Henry Spalding (soldier)

Henry Spalding (born 27 September 1840, died 22 May 1907) was a professional soldier but also served in the diplomatic world and was an accomplished linguist and writer. He signed up in Feb 1858 as Ensign in 104th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Fusiliers) - then an East India Company regiment, he was seconded to 53rd (Shropshire) Regiment to serving in Indian during the Indian Mutiny campaign. By Feb 1868 had risen to Captain and completed staff college in Dec 1869 . Promoted to Brevet Major in Nov 1878 he was involved in the Battle of Rorke's Drift (22 Jan 1879) in the Anglo-Zulu War. On 8 June 1879, then Major and Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, he acted as marshal at the funeral of Napoléon. In addition to his military career, Spalding was a noted translator from Russian. He completed the first complete English translation of Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin in 1881.
==Background==
Spalding was the second son of Thomas Spalding, a wholesale stationer and director of Spalding & Hodge. He was commissioned in Feb 1858 as Ensign in the 53rd Shropshire Regiment. During the Indian Mutiny campaign (May to Oct 1858), he was present at the passage of the Goomtee and occupation of SultanporeArmy List, 1869 Google Books. In Oct 1859 commissioned as Lieutenant, by Feb 1868 risen further to Captain and completed staff college by Dec 1869 Army List, 1879 Google Books. In 1871 the regiment had returned to the UK, with census indicating the were house in the North Camp at Aldershot1881 census Ancestry. 
At some point in the 1870s, Spalding was posted at the British Embassy in Saint Petersburg, where he learnt Russian. In 1874, he published his first translation, Khiva and Turkestan Internet Archive. He has also become a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Towards the end of the decade, Spalding was back with the army and transferred to South Africa where he played a key role in the Anglo-Zulu War. He was Brevet Major (Nov 1878) of the provision depot near Rorke's Drift of the 104th Foot Infantry during the Battle of Rorke's Drift on 22 Jan 1879.
When Napoléon, Prince Imperial who was also a soldier in the Anglo-Zulu War, was killed (June 1879), Major Spalding was one of the British representatives at his funeral proceedings in Natal, standing in for Colonel Bellairs, before the body was shipped back to the UK. 
After he retired from the military in 1881, as Lieutenant-Colonel, Spalding continued his scholarly work. He translated Pushkin's classic work Eugene Onegin into English with bibliographical notes the same year.Eugene Onéguine Internet Archives. Ivan Turgenev called his translation astonishingly faithful, and the text remained the only complete translation for fifty years.Turgenev and England Internet Archive. Even later, the Russian critic Ernest Simmons praised Spalding for his translation and scholarly notes on Pushkin's novel in verse.English Translations of Eugene Onegin JSTOR 4203469. In 1891 he published a military history text 'Epochs of the British Army' 
His family life is unclear: he married Rubina "Ruby" Frederica Constance Naghten in May 1888, and there is a child Walter Henry Spalding born in 1884. However it is possible the child was adopted by Henry. Sadly his wife appears to have suffered mentally resulting in a court case for child neglect in July 1896 and then she died Nov 1896 apparently of natural causes aged 33. The child left to live with Spalding 'relatives' in British Columbia in 1900.
Henry Spalding died at the age of 66, in Belgrave Square, London on 22 May 1907, his death was registered at St George's Hanover Square Church.
==Medals==
* Indian Mutiny Medal no bar, inscribed “Ensign Hy Spalding, 53rd Regt” 
* South Africa medal 1877-08-09 bar, inscribed “Major H Spalding 104th Foot” 
These medals are in private ownership
==Publications==
* Khiva and Turkestan, 1874.
* Eugene Onegin, 1881.
* Epochs of the British Army, 1891
Category:1840 births
Category:Soldiers
Category:Linguists
Category:Writers
Category:1907 deaths