George Pomeroy Colley

George Pomeroy Colley

Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley KCSI CB CMG (1 November 1835 – 27 February 1881) was a British Army officer who became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Natal and High Commissioner for South Eastern Africa.

He was born the third son of George Pomeroy Colley, of Rathangan, County Kildare, Ireland, and grandson of the fourth Viscount Harberton.

He entered the 2nd Queen's Royal Regiment from Sandhurst as ensign in 1852. From 1854 to 1860, he served in South Africa and was employed in surveying and as a magistrate in charge of the Bashi river district in Kaffraria. Early in 1860 he went with his regiment to China to join the Anglo-French expedition and took part in the capture of the Taku forts and the entry into Peking, returning to South Africa to complete his work in Kaffraria (brevet-majority).

In 1862 he entered the Staff College and passed out in one year with honours. After serving as brigade-major at Devonport for five years, he went to the War Office in 1870 to assist in the preparation of (Lord) Cardwell's measures of army reform. He was appointed professor of military administration at the Staff College in 1871. Early in 1873 he joined Sir Garnet Wolseley at the Gold Coast, where he took charge of the transport, and the success of the Ashanti expedition was in no small degree due to his exertions. He was promoted brevet-colonel and awarded the CB. In 1875 he accompanied Wolseley to Natal (CMG). Shortly thereafter he became part of the so-called Wolseley Ring.

On his return home he was appointed military secretary to Lord Lytton, governor-general of India, and in 1877 private secretary (KCSI). In 1879 he joined Wolseley as chief of the staff and brigadier-general in SE Africa, but, on the murder of Cavagnari at Kabul, returned to India.