Hugh Theodore Pinhey

Hugh Theodore Pinhey
Born	(1858-12-07)7 December 1858 Kolhapur, British Raj
Died	6 February 1953(1953-02-06) (aged 94) Fleet, Hampshire, England

Hugh Theodore Pinhey (7 December 1858 – 6 February 1953) was a British soldier and one of the last surviving veterans of the Second Anglo-Afghan War.

Early life and adulthood

Hugh Theodore Pinhey was born on 7 December 1858 in Kolhapur (now in Maharashtra, India) to Robert Hill Pinhey and Mary Anne Pellew (granddaughter of the first Viscount Exmouth), the third of eight children. His father was puisne judge of the High Court of Bombay. One of his younger brothers, Lieutenant Colonel Sir Alexander Fleetwood Pinhey (1861 – 1916), was awarded the Order of the Indian Empire in November 1901. He also had an uncle who served in the First Anglo-Afghan War and was decorated with the Ghuznee Medal.^[1][2]

Pinhey matriculated at Keble College in Oxford, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, where he began his studies on 15 October 1877, at the age of eighteen.^[3] He also trained at the Royal Indian Engineering College. In 1888, Pinhey married Agnes Uric Ingram.^[1][2]

War in Afghanistan

In January 1879, Pinhey was assigned to the telegraphy department as Assistant Superintendent. He was given the rank of lieutenant and assigned to the 4th Bombay Rifle Corps. Pinhey is known for the letter he wrote to his mother over a period of two weeks in which he described the fighting in which he was involved. The British soldier played a major role during the Siege of Kandahar.^[1][2][4]

Death

Pinhey died, aged 94, in Fleet, Hampshire, England, on 6 February 1953, as reportedly the last surviving veteran of the Second Anglo-Afghan War.^[1] (However, the recorded last British soldier of the campaign was Alfred Hawker, who died on 10 December 1962 aged 104.^[5])

References

1. "Pinhey, Hugh Theodore. Assistant Superintendent, Telegraph Department". www.angloafghanwar.info. The Second Anglo-Afghan War Database Project. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
2. Great Britain. India Office (1819). The India list and India Office list. Harrison. p. 588. Retrieved 26 October 2012. Hugh Theodore Pinhey.
3. University of Oxford (1888). Alumni Oxonienses: the members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886 : their parentage, birthplace and year of birth, with a record of their degrees : being the Matriculation Register of the University, Volume 3. Joseph Foster. p. 1119. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
4. "The Siege of Kandahar". www.angloafghanwar.info. The Second Anglo-Afghan War Database Project. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
5. McWhirter, Ross and Norris (editors) (1972). The Guinness Book of Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 196. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)Details of Hawker's service in the campaign not given.