Outram Road, CR0

Place Name

Lieutenant-General Sir James Outram (January 29, 1803 – March 11, 1863) was a commander serving with the British East India Company during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He had previously distinguished himself in the First Afghan War and the Anglo-Persian War, where he successfully commanded an expedition against Iran in 1857 and was created lieutenant general. But it was in India that he won most admiration – being described by contemporaries as both modest and brave. Having lifted the siege of Lucknow, he so admired the defence of the town by Sir Henry Havelock, whose own rescue mission of the town had been aborted after he had lost too many men to ensure a successful escape, that he promoted him to Major General. For his own part Outram was seen as a brilliant administrator and military tactician. He died at Pau in the south of France and was buried at Westminster Abbey. It is one of five roads built on the site of the East India Company Military Seminary by the British Land Company, and named after prominent figures in the history of British India. Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning, statesman and Governor-General of India during the Indian Rebellion; Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde, Henry Havelock and Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet, who were all generals in India during the same rebellion; and James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, Governor-General of India between 1862 – 1863.