| Charles Manners Sutton Fairbrother was
born in 1836. The first child of Sarah Louisa Fairbrother, an
actress, he may have been the illegitimate son of Prince George,
Duke of Cambridge. The Duke eventually married his mother in 1847
- albeit in contravention of the 1772 Royal Marriages Act as the
Duke failed to seek permission from Queen Victoria. C.M.S.
Fairbrother was a Cadet of the East Indian Company - his records at
Addiscombe are held among the years 1851 to 1855.
He was gazetted a Cornet on
October 20 1855, and a Lieutenant on September 12 1856. It seems
from the HEIC records held in the National Archives that he was
attached to the Madras Cavalry, and detached to the Bengal Army. He
served with the 8th Light Cavalry, until its mutiny and
disbandment during the Indian Mutiny.
At the
amalgamation of the Indian Army, the 1st Bengal European Cavalry
became the 19th Hussars ; the London Gazette listed the officers
of the new regiment on September 30th 1862:
"To be Captains.
Lieut. Charles Manners Sutton Fairbrother, from late 5th Bengal
European Cavalry."
The
1863 Army List establishes his seniority to July 30th 1862.
On March 4th 1866 he sailed from
Southampton for Calcutta on board the Peninsular and Oriental
Company's steamship Syria (Captain E. Christian).
Captain Fairbrother went up
before the Special Army Examination at Aldershot in June 1873 and qualified for
a 1st Class Certificate.
Captain and
Brevet-Major C.M.S. Fairbrother was promoted to Major on December
13th 1878. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on April 11th 1879. He was then in command of the
Regiment.
He retired on half-pay on June 13th 1882. His appointment at the
head of the regiment was somehow a short one, and there were
apparently critics to his abilities as a Commanding Officer
The Times,
when discussing the "Military preparations" for
the Egypt campaign, thus qualified the Regiment, on July 4th, 1882
:
"(...) The 19th Hussars are, thanks to the zeal and
ability of Major Barrow, a former Adjutant, about the best cavalry
corps in the service in the matter of reconnasissance and outpost
duty. But the regiment has been somewhat heavily handicapped in
the matter of senior officers, and it was passed over last year
when a cavalry contingent as sent out to Natal. (...)"
He will be successsed by Lieutenant-Colonel
Kendal Coghill
at the head of the 19th Hussars.
On the photo he is still Captain, which is
confirmed by the fact that the collar of his frock coat wears no
badge of rank (as Field Officers frock coats did).
C.M.S. Fairbrother
died in 1901.
Thanks
to SeanWeir for his help
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