'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎17r] (38/180)

23
For the purpose of concluding preliminary arrangements,* Captain G. Forster Mission of
Sadleir of His Majesty s 47th Regiment had already been despatched from Bombay, Captain
on the 14th of April 1819, with letters for Saiyid Sa'id and Ibrahim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. . The '?o m e l r ' A P ni
instructions of this officer were that he should call at Masqat, and, after making j anua ^
known to the Saiyid the nature of his mission to Ibrahim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. and ascertaining 1820.
the nature and extent ot the assistance which the ruler of Oman himself would
be able and willing to alford, should proceed with the utmost despatch to the camp
of the Egyptian commander, whom he was authorised to assure that, as soon after
the termination of the monsoon as it might be convenient to undertake operations
from India, an adequate British force, naval and military, would be sent to the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. for the purpose of co-operating with the Egyptians in the reduction
of Ras-al-Khaimah, and that the town would thereafter be delivered over to be
garrisoned by Egyptian troops, provided the Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. should have allotted a
competent force to the service ot covering the siege. In the formal letters addressed
to Ibrahim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. that general was congratulated on his recent brilliant successes,
and the scheme of joint Anglo-Egyptian operations was unfolded for his considera
tion. Captain Sadleir was further directed to study the situation of the Egyptians
in Central Arabia and to fathom, if he could do so without showing too great an
interest in the subject, their ulterior designs in the direction of the^ Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ;
agreed, however, with the general opinion that a British station should be established on the island
of Qishm, but to this end he would have negotiated with the Government of Persia rather than
with that of Oman, and he was even in favour of a transfer of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. from
Bushehr to Qishm. He urged the desirability of a convention with the tribes for the suppression
of piracy, the importance of a right to visit all ports and destroy armed vessels, and the necessity
of a prohibition of the export of ship-building timber from India.
Some of Mr. Warden's suggestions had results which are traceable in the subsequent
proceedings; but his general line of argument did not meet with the approval of Government
In a minute, dated 6th September 1819, Sir E. Nepean, the Governor of Bombay, observed: " The
^ Board is already in possession of my opinion on the rest of the points contained in Mr. Warden's
minute, and all that may be necessary for me at present to add is that the impressions formed
by a ll the mo st intelligent officers, naval and military, who have for some years past visited the
" Gulph are directly in opposition to those entertained by Mr. Warden; and so far from thinking
^ they (? the tribes) are disposed to quit their present predatory habits and to have recourse to
"commercial pursuits, they consider their present habits so deeply rooted that nothing but the
^ strong hand of power will keep them down. What said the Chief of Rasell-Khyma on Mr. Bruce's
;; remonstrances in consequence of his breach of engagement on the capture of some vessels belonsing
"to our native subjects? 'If we (meaning the Joassmees) were to accede to the proposition of
" respecting vessels navigated by natives of India, we must starve.' "
* As it has been stated information about Captain Sadleir is not now procurable, the present
writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. takes the opportunity of placing on record some facts which he has been able to collect
regarding the forgotten career and personality of a remarkable officer.
George Forster Sadleir was born at Cork on the 19th January 1789. His father, James Sadleir
who belonged to a Tipperary family, purchased an estate named Shannon Vale and was at one
time High Sheriff of the city of Cork. His mother was a Miss Forster, and his second name was
derived from her family. He had two brothers, of whom the younger, Richard served in the
Royal Navy.
Sadleir joined the Army as Ensign on the 4th April 1805; he was promoted Lieutenant in
the same year. Captain in 1813, and Major in 1830; and he retired from the service, by the sale
of his commission, on the 17th February 1837. He saw military service at Monte Video and
Buenos Aires in 1807; from April 1812 to June 1815 he was engaged, with twelve sergeants from
his Regiment, in training the Shah's troops in Persia, in acknowledgment of which he was
subsequently awarded a Farman and sword of honour from Fateh 'Ali Shah; he took part in
the Malwa campaign, Central India, and was employed in a political capacity under Sir J. Malcolm,
1 f 17_ ! 8; in 1 819-20, he carried out the mission in Arabia, described in our text, for the charge
of which he was recommended by the Government of India to the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. ; in
1820-21 he was sent as Envoy to Sind and concluded the "Treaty of Hyderabad on the Indus"
and in 1824-26 he discharged the duties of Major of Brigade with the'Beneal Division of the
British army in Burma.
He returned to Europe in 1833 or 1834, probably not for the first time since his departure
tor the East, for on the 20th March 1826 he had been enrolled as a Freeman of Cork After
his retirement he married, probably in 1847 or 1848, a Miss Ridings of Cork, her brother also
marrymg his sister; and about 1855 he emigrated to New Zealand. He died in Auckland
before 1868.
A personal touch is supplied by an officer of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment who
" : i T ? 1 adlier w 1 as . a great ,,n g mst ' but a man of violent temper, and he was the cause of
^ Colonel Elnngton being tried by Court Martial, as he reported the Reaiment to be in a mutinous
^ state on the line of march in Scotland, when he was in command. It was in the year 1834 and
u the Bat j ta allowance was given in kind (bread) in Scotland instead of money, and "the men could
not understand this and stuck the loaves on their bayonets."
Whether his name was spelt " Sadleir " or " Sadlier " must be considered doubtful: possiblv
it was written both ways. An extract copied from the Freeman's Roll of Cork ^ives "Sadlier"-
but Sadleir " is the form found in the records of the War Office and that favoured bv most of
his surviving relatives and friends. It is believed that no male representative of the family bearine
the name of Sadleir or Sadlier is now alive. y UCdr]n S