“What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.”

Those Killed during the Gwalior Mutiny

Major Blake, Commanding 2nd Regiment, Gwalior Contigent
Major Sherif, 4th Regiment, Gwalior Contingent
Captain Hawkins, 1st Company Artillery, Gwalior Contingent and two of his children
Captain Stewart, Commanding 2nd Company Artillery, Gwalior Contingent, wife and one child
Lieutenant Proctor, Adjutant, 4th Regiment, Gwalior Contingent
Doctor K.W. Kirke, Superintending Surgeon, Gwalior Contingent
Mr. George William Coopland, Chaplain
Sergeant-Major Twitchen, 4th Regiment, Gwalior Contingent
Mr. Pike, Sergeant Major 2nd Regiment, Gwalior Contingent and wife
Mr. Webb, Quarter-Master Sergeant, 4th Regiment, Gwalior Contingent
Drummer Collins, Veteran Establishment
Gunner Hill, Veteran Establishment
Mr. Cronan, Park Sergeant, Gwalior Magazine
Mr. Kelly, Staff Sergeant, No. 1 Company Artillery, Gwalior Contingent
Mrs. Maria Barrows, wife of the late Mr. Barrows, of the Ordnance Department
Mrs. Quick, wife of Sergeant Quick, at the Chambal River, died on her way to Agra from fatigue and exposure.

Memorials in Gwalior Cemetery

“To the memory of Rev. George William Coopland M.A. Late fellow of St. Catherine’s College Cambridge and H.E.I.C.’S Chaplain. He was killed at Gwalior by the Sepoys on the morning of 15th June 1857 in the 30th year of his age. He had been chaplain of Gwalior for 6 months. This monument was erected by his widow after the retaking of Gwalior June 1858.”

“Sacred to the memory of Major Muirson Thrower Blake Com’d’g 2nd Reg’t Gwalior Conting’t who was shot by the mutineers at Gwalior on entering the lines of the Reg’t on the night of 15th June 1857. His remains were interred here by some Sepoys of his Regt. This monument is raised by his afflicted widow.”

“Sacred to the memory of Kinloch Winlaw Kirk M.D. Superintending surgeon Gwalior contingent. Shot by mutinous sepoys on the 15th June 1857 Aged 45 years.”

“Sacred to the memory of Archibald Proctor Lieut. 39th Regt. N.I. Died at Gwalior June 15th 1857 Aged 29.“

Memorial Tablet in Dundurn Chapel (Scotland)

Sacred to the memory of WILLIAM STEWART, ESQUIRE, of Ardvorlich.  Eldest son of the late Major W. M. Stewart, of the Bengal Army, Lieutenant in the Hon’ble East India Company’s Bengal Artillery and Captain Commandant of a battery in Scindiah’s contingent who was severely wounded in the execution of his duty at Gwalior on the night of the 14th of June 1857, by the mutinous sepoys and by them murdered on the following morning, aged 30 years.  Also to the memory of his wife JANE TURNLY, aged 27 years, youngest daughter of the late Hill Willson, Esquire, Lieutenant in the Hon’ble East India Company’s Bengal Engineers and their son ROBERT WALTER, aged 2 years, who were killed on the night of the 14th idem.  Among the first victims of the Mutiny at Gwalior in the East Indies where the remains of both the parents and child lie interred. This tablet is erected by his widowed mother and her children.
“What I do Thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.” John XIII:7

When the fugitives arrived in Agra, Mrs. Ferris was still waiting anxiously for news of her husband. The last she had heard, he was riding to Gwalior with another young officer to join her as his own station had become insupportable, but since then, she had not been able to find anything out. The story she finally heard was horrific. On their way, her husband’s carriage was stopped by villagers who dragged the men out, tied them to a tree and flogged them. Ferris did not survive the beating, but the young officer managed to make his way to Agra, where he found Mrs. Ferris.

There would be two very different flights from Gwalior – that of Samuel Charters Macpherson and the other of Ruth Coopland. We now take up their stories.

<sup>Sources:
Coopland, R. M. A Lady’s Escape from Gwalior and Life in the Fort of Agra During the Mutinies of 1857. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1859.
Forrest, George W., ed. Selections from the Letters, Despatches and Other State Papers Preserved in the Military Department of the Government of India, 1857-58. Vol. IV, Jhansi, Calpee, Gwalior. Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing India, 1912.
Intelligence Branch, comp. The Revolt in Central India 1857-59. Simla: Government Monotype Press, 1908.
Luard, C. E., and Dwarka Nath Sheopuri, comps. Gwalior State Gazetteer. Vol. I, Text and Tables. Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, India, 1908.
Macpherson, Samuel Charters. Memorials of Service in India: From the Correspondence of the Late Major Samuel Charters Macpherson, C.B. Edited by William Macpherson. London: John Murray, 1865.
Thornton, Thomas Henry. General Sir Richard Meade and the Feudatory States of Central and Southern India: A Record of Forty-Three Years of Service. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1898.


Links:
https://stewartsofbalquhidder.com/stewart-families/stewarts-of-ardvorlich/stewarts-in-balimeanach/
Gwalior Cemetery: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2153635/</sup>