeshire. As well as Francis their other children living with them are:-

Julia Georgiana……..aged 5……born Holbrook, Suffolk

Robert Douglas……..aged 3……born Yarmouth

John Chas…………..aged 2…….born Yarmouth

Caroline…………aged 4 months..born Yarmouth

There are also 4 live in domestic servants.

 

1871 Census of England and Wales

 

The 14 year old Francis B. Longe, (born Yarmouth) was recorded living with his uncle and aunit at 4, York Terrace, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. They were Francis D. Longe, aged 39 and a Poor Law Inspector, Civil Service, born Combs, Suffolk and his wife was Sarah R. Longe, aged 36 and born Patney(?), Wiltshire.

 

2nd February 1876 – appointed Lieutenant. Source Harts Annual Army List for 1904.

 

1879 – 1880 – Second Anglo-Afghan War………

 

The Second Anglo-Afghan War was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan.

 

This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended after the British emerged victorious against various Afghan forces, and the Afghans agreed to let the British attain all of their geopolitical objectives from the Treaty of Gandamak. Most of the British and Indian soldiers withdrew from Afghanistan. The Afghan tribes were permitted to maintain internal rule and local customs but they had to cede control of the area's foreign relations to the British, who, in turn, guaranteed the area's freedom from foreign military domination as a buffer between the British Raj and the Russian Empire.

 

Background

 

After tension between Russia and Britain in Europe ended with the June 1878 Congress of Berlin, Russia turned its attention to Central Asia. That same summer, Russia sent an uninvited diplomatic mission to Kabul. Sher Ali Khan, the Amir of Afghanistan, tried unsuccessfully to keep them out. Russian envoys arrived in Kabul on 22 July 1878, and on 14 August, the British demanded that Sher Ali accept a British mission too.

 

The Amir not only refused to receive a British mission under Neville Bowles Chamberlain, but threatened to stop it if it were dispatched. Lord Lytton, the viceroy of India, ordered a diplomatic mission to set out for Kabul in September 1878 but the mission was turned back as it approached the eastern entrance of the Khyber Pass, triggering the Second Anglo–Afghan War.

 

First phase

A British force of about 50,000 fighting men, mostly Indians, was distributed into military columns which penetrated Afghanistan at three different points. An alarmed Sher Ali attempted to appeal in person to the Russian Tsar for assistance, but unable to do so, he returned to Mazar-i-Sharif, where he died on 21 February 1879.

 

Treaty

With British forces occupying much of the country, Sher Ali's son and successor, Mohammad Yaqub Khan, signed the Treaty of Gandamak in May 1879 to prevent a British invasion of the rest of the country. According to this agreement and in return for an annual subsidy and vague assurances of assistance in case of foreign aggression, Yaqub relinquished control of Afghan foreign affairs to Britain. British representatives were installed in Kabul and other locations, British control was extended to the Khyber and Michni passes, and Afghanistan ceded various North-West Frontier Province areas and Quetta to Britain. The British Army then withdrew.

 

However, on 3 September 1879 an uprising in Kabul led to the slaughter of Sir Louis Cavagnari, the British representative, along with his guards, and staff – provoking the next phase of the Second Afghan War.

 

Major General Sir Frederick Roberts led the Kabul Field Force over the Shutargardan Pass into central Afghanistan, defeated the Afghan Army at Charasiab on 6 October 1879, and occupied Kabul two days later. Ghazi Mohammad Jan Khan Wardak, and a force of 10,000 Afghans, staged an uprising and attacked British forces near Kabul in the Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment in December 1879. Despite besieging the British garrison there, he failed to maintain the Siege of Sherpur, instead shifting focus to Roberts' force, and this resulted in the collapse of this rebellion. Yaqub Khan, suspected of complicity in the massacre of Cavagnari and his staff, was obliged to abdicate. The British considered a number of possible political settlements, including partitioning Afghanistan between multiple rulers or placing Yaqub's brother Ayub Khan on the throne, but ultimately decided to install his cousin Abdur Rahman Khan as emir instead.

 

Ayub Khan, who had been serving as governor of Herat, rose in revolt, defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Maiwand in July 1880 and besieged Kandahar. Roberts then led the main British force from Kabul and decisively defeated Ayub Khan on 1 September at the Battle of Kandahar, bringing his rebellion to an end.

 

Abdur Rahman had confirmed the Treaty of Gandamak, leaving the British in control of the territories ceded by Yaqub Khan and ensuring British control of Afghanistan's foreign policy in exchange for protection and a subsidy.

 

Abandoning the provocative policy of maintaining a British resident in Kabul, but having achieved all their other objectives, the British withdrew.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Anglo-Afghan_War

 

Harts Annual Army List for 1904 has a very brief war service list for him including that he was present in the engagements at Charasiah on the 6th October 1879, and in the operations around ‘Cabul’ in December 1879, (mentioned in despatches). He accompanied Sir Frederick Roberts in the march to ‘Candahar’, and was present at the battle of ‘Candahar’ (Medal with three Clasps, and Bronze Decoration).

 

1881 Census of England and Wales

 

There is no obvious match for Francis, which, given the details on the memorial tablet, is perhaps to be expected.

 

1885 – 2nd Suakin Expedition…………

 

The Suakin Expedition refers to two military expeditions led by Major-General Sir Gerald Graham V.C. to Suakin in Sudan with the intention of destroying the power of Osman Digna, the first in February 1884 and the second in March 1885.

 

Following the fall of Khartoum, Graham led a second expedition in March 1885. This expedition is sometimes referred to as the Suakin Field Force. Its purpose was to clear Mahdist forces under Osman Digna from the region, and to supervise and protect the construction of the Suakin-Berber Railway. A week after its arrival in Suakin, the expedition fought in two actions: the Battle of Hashin or Hasheen on 20 March and the Battle of Tofrek on 22 March. The force was later joined by the New South Wales Contingent, which arrived at Suakin on 29 March. However, within two months the Gladstone government decided to abandon both the railway and its military campaign in Sudan. General Graham and his Suakin Field Force were evacuated from the port city on 17 May 1885. Nevertheless, Britain maintained an ongoing presence in Suakin where between 1886 and 1888 the then brevet Lt. Col. Herbert Kitchener acted out the role of Governor General of Eastern Sudan.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suakin_Expedition

 

Harts Annual Army List for 1904 has a very brief war service list for him including that he served in the ‘Soudan’ campaign in 1885 in charge of the Indian Survey Party, and was present at the destruction of Temai (Medal with Clasp, and Khedive’s Star).

 

The Battle of Tofrek was brought about by British and Indian troops of attempting to take their opponents headquarters at Tamai, some 12 miles southwest of Suakin by the existing road. The plan had been to establish garrison posts along the way, but at the last minute the plan changed to an unsurveyed march straight across country. The force of some 3,000 men, (including a company of Madras Sappers which may well have included or even been under the command of Francis) and their 1,500 transport animals struggled to make their way through the thorny scrub.

 

McNeill and his troops quickly found themselves struggling through a dense jungle of mimosa bushes whose low-level branches covered in sharp thorns slowed progress and caused havoc among both troops and transport animals.

 

 

Some 6 miles out of Suakin, McNeill came across an open area of about half a mile square from where he telegraphed back to Suakin proposing that he stop and build a zeriba within the clearing. The reply instructed him to do as he proposed and that in the circumstances, the plan to build a second zeriba at the 8 mile point should be cancelled.

 

"Zeriba" or "zareba' is a native word meaning "an improvised stockade; especially, one made of thorn bushes". This is exactly what was to be constructed. Mimosa trees had to be cut down, arranged in line to form the walls of the enclosure, stacked up to a height and density to afford protection to the garrison enclosed within it, their trunks being tied together prevent them from being dragged away by the enemy. Additional protection was provided by a cordon of entrenchments with sandbag parapets around the inside perimeter of the stockade. Construction of the zeriba was the responsibility of the Royal Engineers and Madras Sappers with British and Indian troops assisting in the work of cutting the trees and dragging them into position. Others were tasked with unloading water and stores and with protecting the working parties from enemy attack. Those that could be spared were ordered to rest within the protection of the zeriba, few having had much opportunity to sleep during the preceding night.

 

Immediately before and during the battle. Indian troops were positioned along the northern, southern and western perimeters of the (unfinished) zeriba. The two redoubts were manned by British troops – the Royal Marine Light Infantry in the completed northern redoubt and half of the Berkshire battalion in the uncompleted southern one. Working parties of engineers and others were completing the zeriba's walls. Outside the zeriba, on the eastern side, the other half the Berkshire battalion guarded the camels and mules, preventing them from straying into the bush as they awaited the march back to Suakin.

 

By 2:00pm, the northeastern redoubt was largely complete, and work was concentrated on the southern one. With their rifles piled inside the redoubt, parties of men were at work out on the western edge of the clearing out in front of the Sikh lines, felling trees to complete the redoubt. It was expected that the southern redoubt would have been completed by 3:00pm, when the second half of the Berkshire battalion would withdraw inside it while the transport returned to Suakin under the protection of the Cavalry, Engineers, Indian battalions and others.

 

Around 2:45 pm scouting Lancers reported to McNeill that the enemy was gathering south and west of the zeriba and advancing towards it. McNeill immediately ordered all working parties to retreat back into the zeriba and to take up their arms, when at the same moment the Cavalry galloped into the clearing with large numbers of Arabs hard on their heels.

 

The main attack came from the south and west of the zeriba. The British and Indian troops held their ground except for the Bengal contingent lined up on the south side, who were thrown into disorder by the Cavalry and Arabs charging through their lines. After firing a few scattered volleys, the Bengalese turned and fled for cover inside the zeriba.

 

Large numbers of Arabs who had forced entry into the southern redoubt were quickly dispatched by the half-battalion of Berkshires defending it, 112 bodies later being counted inside the enclosure. Meanwhile, the Arabs succeeded in stampeding the transport animals towards the central square and the northern redoubt, thereby gaining cover for themselves as they attacked from the eastern side. An eyewitness recalled: "Everything seemed to come at once: camels, transport of all kinds, water carts, ammunition mules, 17th Native Infantry, Madras Sappers, sick-bearers, Transport Corps, Cavalry and Arabs fighting in the midst. All these passed close to me, and went out on the other side of the zeriba, carrying away with them a number of the Marines and Officers who eventually got together and returned. The dust raised by this crowd was so great that I couldn't see anything beyond our zeriba for a minute or two, and it was impossible to see who was standing or what was likely to happen. The men behaved splendidly and stood quite still. It was the highest test of discipline I shall ever see."

 

By 3:15pm after an engagement lasting no more than 25 minutes, the battle ended. The Arabs lingered for another hour threatening further action, but at 4:15 they finally withdrew leaving large numbers of their dead and wounded behind. Further isolated attacks were made by injured Arabs and by some feigning death, it being reported that "when our men sought to afford aid to some of the enemy who could not walk, the latter crawled towards them with their spears between their teeth, striving even yet to slay a Kaffir." One officer was killed by an Arab who had lain outside the zeriba pretending to be dead.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tofrek

 

Tamai was not taken in this expedition as far as I can gather – although it was attacked and taken in the previous years expedition.

 

The London Gazette dated January 28, 1887, lists Francis Bacon Longe as one of a group of Royal Engineer Lieutenants who were promoted Captain with effect 2nd February.

Source: www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25668/page/466/data.pdf

The same date is given in the 1904 edition of Hart’s Annual Army List.

 

A Captain F B “Lange” arrived at Bombay on the 11th December 1885 aboard the P&O steamship “Ancona”. He had joined the ship at Colombo.

search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_detail.php?id=1559222

 

A Captain F B Longe BI RE sailed from Bombay bound for England on HM Troopship Euphrates.

search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_detail.php?id=1618225

 

A Captain F B Longe arrived at Bombay on the 9th November 1890 aboard the P&O steamship “Siam”. Captain Longe had journeyed from London and had joined the Siam at Brindisi.

search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_detail.php?id=1735380

 

1891 Census of England and Wales

 

There is no likely match for Francis, but given the exploits referred to on the memorial that is probably not surprising.

 

1891 Wunthu Expedition………….

 

Wuntho or Waing Hso was a native state of Upper Burma when Burma (Myanmar), was under British control. It had an area of around 6,200 square kilometres (2,400 sq mi) with 150,000 inhabitants and lay midway between the Ayeyarwady River and Chindwin River.

 

In 1885 the British annexed Upper Burma and established their rule in the region. Wuntho rebelled in 1891 but the British quelled the uprising. As a consequence a force of 1,800 British soldiers under General Sir George Wolseley occupied the town of Wuntho. In 1892 the state was formally annexed by the British and incorporated into the District of Katha.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuntho

 

The Wuntho sawbas consisted of a father and son team. The father, U Shwe Tha, was made Sawba of Wuntho previously in 1866 until he relinquished his position in favor of his son in 1881, U Aung Myat. Both father and son were brought up in the Burmese court and had pledged their loyalties to the Konbaung monarch. When the British occupied Mandalay, U Aung Myat thus refused to surrender. A column of 400 men was hence sent in January 1887 to Tatlwin Pass captured both U Aung Myat and U Shwe Tha. After prolonged negotiation, U Aung Myat submitted but it was merely a façade. U Aung Myat’s men still resisted and by January 1891, skirmishes broke out formerly again. Havoc broke out in the towns of Kawlin and Kyaukpintha. By this time, U Shwe Tha had retreated to Mansi. However, the overwhelming force of the British forced both father and son to find refuge in Tsanta in Yunnan province. With that, the Wuntho uprising was finally suppressed.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_resistance_movement_1885%E2...

 

17th April 1895 – promoted Major. Source Harts Annual Army List for 1904.

 

A Major F B Longe sailed from Bombay bound for London on the 7th May 1898. He sailed aboard P&O steamship “Egypt”.

search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_detail.php?id=2056669

 

1901 Census of England and Wales

 

There is no likely match for Francis, but againgiven the exploits referred to on the memorial that is probably not surprising.

 

1st October 1902 – promoted Lieutenant – Colonel, Royal Engineers. Source Harts Annual Army List for 1904.

 

The Supplement to the London Gazette dated June 24, 1910 records that Colonel Francis Bacon Longe, Surveyor-General of India, was to be a Ordinary Member of the Military Division of the Third Class, or Companion.

Source: www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28388/supplement/4476/d...

(The previous page makes clear this relates to the Order of the Bath, and was part of the “late” Kings Birthday Honours List).

 

1904 Marriage?...............................

 

On the 1911 census, (see below), Francis and his wife have been married 6 years. There is no likely marriage record in England and Wales.

 

A Francis Bacon Longe did marry a May Ethel M C Meane in the Registry Office at Bombay – but the source only dates it to the 1901 – 1905 period.

search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_detail.php?id=231921

 

1911 Census of England and Wales

 

The 54 year old Francis Bacon Longe, a Colonel in HM Army, born Yarmouth, was recorded as the married head of the household at The Hall, Spixworth Park, Norwich. He lives there with his wife of 6 years, May Ethel Marion Calliope Longe, aged 38 and born Amballa, India. The couple have had no children so far. There are six live in servants to run the household.

 

1915 – Norfolk Register of Electors……………

 

Francis Bacon Longe was shown as entitled to vote in Parish elections at he owned the Freehold and Land of the property known as The Hall.

Source: www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2H1W-NWG

 

He could also vote in Parish elections for the Parish of Horsham and Newton St Faiths,as he owned the land and tenement on Coltishall Lane.

Source: www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2H1W-N3Z

 

In the Parish of Crostwick he is shown as entitled to both a Parliamentary and Parish vote as he hold the Freehold house and land known as Crostwick Farm. I believe the Parliamentary vote is incorrect. On the Spixworth register it is notes his Parliamentary vote is exercised at Thorpe. On the relevant page of the Crostwick register the same note appears but it is recorded against the next line. As that elector actually lives in East Yorkshire there is probably an appropriate note for him, its just not the one shown. This was a recurring issue for returning officers – owners of multiple estates could frequently have an entitlement to multiple parliamentary votes.

Source for the Register: www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2H1W-J99

 

Francis is recorded as an “Outvoter” in the Parish Register for Thorpe St Andrew – one of many. Outvoters were persons who did not otherwise appear in the lists for the District but who had been registered by the Revising Barrister to vote there. At least Francis does appear to have some tangible link to the parish – he gives an address of Holly Lodge, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich. His right to a parliamentary vote arises from the estate at Spixworth.

Source: www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2H1W-KNR

 

2nd June 1922 – Death………………..

 

(Date from the Monument)

 

The 1922 Probate Calendar records that Francis Bacon of Spixworth Park, Spixworth, Norfolk and of 19 Royal Crescent, Bath, a retired Colonel in H.M. Army, Companion of the Bath, died on the 2nd June 1922 at 9 Manderville Place, Middlesex. Probate was granted at the Norwich Court on the 1st September 1922 to Ethel May Marion Calliope Longe, widow, and Walter Edward Hansell, solicitor. His effects were valued at £3,508 2s 11d.

probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar#calendar

 

Postscript…………………….

 

The death of a May E C Longe, aged 79, was recorded in the Bath District in the April to June quarter, (Q2), of 1951.

 

The 1951 Probate Calendar records that May Ethel Marion Calliope Longe, of 7, The Circus, Bath, died on the 6th June 1951. Probate was granted at the Bristol Court on the 20th August 1951 to Janet Sankey (wife of Villiers John Sankey).

probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar#calendar

 

 

Done