Col. Robert Blackall GRAHAM ¹

  General Notes:

7th. Bengal Cavalry May 1856
India, 1857-1858. Action of Cheerpoors and ... affairs. Medal
Capt. Bengal Staff Corps 1870
Capt. 5th. Bengal Cavalry in 1874 (son's birth certificate)
Afghanistan, 1880. On the Khyber line. Medal
Burma, 1886-1887. Despatches, G.G.O.
Colonel, Commandant 7th Bengal Cavalry in 1887 & 1888, Mandalay, Burma.
Retired 1889 (The Times, 6 March 1889)

Indian Army Quarterly List for 1 January 1912 Indian Army Quarterly List for 1 January 1912
Surname: Graham Given Name: Robert Blackall Rank: Col. Corps: B. Date of Birth: 24 Mar. 38 Date of 1st commission: 14 June 56 Date of Rank: 14 June 86 Date of Retirement: 4 Mar. 1889 Page #: 671


Census 1871: Living in Leckhampton, Gloucestershire with his parents; age 33
Census 1891: Living in Cheltenham, Col retired Bengal Staff Corp, with wife Mary J. N. , (41) & daughters Mary N. (15) and Mildred B. (12)
Living in Cheltenham in 1899 (letter from his son)
Census 1901: Malvern Lodge, Cheltenham, with Mary J. N., and Mildred W.(?)(22)
Census 1911: Cheltenham
Mentioned in the Indian Army Quarterly list for January 1, 1912 (page #: 671) as Col. retired.

Robert Blackall Graham was born in Agra in 1838. He was the son of Colonel Joseph Graham, 50th. Bengal Infantry. He was baptized in Agra on the 29th April 1838. He was educated at George L. Hanson's, Brighton for three years and John Brackenbury's Wimbledon from February 1855. He was accepted for the Bengal Cavalry in April 1856. He arrived in India in May 1856 for service with the 7th Bengal Cavalry.
Sources:Cadet papers: IOL/L/MIL/9/237 ff.164-171. Bengal Service: IOR/L/MIL/10/82 f.174.

At the time of his death, lived in Malvern Lodge, Cheltenham

Wrote 2 books:
TITLE 1: The Handy Horse-book, Or, Practical Instructions in Driving, Riding, and the by Cavalry officer, Robert Blackall Graham, Maurice Hartland J. Mahon (1867) ...

TITLE 2: Photographic illustrations, with description of Mandalay & Upper Burmah expeditionary force, 1886-87, / by a cavalry officer.
http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoEnqFull.asp?PrintID=66363
Photographs Album details for shelfmark Photo 996/
Robert Blackall Graham, 'Photographic illustrations, with description of the Mandalay & Upper Burmah Expeditionary Force, 1886-87' (A. Pumphrey, Photographic Publisher, Birmingham, nd [1887]).
Photographers: Robert Blackall Graham
Contents: 59 prints 140x100mm Albumen prints
Provenance: Transferred from European Printed Books Collection, pressmark W.2846.
Notes:
Subjects:
Description: Printed book measuring 300x293mm, with prints mounted on card pages within red ruled borders, and with letterpress captions and descriptive text beneath. This copy of the book has been revound in red cloth and the pages interleaved with Japanese tissue. The illustrations are numbered 1-60, but print 1 is a lithographed map of Mandalay, not an original photograph. In his introduction, dated Mandalay, 1st April 1887, Graham writes:

'When I first commenced taking photographs in Burmah, it was more for my own satisfaction, but later on, when I found so many of my friends were anxious to secure copies, which I had not the time to print, it struck me that they would probably be glad to obtain a series, as a memento of Burmah, if I could get them done at a moderate price. The pictures are necessarily small, as they were taken by apparatus capable of being varried by an officer in the Field, the negatives being on Eastman's paper. Such as they are, I dedicate them - with such facts as I have been able to procure, from books of reference (especially the work by 'Shway Yoe' [J.G. Scott, The Burman, His Life and Notions, 1882]), coupled with observations made by myself and friends - to those with whom I had the pleasure of being associated during the Campaign.'

Graves at St. Peter's church Leckhampton Grave 1:
In loving memory Of Colonel Robert Blackall Graham Late Bengal Cavalry Who passed away at Malvern Lodge On May 12th 1918 in his 81st year. "God touched him and he fell asleep"

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Military Service: as an Officer.

Robert married Mary Jane Nevile WYATT, daughter of George Nevile WYATT and Augusta Warren DAUNT, on 1 Jun 1871 in St. Luke's, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. (Mary Jane Nevile WYATT was born on 18 Jul 1849 in India, christened on 31 Oct 1849 in Patna, West Bengal, India,² died on 2 Jun 1911 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England and was buried in St. Peter's Church, Leckhampton, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.)