Colin Campbell (colonial governor)

Lieutenant-General Sir Colin Campbell KCB (1776 – 13 June 1847) was a British Army officer and colonial governor.

Military career

In February 1792, at the age of 16, Campbell ran away from Perth Academy to join a vessel bound for the West Indies. He returned to Scotland to enter Moor's Navigation Academy in Perth but in December 1792 sailed for India as a midshipman.

Appointed a lieutenant in the Breadalbane Fencibles in February 1795, he transferred in 1799 to the 1st West India Regiment as an ensign, serving as a brigade-major on St Vincent in 1800. On 21 Aug. 1801 Campbell entered the 35th Foot as a lieutenant and on 12 Feb. 1802 he joined the 78th Foot, which was in India as part of the army of Colonel Arthur Wellesley (who became the Duke of Wellington).

During the attack on Ahmadnagar on 8 Aug. 1803, Campbell so impressed Wellesley by his bravery under fire that he was made a brigade-major. Campbell, who was promoted captain on 9 Jan. 1805, returned to England as aide-de-camp to Lord Wellesley, Arthur’s brother. He accompanied Arthur Wellesley on the expedition to Copenhagen in 1807 and was thanked by him in general orders. Acting successively as assistant adjutant general, assistant deputy quartermaster general, and assistant quartermaster general, he served with Wellesley in Portugal and Spain during the Peninsular War, where he was delivered the despatch at the Battle of Vimeiro, subsequently serving at the battles of Talavera, Vitoria, Fuentes de Onoro, Salamanca, Badajoz and Toulouse. He was subsequently Wellington's commandant at headquarters at Waterloo being, with Wellington, the only man on the general staff to escape the day uninjured.

On 2 Sept. 1808 Campbell became a major, on 3 May 1810 a lieutenant-colonel, and on 4 June 1814 a colonel. He received numerous British and foreign decorations, and on 2 Jan. 1815 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. From 1815 until 1818 he remained on Wellington’s staff and lived at the latter’s residence in Paris, and between 1819 and 1825 he did duty with his regiment in England. On 27 May 1825 he became a major-general and on 28 June 1838 a lieutenant-general.

Colonial administrator

• Governor of Nova Scotia, January 1834-1841.
• Governor of Ceylon, 1841-1847.

Family

Fifth son of John Campbell of Melfort, a member of a cadet branch of the Dukes of Argyll. His mother was Colina, daughter of John Campbell of Achallader, whose mother Katherine was a daughter of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel. His brother was Vice-Admiral Sir Patrick Campbell. He married Jane Harnden, and they had four sons and three daughters. One of his sons, Arthur Wellington, was killed at the Battle of Badhowal Fort in the first Sikh War. His 3rd son, Frederick Archibald, was a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy and his daughter Maria married the Hon Edmund Phipps, son of Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave and was the mother of ambassador Sir Constantine Phipps, father of ambassador Sir Eric Phipps.

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• C of E in Nova Scotia
  • About Project Canterbury (public domain)
• Successful address by the legislature of NS to have him recalled
• National Portrait Gallery

Government offices
Preceded by Sir Peregrine Maitland	Governor of Nova Scotia 1834–1840	Succeeded by The Viscount Falkland
Preceded by James A Stewart-Mackenzie	Governor of Ceylon 1841–1847	Succeeded by James Emerson Tennent, acting

Persondata
Name	Campbell, Colin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1776
Place of birth
Date of death	13 June 1847
Place of death