Francis GRANTHAM

   User ID: P00023808.

  General Notes:

Captain in the 98th Regiment
Born in Scawby, Lincolnshire on October 18, 1820, Francis, our gggrandfather and son of Henry, joined His Majesty’s service on April 26, 1839 as an ensign in the 98th Foot Regiment.

On April 16, 1841, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and served in Northern Ireland from June to November. Following a few weeks leave in England, he boarded a ship to China with his regiment.

He served during the expedition to Yang-tze-Kiang and took part in the capture of Ching-Kiang-Foo and the disembarkation at Nanking, which earned him the First China war 1840-42 medal.

He married Elizabeth Ellen Cox at Kirk Braden, Isle of Man, on the July 24, 1844, but the young couple barely had time for each other since we can trace Francis shortly after in Hong-Kong and Chusan.

He was promoted Captain on July 10, 1846, boarded a ship to Bengal with his regiment and came back to England for a few months. It appears that it is during that visit that he saw Thomas Henry, his newborn son, for the first time.

His daughter Elizabeth Frances was born on July 12, 1847. Francis left England for Calcutta in December 1847 and until November of the following year, served at Dinapore, Meerut, Ambala, Lahore, and Sutley and took part in the Second Sikh War.

He was awarded the Punjab Campaign of 1848-49 medal. His military records do not indicate any other visit to his family but we could assume that he returned at least one more time.

In December 1849, he accompanied the regiment to Peshawar in India’s Northeast (now part of Pakistan) where he served until his death on March 15, 1851. Francis died a few days after being attacked by a gang of "fanatic Pathans" while on an outing in the company of a young lady.

She managed to escape but their horses were taken and he himself was left on the ground so grievously wounded that he died shortly after. Fearing that the young lady might identify them, the assailants tried to abduct her. A sentry was placed at her residence.

The political situation was such that the military authorities decided to abandon the investigation. Francis is buried in Peshawar in the British military cemetery Sadar Bazaar, grave number 938. He left his young wife, Elizabeth Ellen, and two young children, Thomas Henry, 5 years old and Elizabeth Frances, 4 years old, all living on the Isle of Man under the roof of their maternal grandfather, Lieutenant-colonel (retired) Thomas Cox.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Military Service, 26 Apr 1829.

Francis married Elizabeth Ellen COX, daughter of Lt. Col. Thomas COX, (Retired) and Elizabeth ANDERSON, on 24 Jul 1844 in Kirk Braddon, Isle of Man, United Kingdom.