Alan Maxwell Boisragon

2022-05-15T05:53:04Z

2A02:C7D:F025:9900:E93A:ADE3:AF0A:8982:

{{Short description|British soldier and colonial officer (1860–1922)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix =
|name = Alan Maxwell Boisragon
|honorific_suffix =
|image = Captain Alan Boisragon & District Commissioner Locke.jpg
|image_upright =
|alt =
|caption = Frontispiece portrait from Boisragon's ''The Benin Massacre''; Boisragon on left, District Commissioner Locke on right
|native_name =
|native_name_lang =
|birth_name =
|other_name =
|nickname =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1860|01|22|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Bengal]], [[British India]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1922|03|18|1860|01|22|df=y}}
|death_place = [[London]], [[England]]
|placeofburial =
|placeofburial_label =
|placeofburial_coordinates = 
|allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
|branch = {{Army|United Kingdom}}
|branch_label = 
|serviceyears =
|serviceyears_label =
|rank =
|rank_label =
|servicenumber =
|unit = Royal Irish Regiment
|commands =
|battles = Nile expedition
|battles_label =
|awards =
|memorials =
|alma_mater = Royal Military College, Sandhurst
|spouse = Ethel Rosling
|children = Leslie Alan Maxwell Boisragon
|relations = Major-General Theodore Boisragon (father), [[Ethel Grimwood]] (half-sister)
|laterwork = Author and Captain Superintendent of the Shanghai Municipal Police
|signature =
|signature_size =
|signature_alt =
|website = 
|module =
}}

'''Alan Maxwell Boisragon''' (22 January 1860 – 18 March 1922) was a [[British Army]] officer, and author, and was Captain Superintendent of the [[Shanghai Municipal Police]] from 1901 to 1906.

==Life==
Born in Bengal, India, on 22 January 1860, the son of an army officer of [[Huguenot]] ancestry, Major-General Theodore Boisragon, CB, A. M. His father divorced his wife, Margaret Emma Boisragon (born Gerrard), in 1864 after she ran off with Charles William Moore, a judge in Bengal. Charles and Margaret's children included [[Ethel Grimwood|Ethel Moore]], his half-sister, who was born in 1867.<ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Grimwood [née Moore; other married name Miller], Ethel Brabazon [pseud. Ethel St Clair Grimwood] (1867–1928), the heroine of Manipur|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-101006|access-date=2020-10-11|year=2010|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/101006|last1=Reynolds|first1=K. D.}}</ref>

Boisragon entered the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]] in 1878, and served in the [[Royal Irish Regiment (1684–1922)|Royal Irish Regiment]]—with seven years in India, and action in the 1884-85 [[Nile expedition]]—until 1891, when he retired. He joined the colonial service in the [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]], where he initially served as Assistant Inspector of Constabulary.<ref>David C.A. Agnew, ''Protestant Exiles from France in the Reign of Louis XIV ..., Volume 2'' (Reeves & Turner ; Edinburgh : William Paterson, 1871), p. 206</ref> In 1894 he was appointed Commandant of the newly established [[Niger Coast Protectorate|Niger Coast Protectorate Force]], in which position he came to know [[Roger Casement]].<ref>''1895 [C.7596] Africa. No. 1 (1895). Report on the administration of the Niger Coast Protectorate, August 1891 to August 1894''(London: HMSO, 1895), pp.15-16; Angus Mitchell (ed.), ''Sir Roger Casement's Heart of Darkness: The 1911 Documents'' (Dublin: Irish Manuscripts Commission, 2003), p.383.</ref> In January 1897 he was only one of two survivors of a small British expedition to Benin which was attacked and defeated, the incident prompting the [[Benin Expedition of 1897]]. Boisragon published his account of the incident as ''The Benin Massacre'' in 1897.<ref>Captain Alan Boisragon, ''The Benin Massacre'' (London: Methuen, 1898)</ref> He then rejoined the Royal Irish Regiment as a captain in the 3rd Battalion, its [[Militia (United Kingdom)|Militia]] battalion.<ref>''The London Gazette'', 12 May 1891, p. 2543; 15 April 1898, p.2386; 19 February 1901, p.1236.</ref>

In early 1901 Boisragon was seconded from the army, and appointed Captain Superintendent of the [[Shanghai Municipal Police]], arriving in March 1901 to take over command.<ref>''North China Herald'', 13 March 1901</ref> He was forced to resign in the aftermath of the 1905 Shanghai [[Mixed Court Riot]].<ref>[[Robert Bickers]], ''Empire Made Me: An Englishman adrift in Shanghai'' (London: Allen Lane, 2003)</ref> In 1915 Boisragon published a book for boys, ''Jack Scarlett Sandhurst cadet: A story for boys'', with illustrations by J. F. Campbell. He died in London on 18 March 1922.<ref>''The Times'', 20 March 1922</ref>

==Family==
He married Ethel Rosling on 9 January 1893 at [[South Nutfield]], Christ Church, Surrey, England. Their son Leslie Alan Maxwell Boisragon was born in 1909 in Shanghai, China.

Boisragon's first cousin [[Guy Hudleston Boisragon]] was awarded the [[Victoria Cross]] in 1891.

== References ==

{{Reflist}}
(Citing this Record
"England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch)
(Citing this Record
"England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch)

== Bibliography ==
* [https://archive.org/details/beninmassacre00bois Captain Alan Boisragon, ''The Benin Massacre'' (London: Methuen, 1897)]

== External links ==
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Alan Maxwell Boisragon}}
* [http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000257349 Artist's proofs and correspondence for 'Jack Scarlett' by Major Alan Boisragon]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boisragon, A.M.}}
[[Category:British colonial officials]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:Royal Irish Regiment (1684–1922) officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Mahdist War]]
[[Category:Gold Coast (British colony) people]]
[[Category:1860 births]]
[[Category:1922 deaths]]

IndianPedia - User contributions [en]

Alan Maxwell Boisragon