General Robert Napier Raikes in 1889 became General of the Remount responsible for the provision of horses throughout the Indian army.

He was born 15 October 1813 in Drayton

Drayton, Norfolk

Drayton, Norfolk, is a suburban village in the county of Norfolk and district of Broadland north west of Norwich. It is situated on the A1067 road between Hellesdon and Taverham.- History :...

 the son of Robert Napier Raikes the vicar of Gayton

Gayton, Norfolk

Gayton is a small village in the west of the English county of Norfolk. It is 7.3 miles east of the town of King's Lynn, and 10.1 miles north-west of the town of Swaffham. The Gaywood River has its source just north of the village at Derby Fen...

 and rector of Hellesdon

Hellesdon

Hellesdon is a thriving suburb of Norwich in the District of Broadland in Norfolk, England. It lies approximately 4 miles north-west of Norwich and has 11,177 inhabitants.- History :...

 all in Norfolk, England; and the grandson of Robert Raikes

Robert Raikes

Robert Raikes was an English philanthropist and Anglican layman, noted for his promotion of Sunday schools...

, the promoter of Sunday schools. He was at Addiscombe Military Academy

Addiscombe Military Academy

The East India Company Military Seminary, colloquially known as Addiscombe Seminary, Addiscombe College, or Addiscombe Military Academy was a British military academy at Addiscombe, Surrey, in what is now the London Borough of Croydon. It was established in 1809, and closed in 1861...

 in 1828 as a cadet. He entered the Indian Army

Indian Army

The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...

 as a cadet in the Bengal Staff Corps on 19 November 1829 sailing from Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 29 November, arriving Calcutta 14 May 1829. He then travelled across country, only reaching his regiment at Cawnpore on 7 November. Apparently his men carried the old flint-lock musket, of which Wellington

Duke of Wellington

The Dukedom of Wellington, derived from Wellington in Somerset, is a hereditary title in the senior rank of the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first holder of the title was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , the noted Irish-born career British Army officer and statesman, and...

's maxim was "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes." He first returned home "on furlough" 35 years later.

Captain 1844. He married Harriet Beckett in 1854, and as a Major from 1854 in the 67th Bengal Native Infantry

Bengal Army

The Bengal Army was the army of the Presidency of Bengal, one of the three Presidencies of British India, in South Asia. Although based in Bengal in eastern India, the presidency stretched across northern India and the Himalayas all the way to the North West Frontier Province...

, they had three infant daughters die in Agra during the 1857 Indian Mutiny. Additionally, they had four sons and two daughters. Adjutant to the native Grenadiers, and later adjutant to the First Gwalior Cavalry

Bengal Army

The Bengal Army was the army of the Presidency of Bengal, one of the three Presidencies of British India, in South Asia. Although based in Bengal in eastern India, the presidency stretched across northern India and the Himalayas all the way to the North West Frontier Province...

.

Indian Mutiny harmony

"Being a good linguist, having picked up all the dialects, able to speak one at one place and another ten miles away, while he was Major, he managed to gather the whole of the treasury at Mynpoorie

Mainpuri

Mainpuri is a city and a municipal board in Mainpuri district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Mainpuri district and is situated to the north-east of Agra.-Geography:...

 [Mainpuri], 20,000 rupee

Rupee

The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...

s in all, and sent it into Agra with two loyal Sikh

Sikh

A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

s, marching his men to within ten miles of that city. They quoted a native proverb that "an ill-wind was blowing", and refused to go any further. There was no mutiny; they just disbanded themselves and went home. Being devoted to him, as he rode away they formed up on each side of the road, with tears pouring down their faces, and bade him farewell."

Colonel 1866, Lt General 1881, General 1889 (aged 76!!). He was reputed to have shot a hundred tigers. He returned to England in 1870 and later retired to Watford

Watford

Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...

 and Malvern

Malvern, Worcestershire

Malvern is a town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, governed by Malvern Town Council. As of the 2001 census it has a population of 28,749, and includes the historical settlement and commercial centre of Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and the former...

. He died aged 95 on 23 March 1909.

Medals: Gwalior campaign 1843; Second Anglo-Burmese War 1852/3; Indian Mutiny.

Their four sons were:

• Robert Haig Napier Raikes born 2 April 1861, probably in India
• Herbert William Napier Raikes born 1 June 1865 in Cheltenham, England, married in USA
• Reginald Durie Napier Raikes born 28 January 1874
• Cyril Probyn Napier Raikes born 12 November 1875