Cameron, George Poulett
Cameron, George Poulett
- A. J. Arbuthnot
- , revised by James Lunt
Cameron, George Poulett (1805–1882), army officer in the East India Company, was born at Yarmouth, Norfolk, on 27 October 1805, the son of Commander Robert Cameron RN, who perished with the greater part of his crew under the batteries of Fort St Andero (Santander), on the north coast of Spain, on 22 January 1807, and his wife, Harriett, née Hains. He was appointed a cadet of infantry at Madras in 1821, and in 1824 and 1825 served as adjutant of a light field battalion under Lieutenant-General Sir C. Deacon in the southern Maratha country. He returned to England in 1831, and shortly afterwards joined the expedition to Portugal organized by Don Pedro to recover the throne for his daughter, Maria. Cameron was attached to the staff of Field Marshal the duke of Terceira, under whose command he distinguished himself in two actions fought on 4 March and 5 July 1833, receiving special commendation on the second occasion for having remained at his post after being severely wounded.
A few years later Cameron was sent on special service to Persia, and was employed with the Persian army in 1836, 1837, and 1838, commanding the garrison of Tabriz. On leaving Persia in 1838 he visited the Russian garrisons in Circassia. In 1842 he held for a short time the appointment of political agent at the titular court of the nawab of Arcot. In 1843 he was created a CB, having previously received from the government of Portugal the order of the Tower and Sword, and from that of Persia the order of the Lion and Sun. After serving for a time in the quartermaster-general's department in the Madras presidency, he was transferred, in consequence of ill health, to the invalid establishment. Subsequently, in 1856, he was commandant of the Nilgiri hills: his duties were principally civil.
Having retired from the service of the East India Company early in 1858, Cameron was with the Austrian army in the Italian campaign of the following year. He published Personal Adventures and Excursions in Georgia, Circassia, and Russia (2 vols., 1848) and The Romance of Military Life, being Souvenirs Connected with Thirty Years' Service (1853). By 1871 he was a widower. He died at his home, 12 Pittville Lawn, Cheltenham, on 12 February 1882.
Sources
- Annual Register (1882)
- G. P. Cameron, Personal adventures and excursions in Georgia, Circassia, and Russia, 2 vols. (1848)
- G. P. Cameron, The romance of military life, being souvenirs connected with thirty years service, 2 vols. (1853)
- W. J. Wilson, ed., History of the Madras army, 5 vols. (1882–9)
- C. E. Buckland, Dictionary of Indian biography (1906)
- baptism register, Yarmouth, Norfolk
- census returns, 1871, 1881
Wealth at Death
£2001 12s. 2d.: probate, 27 March 1882, CGPLA Eng. & Wales