W . H . M . Lowe Major - General William Henry Muir " W . H . M . " Lowe CB ( 20 October 1861 – 7 February 1944 ) was a British Army officer who commanded the British forces in Dublin during the Easter Rising of 1916 and received the surrender of the Irish republican forces . Early Life and career . Lowe was born in North - Western Provinces , India , to William Henry Lowe of the Indian Civil Service , and Caroline Charlotte Muir . He was educated at the Royal Military College , Sandhurst , and commissioned in the 7th Dragoon Guards in 1881 . The following year he saw action in the Egyptian Campaign , where the 7th Dragoon Guards were part of the 1st Cavalry Brigade led by General Sir Baker Russell . Lowe was involved in the fighting at Kassassin , the Battle of Tel el - Kebir and the march on Cairo . He received the Egypt Medal and the Khedive ' s Star , a medal presented by Khedive Tawfiq to all officers and men engaged in the campaign . In 1886 , Lowe went to Burma from India , where the 7th Dragoon Guards were stationed , as a special service officer to the Upper Burma Task Force during the guerrilla phase of the Third Anglo - Burmese War . Remaining in Burma until 1887 , he received the India General Service Medal with two clasps . He was promoted to the rank of captain in 1887 and major in 1892 . Second Boer War . In 1899 , he was promoted to lieutenant - colonel and assumed command of the 7th Dragoon Guards . From 1900 to 1902 , Lowe led the regiment in the Second Boer War , being present at the capture of Pretoria and the Battle of Diamond Hill , and was promoted brevet colonel in November 1900 . Lord Kitchener ' s despatch of 8 August 1901 related how " at midnight on the 30th July Colonel Lowe , 7th Dragoon Guards , successfully surprised a farmhouse , from which he took 11 armed prisoners with rifles , bandoliers and horses . " Lowe was twice more Mentioned in Despatches : in Lord Roberts ' Recommendations , 2 April 1901 and in Lord Kitchener ' s Final Despatch , 23 June 1902 . He received both the Queen ' s and King ' s South Africa Medal . He left the 7th Dragoon Guards in March 1903 to become Assistant Quartermaster - General of the II Corps ( Southern Command ) , being promoted to full colonel . In May 1905 , he went to the Northern Command as colonel in charge of cavalry records and staff officer for the Imperial Yeomanry . He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1906 . He went on half - pay in March 1907 and retired a year later . Easter Rising . On the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 , Lowe rejoined the army as Inspector of Cavalry , and was appointed as a Brigade Commander with rank of Brigadier - General in 1915 . He was commander of the 3rd Reserve Cavalry Brigade , stationed at the Curragh Camp , at the outbreak of the Easter Rising on Monday , 24 April 1916 . On being informed of the Rising by phone , he ordered the brigade to Dublin by train . Arriving himself in the early hours of Tuesday morning , Lowe assumed command of British forces in Dublin and set about securing the line between the railway station , Dublin Castle and Trinity College , thus dividing the rebel positions north and south of the river . It was Lowe who ordered the shelling of Liberty Hall by field guns from Trinity College , and who ordered the Sherwood Foresters to continue advancing on Mount Street Bridge with a high cost in casualties . On Saturday evening , 29 April , after being approached by Nurse Elizabeth O ' Farrell , he agreed to negotiate with the leaders only if they would surrender unconditionally , and at 2 . 30 pm that day , accompanied by Nurse O ' Farrell , Patrick Pearse surrendered to Lowe . He was awarded the honorary rank of major - general when he finally retired in March 1919 . Personal life . Lowe married , in 1895 , Frances Broster ( died 29 September 1942 ) , the widow of Captain Robert Harry Johnson of the 64th Foot Regiment and daughter of Francisco de Salvo , of Salerno , Sicily . They had a son , and a daughter Elizabeth , who became a nun . Their son , John , was a British Army officer who with his father also took part in the suppression of the Rising and accepting the surrender of Pearse — fought at Gallipoli and the Somme and subsequently became a Hollywood actor under the screen name John Loder . General Lowe died in London on 7 February 1944 , aged 82 . Neither an otherwise comprehensive obituary in " The Times " nor an entry in " Who Was Who " 1941 – 1950 made reference to his role in the Easter Rising , although it is mentioned in John Loder ' s autobiography , and there is a photograph of Pearse surrendering to him .