Everything about Rufane Shaw Donkin totally explained
Sir Rufane Shawe Donkin GCH KCB (
1773 –
May 1,
1841),
British soldier, came of a military family. His father, who died a full general in
1841, served with almost all British commanders from
Wolfe to
Gage.
Rufane Donkin was the eldest child, and received his first commission at the age of five in his father's regiment; he joined, at fourteen, with eight years seniority as a lieutenant. Becoming a captain in
1793, he was on active service in the
West Indies in
1794, and (as major) in
1796. At the age of twenty-five he became lieutenant-colonel, and in
1798 led a light battalion with distinction in the Ostend expedition. He served with
Cathcart in
Denmark in
1807, and two years later was given a brigade in the army in
Portugal, which he led at
Oporto and
Talavera. He was soon transferred, as quartermaster-general, to the Mediterranean command, in which he served from
1810 to
1813, taking part in the Catalonian expeditions. Sir John Murray's failure at Tarragona didn't involve Donkin, whose advice was proved to be uniformly ignored by the British commander.
In July
1815 Major-General Donkin went out to
India, and distinguished himself as a divisional commander in
Hasting's operations against the
Mahrattas (
1817–
1818), receiving the
KCB as his reward. The death of his young wife seriously affected him, and he went to the
Cape of Good Hope on sick leave. From
1820 to
1821 he administered the colony with success, and named the rising seaport of Algoa Bay
Port Elizabeth in memory of his wife. In
1821 he became lieutenant-general and
GCH.
The rest of his life was spent in literary and political work. He was one of the original fellows of the
Royal Geographical Society, and was a member of the
Royal Society and of many other learned bodies. His theories as to the course of the
River Niger, published under the title
Dissertation on the Course and Probable Termination of the Niger (London,
1829), involved him in a good deal of controversy. From
1832 onwards he sat in the
House of Commons, and in
1835 was made
Surveyor-General of the Ordnance. He committed suicide at
Southampton on
1 May 1841. He was then a general, and colonel of the
11th Regiment of Foot.
Rufane Donkin was a cousin of
Charles Collier Michell, surveyor-general of the
Cape Colony.
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