SIB FOLK NEWS - Orkney Family History Society

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NEWSLETTER OF THE ORKNEY FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY
A hero to his men
A tyrant to his tenants
A ‘potted history’ of Lt. Gen. Frederick Traill Burroughs by John Sinclair No 588
Frederick Traill Burroughs came into the world in 1831 at Fatehgarh
military post on the banks of the Ganges in India. He was
the eldest of the five children born to General Frederick William
Burroughs and Caroline de Peyron.
In 1840 young Burroughs, aged 9, was to accompany his uncle
George William Traill back to England. Traill had just retired from
the Bengal Civil Service and it was he who arranged for his nephew’s
education at Blackheath and in Switzerland.
While in Switzerland, Burroughs learned of Traill’s
death and of his inheritance of the uncle’s estate on the
island of Rousay in Orkney.
The following year, when he was 17, he joined the 93rd
Sutherland Highlanders.
He was short for his age; about 5ft and he never grew
much beyond that. Like many short men he may have suffered
from the Napoleon syndrome. Conventional wisdom
is that Napoleon overcompensated for his short height by
seeking power, war and conquest and Burroughs was to
show similar tendencies. What he lacked in height he certainly
made up for in courage in his distinguished military
career.
Thin Red Line, painted by Robert Gibb 1881 showing the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders
with the Russian Cavalry at Balaclava. Picture source Wikimedia Commons.
In 1854 he was in the Crimea and fought with the 93rd
at the Battle of Alma where an Anglo-French force defeated
General Menshikov’s Russian army which lost
around 6000 men. On the 24th October he formed part
of ‘The Thin Red Line’ who routed the Russian Cavalry
charge at Balaclava. The regiment was also in the front
line at Sebastopol and they were preparing to assault the
town with, it is said, Burroughs leading the first wave of
the Highland Brigade. They were to find, however, that
the Russians had abandoned the town on the 11th September,
blowing up the defences and all shipping in the
harbour.
Captain Burroughs was also one of the first through
the breached walls of the Residency garden at the besieged
town of Lucknow in the 1857 Indian Mutiny.
Issue No. 47 September 2008
He was recommended
for the VC by his men but due to internal military
politics the medal was awarded to another officer.
In 1864 he was promoted
to Lieutenent Colonel and
commanded the 93rd during
the bitter fighting in
the North West Frontier.
He returned with the
regiment to Britain in
1870 and after a spell in
command at Edinburgh
Castle he retired from the
army in 1873.
Burroughs visited
Rousay in 1870 along with
his new wife Eliza (Lizzie)
Doyly Geddes and they
were well received by the
islanders.
For some time he was to
enjoy an amiable relation-
Gen. Burroughs. Orkney Library Photo Archive
Lady Burroughs. Orkney Library Archive
ship with the people of Rousay but it was not to last. Burroughs
decided to increase his land holding by buying up
other parcels of land. He also commissioned the architect
David Bryce to design and build a Scottish baronial style
Trumland House. Photographed 1972. Orkney Library Photo Archive
mansion which, by the time it was finished and furnished
in 1876, cost £12,000. A