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'''Sir Henry Albert John Gidney''' [[FRSE]] [[Mentioned in Dispatches|MID]] (9 June 1873 – 5 May 1942) was a leader of the [[Anglo-Indian]] community of [[British India]] for 20 years, founding the [[All India Anglo-Indian Association]] in 1926.<ref name="Abel1988">{{cite book |last1=Abel |first1=Evelyn |title=The Anglo-Indian Community: Survival in India |date=1988 |publisher=Chanakya Publications |isbn=978-81-7001-036-4 |language=English}}</ref>

His grandfather, William Gidney, was killed at the [[Siege of Lucknow]] in 1857 but his family decided to stay in India.<ref name="sirhenrygidney">{{cite web|url=http://sirhenrygidney.net/family-of-sir-henry-gidney-gidney-family-history-anglo-indian-family/|title=Family | History of Sir Henry Gidney|website=sirhenrygidney.net|access-date=4 March 2018}}</ref>

==Life==
He was born in [[Igatpuri]] in India on 9 June 1873<ref name="The Royal Society of Edinburgh">{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|access-date=6 July 2016|archive-date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> the son of John Gidney, an Irish engine driver for the GIPR, and his Indian wife Margaret David.<ref name="sirhenrygidney"/><ref name="Times1942May6">{{cite newspaper The Times|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=hamlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=&docId=CS119749286&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|title=Obituary|department=Obituaries|date=6 May 1942|page=7|issue=49228|accessdate=2018-03-04}}</ref> He was raised a [[Methodist]].<ref name="sirhenrygidney2">{{cite web|url=http://sirhenrygidney.net/himself/|title=Himself | History of Sir Henry Gidney|website=sirhenrygidney.net|access-date=4 March 2018}}</ref>

He received his education first at Baldwins Boys School in [[Bangalore]], then at St Peters High School in [[Mazagaon]],<ref name="sirhenrygidney2"/> then sent home to Britain for final education in [[Edinburgh]], to where his family had links.<ref name="The Royal Society of Edinburgh"/> At 16, he joined the [[Calcutta Medical College]] at the [[University of Calcutta]], graduating as a first-class gold medal winner. He returned again to Britain to take a Diploma in Public Health (DPH) at [[Cambridge University]] plus a further Diploma in Ophthalmology ([[D.O.]]) at the [[University of Oxford]]. He remained at Oxford as a Research Fellow, lecturing in [[ophthalmology]],<ref name="The Royal Society of Edinburgh"/> and his surgical skill in this field gained a great reputation.<ref name="Times1942May6"/>

At 36 years old, he was already an [[FRCS]] and [[Membership of the Royal College of Physicians|MRCP]].

In 1897 he went to [[London]] to sit the exams for the [[Indian Medical Service]], which he passed in 1898.<ref name="Times1942May6"/> He then joined the [[British Indian Army]], seeing action in China during the [[Boxer Rebellion]] in 1901. He was [[Mentioned in Dispatches]] by his senior officer for his actions, also being promoted from lieutenant to captain in the same year. He returned to Britain after the war but came back to India in 1906. He was promoted to major in 1909 and lieutenant colonel in 1917.<ref name="Times1942May6"/> In 1911 he appears to have taken an additional role as a civilian surgeon in the [[Kohima]]/ [[Naga Hills District, British India|Naga Hills]] area. He was medically invalided out of the Indian Medical Service in 1918.<ref name="Times1942May6"/>

In 1911 he was elected a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]]. His proposers were Sir [[John Halliday Croom]], Sir [[David Prain]], [[William Turner (anatomist)|Sir William Turner]] and Sir [[George Andreas Berry]].<ref name="The Royal Society of Edinburgh"/> This membership leads some records to wrongly state him as a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of London]] which he was not (see [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society]]).

After his retirement from the Indian Army in 1919, he set up his own private eye [[hospital]] in [[Bombay]].

In 1926, Gidney founded the [[All India Anglo-Indian Association]].<ref name="Abel1988"/>

He was knighted in 1931.

In 1941 was elected president of the All India [[Arts and Crafts movement|Arts and Crafts]] Society.

He died in India on 5 May 1942.

==Recognition==

The Gidney House of [[The Frank Anthony Public School, Delhi and Bangalore]] is named after him.

==Family==

He married Grace Gidney.<ref name="geni">{{cite web|url=https://www.geni.com/people/Sir-Henry-Gidney-1873/6000000018478861536|title=Sir Henry Gidney 1873 (deceased) - Genealogy|website=geni.com|access-date=4 March 2018}}</ref>

==Additional achievements==

# Civilian surgeon in [[East Bengal|Eastern Bengal]] and [[Assam]].
# [[President (corporate title)|President]] of the [[Bombay]] branch of the [[Anglo-Indian]] Empire League (1918) (founded by Charles Palmer in 1908)
# Vice-president of the Central Council of the Empire League (1919)
# Member of the Legislative Assembly of India (1921)
# He formed an association called the "Anglo-Indian and Domiciled European Association". In 1937 the association split into two factions representing [[India]] and [[Burma]], thereafter representing both [[Anglo-Indians]] and [[Anglo-Burmese]]. The Burma section became the "Anglo-Burman Union".

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040629084242/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/06/07/stories/2004060700770200.htm Sir Gidney]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060521202508/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1950s/Anglos.html Anglo-Indians in the Indian Air Force]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gidney, Henry}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1942 deaths]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion]]
[[Category:Anglo-Indian people]]
[[Category:Indian surgeons]]
[[Category:Indian ophthalmologists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons]]
[[Category:People from Nashik district]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Indian Methodists]]

Henry Gidney - Revision history

Bot at 04:44, 3 April 2022