Arnold Burrowes Kemball General Sir Arnold Burrowes Kemball , RA , KCB , KCSI , ( 18 November 1820 , Bombay – 21 September 1908 , London ) , was a British army officer who took part in the First Afghan War , the Persian War , the Serbian - Ottoman War and the Russo - Turkish War , and was British representative in the Persian Gulf and Consul at Baghdad . Early life . Kemble was born in Bombay , the son of Vero Shaw Kemball , Bombay Surgeon - General , and was one of five brothers . He was educated at Addiscombe Military Seminary in Surrey , England . In December 1837 he returned to Bombay and joined the Bombay Presidency ' s Artillery as a second lieutenant . First Afghan War and Persian War . During the First Afghan War ( 1839 to 1842 ) Kemball served with the Bombay Horse Artillery under Sir John Keane , saw action at the Battle of Ghazni on 23 July 1839 , the capture of Kabul that followed , and the defeat of the Afghans at Khelat - i - Ghilzai during the subsequent British retreat to India . From 1842 to 1878 Kemball continued his military career in the Persian Gulf . He took up military duties in the 1856 - 57 Persian War for which he gained honours and was mentioned in the dispatches of Lieutenant General James Outram . In 1857 the general orders of Lord Canning , Governor - General of India commended Kemball ' s role in the offensive against Ahwaz , thanking him for his services " afforded on every occasion of difficulty and danger , and especially in the brilliant expedition against Ahwaz " . Sir James Outram gave Kemball " unqualified approbation and hearty thanks " . Kemball was awarded a Companion of the Order of the Bath ( CB ) for the Persian campaign , and was awarded the KCSI in May 1866 . Diplomatic service . Kemball became Assistant Resident for the British Government at Bushehr in 1842 , Resident in 1852 , and in February 1851 was promoted to captain . He was the British political agent for Turkish Arabia in 1847 , between 1849 and 1851 , and in 1855 , and during that time mediated and signed - off a Perpetual Treaty of Peace between chiefs of the Arabian Coast . In 1859 Kemball became acting Consul General at Baghdad . He was promoted to lieutenant - colonel in 1860 , and to full colonel in 1863 . In 1873 he was appointed official attendant to the Shah of Persia on his visit to England . Kemball was the British delegate at the 1875 - 76 British - Turkish - Persian - Russian boundary commission to determine the Turkish - Persian frontier ; later he became the commission ' s president . In 1876 he served as British military commissioner accompanying Abdul - Kerim and his Turkish army in the 1876 - 77 Serbian - Ottoman War . During the 1876 – 1877 Constantinople Conference to provide political reform in Ottoman territories , Kemball acted as interpreter between Britain ' s Secretary of State for India and Ambassador Plenipotentiary to the conference , the Marquess of Salisbury and the Sultan , Abdul Hamid II . Russo - Turkish War . In the following 1877 - 78 Russo - Turkish War Kemball resumed his role as a British military commissioner with the Turkish Army , advising on , and inspecting , aspects of Turkish battle - readiness . During the 16 June 1877 battle at Zaidakan , Kemble and a Captain Norman were reconnoitering and observing hostilities on horseback . After the battle they were confronted by a band of Russian Cossacks . Kemble decided to escape the situation , and he and Norman were chased by the Cossacks over twenty - five miles , with contemporary reports stating that a shell had exploded between them , wounding Norman in the arm , and that Kemble could have been shot in the head . They outran the Cossacks , and when at the Aras River swam across it to reach the Turkish camp . Of Kemble ' s role in the Russo - Turkish War , the " Times " correspondent with Abdul - Kerim ' s army wrote : At the end of the War Kemble was awarded the KCB , promoted to general , and accompanied Lord Lyons in negotiations at the Berlin Congress . Civilian life . In 1868 Kemball married Anna Fanny Shaw , daughter of A . N . Shaw . Their only child was Wynford Rose Kemball ( died 16 May 1926 ) , who married Bentley Tollemache , 3rd Baron Tollemache in 1902 . Between 1879 and 1886 Kemball became the Commissioner of the Sutherland Estates of the 3rd Duke of Sutherland ; the estate was the largest in Britain and included most of the county of Sutherland . During his tenure as commissioner he was involved with a dispute concerning gold digging . In 1869 gold had been found in the Strath of Kildonan resulting in an influx of outside prospectors and the establishment of a company for exploitation ; the financial returns were not favourable and digging was abandoned . However in 1886 , following a downturn in the local economy , villagers and crofters petitioned the Duke though Commissioner Kemball for permission to continue searching for gold ; permission was not given , and the estate threatened government action if it carried - on . Following further unauthorised digging the estate took steps to stop it . Before the problem was resolved the turmoil surrounding unconstrained and persistent gold digging by locals had caused Kemball to resign as estate commissioner , and Lord Stafford , the local Sutherland parliamentary representative , to resign .