Bot at 16:29, 19 December 2022

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{{Short description|Scottish soldier, traveller and author (1803–1885)}}
{{other people||James Alexander (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:James Edward Alexander00.jpg|thumb|{{center|'''James Edward Alexander'''}}]]
[[File:General Sir James Edward Alexander c.1880.png|thumb|General Sir James Edward Alexander c.1880]]
[[File:The grave of General Sir James Edward Alexander, Old Logie Kirkyard.jpg|thumb|The grave of General Sir James Edward Alexander, Old Logie Kirkyard]]
[[General]] '''Sir James Edward Alexander''' {{Post-nominals|post-noms=[[Order of Saint John (chartered 1888)|KStJ]] [[Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath|CB]] [[FRSE]] [[FRGS]]}}<ref name="Waterston">{{cite book
|last1=Waterston
|first1=Charles D
|last2=Macmillan Shearer
|first2=A
|title=Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783-2002: Biographical Index
|url=http://www.rse.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf
|accessdate=8 December 2011
|volume=I
|date=July 2006
|publisher=[[The Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
|location=Edinburgh
|isbn=978-0-902198-84-5}}</ref> (16 October 1803 – 2 April 1885) was a Scottish traveller, author and soldier in the [[British Army]].

Alexander was the driving force behind the placement of [[Cleopatra's Needle|Cleopatra's Needle]] on the [[Thames Embankment]].<ref name="Waterston" />

==Background==
Born in [[Stirling]],<ref name="Waterston" /> he was the eldest son of Edward Alexander of Powis, [[Clackmannanshire]], and his second wife Catherine Glas, daughter of John Glas, Provost of Stirling.<ref name = Dod>{{cite book | last = Dod | first = Robert P. | title = The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland | year = 1860 | publisher = Whitaker and Co. | location = London | pages = 87 }}</ref>

The family purchased Powis House near Stirling in 1808 from James Mayne (his uncle by marriage) for £26,500. His father, a banker, had to sell Powis House in 1827 on collapse of the Stirling Banking Company.<ref name="Fergusson1905" /> He received his training in [[Edinburgh]], [[Glasgow]], and the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]].

In 1837, he married [[Lady Eveline Marie Alexander|Eveline Marie Mitchell]], daughter of Col C. C. Mitchell of the [[Royal Artillery]].<ref name="Fergusson1905">{{cite book|last=Fergusson|first=Robert Menzies |title=Logie: A Parish History;|url=https://archive.org/details/logieaparishhis00ferggoog|year=1905|publisher=Alexander Gardner|location=Paisley}}</ref>

In 1853, he obtained Westerton House in [[Bridge of Allan]], built in 1803 by Dr John Henderson of the [[East India Company]] (a cousin and friend). Here he became an elder of [[Logie Kirk]], walking there each Sunday.<ref name="Fergusson1905" />

He died in Ryde on the [[Isle of Wight]] but is buried in Old Logie Churchyard just east of his home town of Stirling.<ref name="Waterston" /> The graveyard lies several hundred metres north of Logie Cemetery and the 19th century Logie Kirk.

After his death, his trustees sold Westerton House to [[Edmund Pullar]].

==Military career==
In 1820, he joined the [[British East India Company]]'s army, transferring into the [[British Army]] in 1825. As [[aide-de-camp]] to the British envoy to Persia, he witnessed fighting during the war between [[Persian Empire|Persia]] and [[Russia]] in 1826 and in 1829 was present in the [[Balkans]] during the [[Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829]].

From 1832 to 1834, he witnessed the [[Liberal Wars|War of the Two Brothers]] in [[Portugal]], and in 1835 he took part in the [[Xhosa Wars|6th Cape Frontier War]] in South Africa as [[aide-de-camp]] and private secretary to [[Benjamin d'Urban|Sir Benjamin d'Urban]]. He was the son-in-law of [[Charles Collier Michell]], having married, in Cape Town on 25 October 1837, Eveline Marie Mitchell (born 16 April 1821).

In 1838, he was made a [[Knight Bachelor]] for his services.<ref name = Dod/> From 1841, he served in [[Canada]], among others in the staff of [[William Rowan|Sir William Rowan]]. During the [[Crimean War]], he commanded the [[14th Regiment of Foot]] as lieutenant-colonel in the [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)|Siege of Sevastopol]] in 1855<ref name = Dod/> and held an important command during the [[New Zealand Wars]] in [[New Zealand]] in 1862. He retired from active service in 1877 and on 1 July 1881 was given the honorary rank of general.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue= 25085|page=1215|date=17 March 1882}}</ref>

==Explorer==
{{Moresources|section|date=December 2022}}
On behalf of the [[Royal Geographical Society]] (which he had co-founded), he conducted an exploring expedition into [[Namaqualand]] and [[Damaraland]], lasting from 8 September 1836 to 21 September 1837, in the course of which he collected rock specimens, pelts of rare animals, birdskins, weapons and implements from the [[Herero people|Herero]] and [[Nama people|Nama]], as well as drawing maps of the region and making a first list of Herero words.

Subsequently, Arrowsmith made use of his data to draw a map accompanying his book of the expedition. [[Alexander Bay, Northern Cape|Alexander Bay]] on the [[Orange River]] mouth, is named after him.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gunn|first=Mary|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8591273|title=Botanical exploration of southern Africa : an illustrated history of early botanical literature on the Cape flora : biographical accounts of the leading plant collectors and their activities in southern Africa from the days of the East India Company until modern times|date=1981|publisher=Published for the Botanical Research Institute by A.A. Balkema|others=L. E. W. Codd|isbn=0-86961-129-1|location=Cape Town|page=76|oclc=8591273}}</ref>

In 1877, he was largely responsible for the preservation and transfer of [[Cleopatra's Needle|Cleopatra's Needle]] to England.

==Works==
* ''Travels from India to England: comprehending a visit to the Burman empire, and a journey through Persia, Asia Minor, European Turkey, &c. In the years 1825-26''. – London : Parbury, Allen, & Co, 1827
* ''Travels through Russia and the Crimea''. (1830, 2 vols.)
* ''Transatlantic Sketches: comprising visits to the most Interesting Scenes in North & South America & West Indies''. 2 vols. – London : Richard Bentley, 1833
* ''Sketches in Portugal during the Civil War of 1834''. – London : J. Cochrane & Co, 1835
* ''Narrative of a Voyage of Observation among the Colonies of Western Africa, in the Flag-Ship Thalia; and of a Campaign in Kaffir-Land, on the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief in 1835''. 2 vols. – London : Henry Colburn, 1837
* ''Expedition of discovery into the interior of Africa : Through the Hitherto Undescribed Countries of the Great Namaquas, Boschmans, and Hill Damaras, Performed under the Auspices of Her Majesty's Government and the Royal Geographic Society''. 2 vols. – London : Henry Colburn, 1838
* ''Life of Field Marshal, His Grace the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]] : Embracing His Civil, Military, and Political Career to the Present Time''. 2 vols. – London : Henry Colbourn, 1839–40
* ''L'Acadie : or Seven Years' Explorations in British America''. 2 vols. – London : Henry Colburn, 1849 (online: [http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/mtq?doc=36220 vol.1], [http://www.canadiana.org/cgi-bin/ECO/mtq?doc=36221 vol.2])
* ''Passages in the life of a soldier, or, Military service in the East and West''. – London : Hurst & Blackett, 1857
* ''Salmon-Fishing in Canada by a Resident''. – London und Montreal : Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860
* ''Incidents of the last Maori-War in New Zealand''. – London : Richard Bentley, 1863
* ''The Albatross : record of voyage of the [[SS Great Britain|"Great Britain" steam ship]] from Victoria to England in 1862''. – Stirling : C. Rogers & Co., 1863
* ''[http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-AleBush-t1-front-d5-d1.html Bush Fighting]''. – London : Sampson, Low, Marston, Low & Searle, 1873
* ''Cleopatra's Needle, the obelisk of Alexandria'' (1879)
{{botanist|J.E.Alexander}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

* {{EB1911|wstitle=Alexander, Sir James Edward|noicon=yes|volume=1}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, James Edward}}

[[Category:1803 births]]
[[Category:1885 deaths]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Crimean War]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the New Zealand Wars]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Knights of the Order of St John]]
[[Category:West Yorkshire Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:Scottish soldiers]]
[[Category:Scottish explorers]]
[[Category:Scottish knights]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Stirling]]
[[Category:Scottish people of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Scottish travel writers]]
[[Category:Scottish geographers]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army soldiers]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:History of Namibia]]
[[Category:Alexander family (British aristocracy)|James Edward]]

James Edward Alexander - Revision history

Bot at 16:29, 19 December 2022