ThomasPeterdavid at 19:17, 3 April 2026

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{{Cleanup|reason=article says he performed a horrible duty but doesn't really explain exactly what he did or ordered to be done that was so controversial|date=February 2026}}
'''Arthur James Warburton Kitchin''' [[Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]] (1870{{snd}}1957) was a British officer in the [[Indian Civil Service]] (ICS), who served mainly in Punjab, where he held the post of commissioner of the [[Lahore Division|division of Lahore]].

Kitchin was delegated by [[Michael O'Dwyer|Sir Michael O'Dwyer]] to manage the Punjab disturbances in April 1919. He was later censured by the [[British Raj|Government of India]], following the [[Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre]] and the Hunter Inquiry, for his actions in Amritsar on 10 April 1919 and for allowing Dyer to assume authority. He later gave evidence in support of O’Dwyer during the 1924 ''[[O'Dwyer v. Nair Libel Case]]''.

==Early life and family==
Arthur Kitchin was born in 1870, the youngest son of Rev. Joseph Laxton Kitchin of [[Teignmouth]], Devon.<ref name=Cambridge>{{cite web |title=Kitchin, Arthur James Warburton (1870–1957) civil servant in India|url=https://trin-2.maxarchiveservices.co.uk/index.php/kitchin-arthur-james-warburton-1870-1957-civil-servant-in-india|website=trin-2.maxarchiveservices.co.uk|access-date=31 January 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260131170127/https://trin-2.maxarchiveservices.co.uk/index.php/kitchin-arthur-james-warburton-1870-1957-civil-servant-in-india|archive-date=31 January 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Local News |work=Devon and Exeter Gazette |date=9 July 1907 |page=8}}</ref> He was educated at [[Clifton College]], and subsequently gained a maths scholarship to [[Pembroke College, Cambridge|Pembroke College]], University of Cambridge, passing the ICS examination in 1892.<ref name=IOBOL1928>{{cite book |title=The India Office and Burma Office List for 1928 |date=1928 |publisher=Harrison and sons, Limited |location=London |page=684 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zVkKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA684|language=en}}</ref><ref name=JES1888>{{cite book |title=Journal of Education and School World |date=1888 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FI9IAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA99|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge University Calendar|date=1891|page=557|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E985AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA557|language=en|publisher=Deighton, Bell & Co.|location=Cambridge}}</ref><ref name=Pembroke>{{cite news |title=Pembroke College |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000421/18871216/109/0004 |access-date=31 January 2026 |work=Cambridge Chronicle and Journal |date=16 December 1887 |page=4|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Kitchin married Mildred Sarah Maria Murray on 21 November 1907.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage|date=1934 |page=168 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpHySDcAmU8C&pg=PA168 |language=en|location=London}}</ref>

==Career==
Kitchin joined the ICS in November 1893 and reached India on 4 January 1894.<ref name=civil1897>{{cite book |title=History of Services of Gazetted Officers Employed in the Punjab |date=1897 |publisher="Civil & Military Gazette" Press |pages=81-82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDlFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA81 |language=en}}</ref> He served in Punjab as assistant commissioner in [[Rawalpindi]], [[Jhelum]], and [[Murree]], and became assistant commissioner on settlement duty from November 1901 before becoming Deputy Commissioner in March 1904.<ref name=IOBOL1928/> He was made a [[Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire]] in 1917.<ref name=IOBOL1928/> The following year he was appointed secretary to the Punjab Publicity Bureau.<ref name=IOBOL1928/>

===Punjab disturbances===
As commissioner of the [[Lahore Division]] (included Amritsar) in 1919, Kitchin supervised Amritsar's deputy commissioner, [[Miles Irving]], and was delegated by [[Michael O'Dwyer|Sir Michael O'Dwyer]] to handle the Punjab disturbances in April 1919.<ref name=Collett2011>{{cite journal |last1=Collett |first1=Nigel A. |author-link=Nigel Collett |date=2011 |title=The O'Dwyer v. Nair Libel Case of 1924: New Evidence Concerning Indian Attitudes and British Intelligence During the 1919 Punjab Disturbances |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41490046 |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=469–483 |doi=10.1017/S1356186311000435 |jstor=41490046 |issn=1356-1863 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=Wagner.68>Wagner, p.68</ref> In response, Kitchin made his own assessment of Amritsar and on 11 April 1919 called [[William Beynon (Indian Army officer)|Sir William Beynon]] to recruit an officer "not afraid to act".<ref name=Collett2011/> At Beynon's instruction Lieutenant-Colonel [[Mountiford Hickman Llewellyn Morgan|M. H. L. Morgan]] was dispatched from the city of Lahore, but [[Reginald Dyer]] reached Amritsar first and took control, side-lining Morgan.<ref name=Collett2011/> On 13 April 1919, Kitchin was back in Lahore but following Dyer's actions at the [[Jallianwalla Bagh]], where without warning Dyer ordered the [[Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre|shooting of a large unarmed crowd]], Kitchin was ordered back to Amritsar the following day.<ref name=Collett2011/> Dyer then told him: "'I have done my duty. It was a horrible duty. I haven't slept all night but it was the right thing to do."<ref name=Collett2011/><ref name=Wagner.176>Wagner, p.176</ref> Kitchin was censured by the [[British Raj|Government of India]] following the release of the [[Hunter Report]], for his role in Amritsar, when he handed control of the city to the military without giving clear instructions,<ref name=Collett2011/><ref name=Wagner.116>Wagner, pp.116-117</ref> and letting Dyer take over authority.<ref name=Wagner.247>Wagner, p.247</ref> Kitchin told the court that fears about the loyalty of Indian troops partly shaped his interpretation of Dyer’s conduct at Jallianwala Bagh, an explanation that neither Dyer nor [[Havelock Hudson|Sir Havelock Hudson]], Adjutant-General in India, endorsed.<ref name=Collett2011/> Kitchin stated "I am content to put it forward as a factor operating on my own mind. It was an argument put forward by practically every Indian who came to us. They all said that we could not trust the troops."<ref name=Collett2011/>

==Later life==
Kitchin retired in 1921 and returned to England.<ref name=IOBOL1928/><ref name=Collett2011/> In 1924 he gave testimony on behalf of O'Dwyer in the ''[[O'Dwyer v. Nair Libel Case]]''.<ref name=IOBOL1928/><ref name=Collett2011/> He died in 1957.<ref name=Cambridge/>

==Selected publications==
*{{cite book |title=Final report of the revision of the settlement of the Rawalpindi district in the Punjab |date=1909 |publisher=Lahore, Civil and Military Gazette Press |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.4208}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last1=Wagner |first1=Kim A. |title=Amritsar 1919: An empire of fear & the making of a massacre |date=2019 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-24546-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bziIDwAAQBAJ|language=en}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |title=Report of the Committee Appointed in the Government of India to Investigate the Disturbances in the Punjab, Etc |date=1920 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5cE1AQAAMAAJ|language=en}}
*{{cite web |title=Note by A. J. W. Kitchin - File marked ‘Private File’ - Telegraphic correspondence with Lord Chelmsford, and related papers - Papers of Edwin Montagu - Papers of Edwin Montagu, Part II - Archives Hub |url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/2d0a15db-b565-3902-b47a-17e34d274579?component=adca85da-bcc1-310a-b7ce-71efba550983 |website=archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk |access-date=1 February 2026}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitchin, A. J. W.}}

[[Category:1870 births]]
[[Category:1957 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Civil Service (British India) officers]]
[[Category:People educated at Clifton College]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:People from Teignmouth]]
[[Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge]]

A. J. W. Kitchin - Revision history

ThomasPeterdavid at 19:17, 3 April 2026