Henry Morland
Captain Sir Henry Morland (1837-1891)
1891 Obituary [1]
CAPTAIN SIR HENRY MORLAND died at Bombay on the 27th July, 1891, after a brief illness, in his fifty-fifth year. Sir Henry Morland held a unique position. He was an Anglo-Indian of a type now almost extinct. He had made India his home, largely devoting his talents and energies to breaking down the barriers which divide the natives from their European fellow-subjects, and his long residence of forty years in the country, his complete assimilation of Anglo-Indian life, and his unbounded hospitality and generosity had made him one of the best known and most popular men, at any rate on the western side of India.
He was the third son of the late Mr. John Morland, Barrister-at-law, of Cappelthwaite and Eillington Halls, Westmoreland, and was born on the 9th of April, 1837. He was educated at Haversham and Bromsgrove Schools, and as a private pupil of Dr. Webster, the Head Mathematical Master of Christ’s Hospital. He entered the late Indian Navy as Midshipman in June, 1852, and, as Lieutenant, commanded H.M.S. “ Semiramis ” at the hauling down of the pennants and the abolition of that service in 1863. He afterwards commanded vessels of the Indian Marine and was appointed Captain in 1877. He was deputed on special cyclone commission at Madras, 1872 ; and was employed in various active operations with the Indian Naval Red Sea Squadron and Royal Navy ships on the north-east coast of Africa, including the blockade of Berbera and Shugra, and on the south-east coast of Arabia from 1854 to 1862. He commanded the armed boat demonstration to compel the execution of the murderers of Lieutenant Fountain and a boat’s crew of H.M.S. “Penguin.” He was landed as hostage for the Sultan at Bunder Murya, and was employed as Prize Master on two occasions. He commanded a schooner at the occupation of Perim; and was present at, and commanded, a division of boats, at the bombardment of Jeddah, 1856. He was with the Abyssinian Mission at Massowah, 1864-65, and acted as Transport Officer throughout the Abyssinian Expedition. He had held various Dockyard offices. He was Secretary to the Harbour and Pilotage Board, and .was also Registrar of Seamen and Signal Officer at Bombay, in which capacity he rendered assistance at numerous wrecks on the coast.
He had held the office of Port Officer, Registrar of Shipping, Receiver of Wrecks, President, Board of Examiners for masters, mates, engineers, and ship-surveyors, BC., for the Port of Bombay since 1877. In connection with this latter office he was, on the 5th of December, 1882, elected an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers, his application for admission being supported by all the well-known members in Bombay who could crowd their signatures into the space devoted for that purpose in the nomination paper. He was for some years Secretary of the Bombay Geographical Society, and was the author of a Paper on Abyssinia read before that Society in 1875. As a Freemason he was especially distinguished. Having originally attained his Craft and Royal Arch degrees in Lodge No. 358, and Chapter No. 90, “Felix,” Sden, S. C., in 1857, on returning to Bombay he joined Lodge Perseverance, and was afterwards Master of that Lodge. He was an office-bearer in the Provisional Grand Lodge, and rose in that body from rank to rank, until in 1870 he was appointed by the Grand Lodge of Scotland to be Provincial Grand Master for Western Jnaia, including the Island of Ceylon and all the territories subordinate to or in political and friendly relations with the British Presidency of Bombay. In 1874 he was appointed Grand Master of all Scottish Freemasonry in India, including Aden and the territories adjacent thereto, and to preside over all the Lodges under the Scottish Constitution in India. His popularity among the Freemasons under his jurisdiction was unbounded, his kind, conciliating, yet withal firm spirit, his powers of organization and control fitted him especially for the post of Grand Master ; his readiness, amounting to enthusiasm, for any scheme which he felt would prove of benefit to the Craft was well known and appreciated; and the eloquent words of praise and commendation uttered by H.R.H. the Dnke of Connaught, of Sir Henry Morland and his masonic career, at the splendid banquet and reception given to his Royal Highness by the Scottish Masonic body, will still be pleasantly remembered by hundreds of Masons in India. He ruled over Freemasons, of many races and many creeds, but all were alike devoted to him, whether Europeans, Parsees, Mahomedans, or Hindoos. It can be imagined that only the rarest tact could have kept together and consolidated into one harmonious whole the many Lodges and bodies comprising many different elements scattered under his rule over so wide an area as the Continent of India. He was, however, able to do this, and it may be said of him that his untiring efforts were instrumental in dis- seminating the truths and principles of Freemasonry, and bringing about the friendly social intercourse now happily existing between Europeans and Natives in Western India. Sir Henry Morland was an effective speaker, and his utterances derived additional effect from his genial address and presence. His efforts in the cause of Freemasonry were untiring, and had earned for him its well merited highest honours. As a citizen of Bombay, he was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1868 ; and was elected by the Justices of the Peace a member of the Corporation; and again at the general election in the same year. He was appointed a member of the Town Council (now the Standing Committee) in 1877, vice Mr. J. M. Maclean, and had on and off continued a member of the Corporation and the Town Council from that date until the date of his death. On the 23rd June, 1886, he was elected Chairman of the Muni- cipal Corporation, and on the 5th April, 1887, was re-elected Chairman for the ensuing year. He was entrusted by the Govern- ment of Bombay, at the request of the Corporation, to present the Jubilee Address of the city to her Majesty the Queen-Empress on the occasion of her Jubilee, and received the honour of Knighthood at her Majesty's hands, at Windsor Castle, on the 30th June, 1887. Two years later, in May, 1889, he again left Bombay, but this time in order to recruit his health, which had been much shattered by a serious railway accident. In addition to the duties of Port Officer of Bombay, in which post Sir Henry obtained a merited and honourable distinction for his thoroughness and fairness in dealing with the numerous cases which came before him, his knowledge and experience were often availed of by Government, and notably so in 1891, in connection with the Native Passenger Ships' Commission.