Heriberto60T at 16:34, 7 May 2026

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{{Short description|British military officer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix =
|name = Sir John Hearsey
|honorific_suffix =
|image = Sir_John_Bennet_Hearsey.jpg
|image_upright =
|alt =
|caption = John Bennet Hearsey by unknown artist, 1839
|native_name =
|native_name_lang =
|birth_name = John Bennet Hearsey
|other_name =
|nickname =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1793|1|21|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Midnapore]], [[West Bengal]]
|disappeared_date =
|disappeared_place =
|death_date = {{death date and age|1865|11|23|1793|1|21|df=y}}
|death_place = [[Boulogne-sur-Mer]], France
|death_cause = [[Bronchitis]]
|burial_place =
|burial_label =
|burial_coordinates = 
|allegiance = {{flagicon|British India}}[[British India]]<br>[[East India Company]]<br>
|branch = [[Bengal Army]]
|branch_label = Branch
|service_years = 1808–65
|service_years_label =
|rank = [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]]
|rank_label =
|service_number =
|unit =
|commands =
|known_for =
|battles = [[Sitabuldi Fort|Battle of Sitabuldi]]<br/>[[Siege of Bharatpur (1825–1826)|Siege of Bharatpur]]<br/>[[Second Anglo-Sikh War]]
|battles_label =
|awards = [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
|memorials =
|alma_mater =
|spouse = {{marriage|Harriet Zihur-Ul-Nissa|1832|1848}}
|children =
|relations =
|other_work =
|signature =
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}}
[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] '''Sir John Bennet Hearsey''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB|FLS}} (21 January 1793 – 23 October 1865) was a British military officer who was colonel of the [[21st Lancers|21st Hussars]] and of the [[3rd Bengal Light Cavalry]]. He was also an amateur [[naturalist]] and [[entomologist]] and collected a large number of insects from Asia.<ref name="obit">{{cite news |title=Death of Lieut. General John Bennet Hearsey |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002408/18651028/053/0006 |access-date=13 November 2023|work=[[London Morning Herald]] |date=28 October 1865 |page=6 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Biography==

Hearsey was born in [[Midnapore]], [[West Bengal]], the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Wilson Hearsey and Charlotte Crane. At the time of his birth, his father commanded the [[Bengal Native Infantry|9th Native Infantry]] at Midnapore.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pearse |first1=Colonel Hugh |title=The Hearseys: Five Generations of an Anglo Indian Family |date=1905 |publisher=William Blackwood And Sons |pages=119–123 |url=https://archive.org/details/hearseysfivegene030861mbp/page/n137/mode/2up |access-date=13 November 2023}}</ref>

He married his half-niece Harriet Zihur-Ul-Nissa (1806–48), the only daughter of his half-brother Maj. Hyder Young Hearsey and the [[Khanum]] Zihur-ul-nissa. His mother-in-law was the daughter of the deposed [[Cambay State|Prince of Cambay]]. They had four sons and three daughters. After her death in London, he married Emma Rumball, with whom he had four sons and a daughter. Emma died in 1865.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pearse |first1=Colonel Hugh |title=The Hearseys: Five Generations of an Anglo Indian Family |date=1905 |publisher=William Blackwood And Sons |page=137|url=https://archive.org/details/hearseysfivegene030861mbp/page/n137/mode/2up |access-date=13 November 2023}}</ref>

He died in [[Boulogne-sur-Mer]], France, from complications of [[bronchitis]], aged 72.<ref name="obit"/> He was the great-uncle of Archdeacon [[Henry Hearsey]].<ref>{{cite news |title= Obituary: Lt.-Col. H. H. Y. Hearsey |work=[[The Times]] |date= 3 May 1930|page=14 }}</ref>

==Career==

Hearsey enlisted in the British Indian army in 1808. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1809, captain in 1819, major in 1833, lieutenant colonel in 1838, brevet colonel in 1849, colonel in 1852, major general in 1854, and lieutenant general in 1862.<ref name="obit"/>

In 1817, Hearsey fought at the [[Sitabuldi Fort|battle of Sitabuldi]] and the 1825–26 [[Siege of Bharatpur (1825–1826)|siege and capture of Bhurtpore]]. During the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]] in 1848-49, he fought at [[Battle of Chillianwala]] and [[Battle of Gujrat]], and commanded the cavalry in the final pursuit and surrender of the [[Sikh Empire|Sikh army]]. He was injured in battle several times during his career.<ref name="fls">{{cite journal |title=Obituary Notices |journal=The Journal of the Linnean Society: Zoology |date=1868|page=lxv |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G1mZShPo2wkC&dq=John+Bennet+Hearsey&pg=PR65 |access-date=13 November 2023 |publisher=The Society |language=en}}</ref>

In 1857, he was the commanding officer at [[Barrackpore]] when [[sepoy]] [[Mangal Pandey]] attempted to start a mutiny and was threatening to shoot British officers. When confronted by Maj.-Gen. Hearsey and ordered to surrender, Pandey shot himself but survived. He and another Indian sepoy—who had refused to arrest Pandey—were later hanged, despite Pandey's pleas that he had been under the influence of [[opium]] and [[bhang]] at the time of his actions. The incident contributed to the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=Donald |title=Cawnpore & Lucknow: A Tale of Two Sieges- Indian Mutiny |date=22 March 2007 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=978-1-84415-516-3 |pages=20–21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e1N-AwAAQBAJ&dq=John+Hearsey+Mangal+Pandey&pg=PA20 |access-date=13 November 2023 |language=en}}</ref> In July 1857, he was appointed a [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] for his role in suppressing the rebellion.<ref>{{London Gazette |date= 10 July 1857|issue=6717 | page= 622|endpage= |supp=y|city=Edinburgh}}</ref>

==Naturalist==

Hearsey had a keen interest in insects, collecting specimens from South Asia. He was elected a Fellow of the [[Linnean Society of London]] in 1847.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Desmond |first1=Ray |title=Dictionary Of British and Irish Botantists and Horticulturalists Including plant collectors, flower painters and garden designers |date=11 September 2002 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4665-7387-1 |page=1455 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q0FZDwAAQBAJ&dq=John+Bennet+Hearsey+fls&pg=PA1455 |access-date=13 November 2023 |language=en}}</ref> He regularly exhibited his specimens from China and India, which were of great interest to British [[entomologists]].<ref name="fls"/>

''[[Prophalangopsis obscura]]'', a winged insect species found [[North India]], was identified in 1865 by [[Francis Walker (entomologist)|Francis Walker]] from Hearsey's specimen.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ashworth |first=James |title=Listen to the call: Scientists recreate the song of a 150-year-old insect that could help rediscover its species |website=Phys.org |date=2022-08-11 |url=https://phys.org/news/2022-08-recreating-song-year-old-insect-rediscover.html |access-date=2022-08-12}}</ref> His collection was a significant source for [[John O. Westwood]]'s illustrated book ''Cabinet of Oriental Entomology; Being a Selection of Some of the Rarer and More Beautiful Species of Insects, Natives of India and the Adjacent Islands'' (1848).<ref name="fls"/> Species named after Hearsey include the stalk-eyed fly ''[[Sphyracephala hearseiana]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lavigne |first1=Robert |title=Immature Stages of the Stalk-Eyed Fly, Sphyracephala Brevicornis (Say) (Diptera: Diopsidae) with Observations on Its Biology |journal=Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society |date=February 1962 |volume=LVII |issue=1 |page=14 |url=https://archive.org/details/bulletino576019621965broo/page/n23/mode/2up?q=hearsey |publisher=Brooklyn, N.Y. : The Society}}</ref>

Hearsey's entomological and botanical diary (1838–46) is held at the [[Oxford University Museum of Natural History]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hearsey, Sir John Bennett, (1793-1865), Knight Major General |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F31873 |publisher=The National Archives, Kew |access-date=13 November 2023}}</ref>

;Gallery

[[John O. Westwood]]'s illustrations from ''Cabinet of Oriental Entomology'' based on Hearsey's collection:
<gallery>
Image:CabinetOrientalEntomology35.jpg|''Campsosternus templetonii''
Image:CabinetOrientalEntomology42.jpg|''Hestia lasonia ''
Image:CabinetOrientalEntomology6.jpg|''Deilephila cyrene''
Image:CabinetOrientalEntomology21.jpg|''Charaxes Psaphon''
Image:CabinetOrientalEntomology23.jpg|
Image:CabinetOrientalEntomology29.jpg|
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hearsey, Jphn Bennet}}
[[Category:1793 births]]
[[Category:1865 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Midnapore]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Linnean Society of London]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Sikh War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:19th-century British naturalists]]

John Bennet Hearsey - Revision history

Heriberto60T at 16:34, 7 May 2026