Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lowe, Edward William Howe de Lancy
LOWE, EDWARD WILLIAM HOWE de LANCY (1820–1880), major-general, youngest son of Sir Hudson Lowe [q. v.] and his wife Susan, daughter of Stephen de Lancy, born in St. Helena on 8 Feb. 1820, was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and on 20 May 1837 was appointed ensign in the 32nd foot (now 1st Cornwall light infantry), in which he became lieutenant in 1841, captain 1845, major 1 July 1857, and lieutenant-colonel 26 Sept. 1858. He served with the regiment in the second Sikh war of 1848-9, including the two sieges and capture of Mooltan and the battle of Goojeat (medal and clasps). He was with the regiment at Lucknow at the outbreak of the mutiny, and on 18 May 1857 was despatched with his company to Cawnpore. General Wheeler, on hearing the state of affairs at Lucknow, generously sent the reinforcement back some days later, which thus escaped the Cawnpore massacres. When Inglis [see Inglis, Sir John Eardlet Wilmot] assumed the chief command at Lucknow, on Sir Henry Lawrence's death, Lowe took command of the 32nd, which he held throughout the defence of the Lucknow residency. On 26 Sept. 1857 he commanded a sortie of a hundred and fifty men who captured seven guns, and he also commanded the party sent out to bring in the guns and stores with the rearguard of Havelock'e relieving force, which had arrived the day before. In these operations he was severely wounded. After the second relief by Colin Campbell, in October, Lowe commanded the 32nd at the defeat of the Gwalior rebels at Cawnpore on 6 Nov. 1857, and during the campaign in Onde, from Julv 1858 to January 1859 (thanked in despatches, brevet rank, C.B., and medal and clasp). After his return home he printed a short account of the defence of the residency, which was noticed in the 'Quarterly Review,' vol. ciii., and was largely quoted in the 'Notes' on the history of the 32nd light infantry in 'Colburn's United Service Magazine,' 1880. Lowe afterwards commanded in succession the 2nd battalion 21st royal North British fusiliers and the 86th royal County Down regiment. He retired on half-pay in 1872, and became a major-general in 1877. He married a daughter of Colonel Basil Jackson, who had served as a junior officer in the quartermaster-general's department under Sir Hudson Lowe in the Netherlands and at St. Helena. Lowe died in London on 21 Oct. 1860.
[Hart's Army Lists; Kaye and Malleson's Hist. Sepoy Mutiny, iii. 366. iv. 108, 114 ; Notes on the History of the 32nd Light Infantry in Colburn's United Service Mag. 1880.]
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.186
N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Page | Col. | Line | |
| 189 | i | 11-10 f.e. | Lowe, Edward W. H. de Lancy: -for After his return . . . of the read Some private letters sent by him to his sister in the course of the |
| 9 f.e. | for which was noticed read formed the basis of an article | ||
| 8 f.e. | for was read they were | ||
| ii | 1-5 | for a daughter of Colonel Basil Jackson . . . St. Helena, read Anne Louisa Russel, daughter of Maurice Peter Moore (1809-1866) of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, F.S.A., a solicitor, and clerk of the peace for Kesteven. |