|
See also:CHESNEY, See also:FRANCIS RAWDON (1789-1872) , See also:British See also:general and explorer, was the son of See also:Captain See also:Alexander Chesney, an Irishman of Scottish descent who, having emigrated to See also:South Carolina in 1772, did brilliant service under See also:Lord Rawdon (afterwards See also:marquess of See also:Hastings) in the See also:War of See also:Independence, and subsequently received an See also:appointment as See also:coast officer at Annalong, Co. Down, See also:Ireland. There F. R. Chesney was See also:born on the 16th of See also:March 1789. Lord Rawdon gave the boy a See also:cadet-See also:ship at See also:Woolwich, and he was gazetted to the Royal See also:Artillery in 1805. But though he See also:rose to be See also:lieutenant-general and See also:colonel-commandant of the 14th See also:brigade Royal Artillery (1864), and general in 1868, Chesney's memory lives not for his military See also:record, but for his connexion with the See also:Suez See also:Canal, and with the exploration of the See also:Euphrates valley, which started with his being sent out to See also:Constantinople in the course of his military duties in 1829, and his making a tour of inspection in See also:Egypt and See also:Syria. His See also:report in 183o on the feasibility of making the Suez Canal was the See also:original basis of See also:Lesseps' See also:great undertaking (in 1869 Lesseps greeted him in See also:Paris as the "See also:father " of the canal); and in 1831 he introduced to the See also:home See also:government the See also:idea of opening a new overland route to See also:India, by a daring and ad-venturous See also:journey (for the See also:Arabs were hostile and he was ignorantof the See also:language) along the Euphrates valley from See also:Anah to the See also:Persian Gulf. Returning home, Colonel Chesney (as he then was) busied himself to get support for the latter project, to which the See also:East India See also:Company's See also:board was favourable; and in 1835 he was sent out in command of a small expedition, for which See also:parliament voted £20,000, in See also:- ORDER
- ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
- ORDER, HOLY
order to test the navigability of the Euphrates. After encountering immense difficulties, from the opposition of the See also:Egyptian See also:pasha, and from the need of transporting two steamers (one of which was lost) in sections from the Mediterranean over the hilly See also:country to the See also:river, they successfully arrived by See also:water at See also:Bushire in the summer of 1836, and proved Chesney's view to be a practicable one. In the See also:middle of 1837 he returned to See also:England, and was given the Royal See also:Geographical Society's See also:gold See also:medal, having meanwhile been to India to consult the authorities there; but the preparation of his two volumes on the expedition (published in 185o) was interrupted by his being ordered out in 1843 to command the artillery at Hong See also:Kong. In 1847 his See also:period of service was completed, and he went home to Ireland, to a See also:life of retirement; but both in 1856 and again in 1862 he went out to the East to take a See also:part in further surveys and negotiations for the Euphrates valley railway See also:- SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)
scheme, which, however, the government would not take up, in spite of a favourable report from the See also:House of See also:Commons See also:committee in 1871. In 1868 he published a further See also:volume of narrative on his Euphrates expedition. He died on the 3oth of See also:January 1872.
His Life, edited by See also:Stanley See also:Lane See also:Poole, appeared in 1885.
End of Article: CHESNEY, FRANCIS RAWDON (1789-1872)
Additional information and Comments
There are no comments yet for this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.
Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.
|
del.icio.us it!