Col. William Scott Drever
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Col. William Scott Drever
His parents were James Drever and Maria Werner. His grandparents were David Drever and Barbara Scott. He married Eliza Drever Leisk daughter of Elizabeth Drever and Robert Leisk.
The Late Colonel Drever, C.S.I.
The Madras Mail, Friday Morning, July 13, 1883
His numerous friends will hear with the deepest regret of the death of Colonel W. S. Drever, C. S. I., which took place this morning, at 6:20 a.m. The immediate cause of death was an attack of Jaundice of a very intractable nature, and which was much aggravated by the great mental anxiety to which Colonel Drever has of late been subjected. It is unnecessary to make a lengthy panegyrie on this lamented officer, who was not more universally known than liked throughout this Presidency. Suffice it to say, that an abler or more energetic officer never joined the Madras Police, and that his loss will long be felt, not merely by his subordinates who loved him as a high executive officer is seldom loved, but by the public of Madras who had learnt to trust in Colonel Drever as head of the Town Police. In the earlier years of his career he rendered right good service in Canara, and for his work in the mutiny received the thanks of the Madras Government, the Government of India and the Home Government. With his own hand he killed the two leaders of a party of rebels he was chasing. His sword got bent in the fight with the first rebel, but Colonel Drever coolly drew it out, straightened it, and finished the other. Colonel Drever has been sixteen years Commissioner of Police of Madras, and acted twice as Inspector General of Police. His supersession, when by Col. C. S. Hearn’s retirement that post became permanently vacant, caused very great surprise. Had Government not left the appointment open for eleven months, and thus led every one to believe that it was being kept for Col. Drever, he would probably not have returned to India. It was a cruel slight to a gallant and deserving officer to leave the appointment open, apparently for his acceptance, and then fill it up just in time for the news to reach him, when he arrived at Colombo.
It is, however, in connection with the great famine in 1877, that Colonel Drever showed to such conspicuous advantage. At all times capable of great energy, and doing the work he had to do with thoroughness, he set about the great task before him with the utmost enthusiasm. He had only recently returned from furlough to England, and was thus able to enter on the famine campaign in robust health, and with more than his usual natural energy about him. Many of our readers will recollect the condition of this city in the early days of the famine, when the streets were thronged with thousands of starving creatures, who had crawled in from the outlying districts to seek food in Madras. Several deaths occurred in the streets in Black Town, and the greatest alarm prevailed for a time that the bazaars would be looted by the starving crowds. It need hardly be added that the poor famine-stricken people brought many infectious diseases along with them, and both small-pox and cholera existed in a very virulent form. It was at this time, that Colonel Drever showed himself possessed of powers of organization of the highest order. In a few weeks, famine camps and hospitals had sprung up in all the principal suburbs of Madras, a cordon of Police protected the city from a further invasion from the districts, and bazaar-men again carried on their trading operations with the utmost security. At this time Colonel Drever may be said to have led a charmed life, for in the midst of so much infections disease he carried his life in his hand. Perhaps one of the most remarkable facts connected with the famine was, that though there were millions of bags of rice lying about on the Beach, no attempt was ever made by the starving people to commit a raid on the grain heaps. It is certain that a starving European crowd would never have shown so much patience and obedience to police authority. Colonel Drever’s arrangements for the maintenance of order and the control and protection of the famine-stricken people, in and around Madras, were simply admirable, and called forth unstinted praise from Sir Richard Temple when he came to Madras. The Duke of Buckingham too, who never spared himself in visiting the famine camps, took the warmest interest in Colonel Drever’s work, and showed his appreciation of it by recommending Colonel Drever, along with Dr. Cornish and Mr. Garstin, for the honor of C. S. I., when the so-called “famine campaign” came to a close. Colonel Drever received this well-merited honor at a New Year’s day Durbar, held on the island in 1879.
The technical name for the disease which killed Colonel Drever is jaundice. But he really died of a broken heart. It is an open secret that he never held up his head after the receipt of a G. O. appointing a Commission to investigate charges against his conduct and efficiency, and the administration of the Town Police since his return. This Commission was appointed at the persistent urging of an officer who ought, for many reasons, to have had the good taste to refrain from making any comments on Col. Drever’s efficiency. We believe that Government was really unwilling to go on with the matter after the submission in May of an explanation by Col. Drever. It is a pity that Mr. Grant Duff had not the moral courage and firmness to resist to the last the impulse to offer such an insult to a most deserving officer. He did, however, most unfortunately, give way to the influence of persistent insinuations against Colonel Drever’s efficiency, and at last appointed a Commission. To his friends, it is known, that after the receipt of the G. O., Colonel Drever said that it was his deathblow. The charges against him were of the most trumpery kind, and were proved groundless, but Colonel Drever drooped more and more. At last he completely broke down, and on Thursday last, he took to his bed never again to rise from it. Col. Drever did not wear his heart upon his sleeve for daws to peck at, and only those who were intimate with him, knew how keenly he felt slight or injustice. To those acquainted with the facts, there was a strange irony in Col. Drever’s fate in having to appear to answer such charges:
A falcon, towering in her pride of place,
Was by a mousing owl hawk’d at and kill’d.
Not the least keen of the pangs he had to suffer was to see his own subordinates called on to give evidence, not against him—for as already mentioned the charges turned out to be of the most paltry kind—but to give evidence as to his conduct and efficiency. A man of varied accomplishments and considerable attainments, linguistic, and in other ways, he possessed a strong masculine common sense which never failed him, and which not unseldom stood in the way of his gaining the favour of Governors, who as a rule prefer to deal with an entourage possessed of more pliable knees and a less unbending back. To a courage and gallantry of which he gave full proofs when occasion demanded their display, he added an almost womanly gentleness, especially with children, among whom he was always a great favourite—
He was a man, take him for all in all
We shall not look upon his like again
It may not be known that Colonel Drever’s father was in the Madras Army and died in the first Chinese war. He too was a gallant soldier of whom his brother officers were proud; for there is in St. George’s Cathedral a tablet to his memory along with that of other officers who died in that war. Subjoined is the official record of Colonel Drever’s service: –
Colonel William Scott Drever, C.S.I., (Born 22nd July 1830.)—Ensign, 11th June 1847; Arrived in India, 29th September 1847; 31st Madras N. I., 2nd October 1847; Sick Certificate to Europe, 8th April 1849 to 7th Feb. 1852; Lieutenant, 31st N. I., 10th July 1850; Quarter Master and Interpreter, 31st Regiment L. I. 30th June 1854; Executive Officer, D. P. W., 2nd January 1855; Superintendent of Police, North Canara, 7th May 1859; Captain Madras S. C. 18th Feb. 1861; Inspecting Supt. Of Police, Western Range, 21st February 1861; Privilege leave 27th April to 25th June 1861 and from 6th to 31st March 1863; Had charge of Canara District, 11th December 1861; Had charge of Malabar, 16th May 1862; Special leave in India from 10th June to 7th July 1863; Sick leave to Europe, 8th July 1863 to 25th October 1864; Inspecting Superintendent, Western Range, 25th October 1864; Privilege leave, 11th May to 8th June 1866; Major S. C., 11th June 1867; Acting Commissioner of Police, Town of Madras 1st August to 31st October 1867, and from 9th December 1867 to 12th December 1868; Justice of the Peace, 8th May 1868, Acting Inspector-General of Police, Madras, 13th December 1868; Acting Commissioner of Police 5th June 1869; Privilege leave, 6th June to 5th September 1869; Commissioner of Police, Town of Madras, 3rd September 1869; Officiating President of the Municipal Commission, Town of Madras, without prejudice to his duties, 7th September 1869; Privilege leave, 1st to 30th September 1870; Furlough on medical certificate, 14th October 1870 to 31st December 1871; Commissioner of Police, 4th January 1872; Acting Inspector-General of Police, 1st February 1872 to 4th January 1873; Lieutenant-Colonel, 11th June 1873; President of the Committee for the management of the Government Workhouse, Madras, 13th January 1874; Privilege leave, 8th September to 4th December 1874; Furlough, P. A., 9th May, 1875 to 2nd November 1876; Commissioner of Police, 6th November 1876; Acting Inspector-General of Police, 12th March 1878 to 4th November 1879; Companion of the Most Exalted order of the Czar (sp?) of India, 25th May 1878; Colonel, S. C., 11th June 1878; Commissioner of Police up to 24th August 1880; Furlough to Europe on medical certificate from 25th August 1880 to 22nd August 1882; Commissioner of Police, Madras, 25th August 1882.
War Services – Was employed in suppressing the insurrection in the Parlakimedi District in 1856 and 1857; was employed in North Canara in 1859 in conducting operations for the suppression of an armed insurrection in that district; on several occasion engaged in personal encounter with the rebels who were all eventually captured or slain. (Melal.)
The Late Colonel Drever, C.S.I.
The Madras Mail, Friday Morning, July 13, 1883
His numerous friends will hear with the deepest regret of the death of Colonel W. S. Drever, C. S. I., which took place this morning, at 6:20 a.m. The immediate cause of death was an attack of Jaundice of a very intractable nature, and which was much aggravated by the great mental anxiety to which Colonel Drever has of late been subjected. It is unnecessary to make a lengthy panegyrie on this lamented officer, who was not more universally known than liked throughout this Presidency. Suffice it to say, that an abler or more energetic officer never joined the Madras Police, and that his loss will long be felt, not merely by his subordinates who loved him as a high executive officer is seldom loved, but by the public of Madras who had learnt to trust in Colonel Drever as head of the Town Police. In the earlier years of his career he rendered right good service in Canara, and for his work in the mutiny received the thanks of the Madras Government, the Government of India and the Home Government. With his own hand he killed the two leaders of a party of rebels he was chasing. His sword got bent in the fight with the first rebel, but Colonel Drever coolly drew it out, straightened it, and finished the other. Colonel Drever has been sixteen years Commissioner of Police of Madras, and acted twice as Inspector General of Police. His supersession, when by Col. C. S. Hearn’s retirement that post became permanently vacant, caused very great surprise. Had Government not left the appointment open for eleven months, and thus led every one to believe that it was being kept for Col. Drever, he would probably not have returned to India. It was a cruel slight to a gallant and deserving officer to leave the appointment open, apparently for his acceptance, and then fill it up just in time for the news to reach him, when he arrived at Colombo.
It is, however, in connection with the great famine in 1877, that Colonel Drever showed to such conspicuous advantage. At all times capable of great energy, and doing the work he had to do with thoroughness, he set about the great task before him with the utmost enthusiasm. He had only recently returned from furlough to England, and was thus able to enter on the famine campaign in robust health, and with more than his usual natural energy about him. Many of our readers will recollect the condition of this city in the early days of the famine, when the streets were thronged with thousands of starving creatures, who had crawled in from the outlying districts to seek food in Madras. Several deaths occurred in the streets in Black Town, and the greatest alarm prevailed for a time that the bazaars would be looted by the starving crowds. It need hardly be added that the poor famine-stricken people brought many infectious diseases along with them, and both small-pox and cholera existed in a very virulent form. It was at this time, that Colonel Drever showed himself possessed of powers of organization of the highest order. In a few weeks, famine camps and hospitals had sprung up in all the principal suburbs of Madras, a cordon of Police protected the city from a further invasion from the districts, and bazaar-men again carried on their trading operations with the utmost security. At this time Colonel Drever may be said to have led a charmed life, for in the midst of so much infections disease he carried his life in his hand. Perhaps one of the most remarkable facts connected with the famine was, that though there were millions of bags of rice lying about on the Beach, no attempt was ever made by the starving people to commit a raid on the grain heaps. It is certain that a starving European crowd would never have shown so much patience and obedience to police authority. Colonel Drever’s arrangements for the maintenance of order and the control and protection of the famine-stricken people, in and around Madras, were simply admirable, and called forth unstinted praise from Sir Richard Temple when he came to Madras. The Duke of Buckingham too, who never spared himself in visiting the famine camps, took the warmest interest in Colonel Drever’s work, and showed his appreciation of it by recommending Colonel Drever, along with Dr. Cornish and Mr. Garstin, for the honor of C. S. I., when the so-called “famine campaign” came to a close. Colonel Drever received this well-merited honor at a New Year’s day Durbar, held on the island in 1879.
The technical name for the disease which killed Colonel Drever is jaundice. But he really died of a broken heart. It is an open secret that he never held up his head after the receipt of a G. O. appointing a Commission to investigate charges against his conduct and efficiency, and the administration of the Town Police since his return. This Commission was appointed at the persistent urging of an officer who ought, for many reasons, to have had the good taste to refrain from making any comments on Col. Drever’s efficiency. We believe that Government was really unwilling to go on with the matter after the submission in May of an explanation by Col. Drever. It is a pity that Mr. Grant Duff had not the moral courage and firmness to resist to the last the impulse to offer such an insult to a most deserving officer. He did, however, most unfortunately, give way to the influence of persistent insinuations against Colonel Drever’s efficiency, and at last appointed a Commission. To his friends, it is known, that after the receipt of the G. O., Colonel Drever said that it was his deathblow. The charges against him were of the most trumpery kind, and were proved groundless, but Colonel Drever drooped more and more. At last he completely broke down, and on Thursday last, he took to his bed never again to rise from it. Col. Drever did not wear his heart upon his sleeve for daws to peck at, and only those who were intimate with him, knew how keenly he felt slight or injustice. To those acquainted with the facts, there was a strange irony in Col. Drever’s fate in having to appear to answer such charges:
A falcon, towering in her pride of place,
Was by a mousing owl hawk’d at and kill’d.
Not the least keen of the pangs he had to suffer was to see his own subordinates called on to give evidence, not against him—for as already mentioned the charges turned out to be of the most paltry kind—but to give evidence as to his conduct and efficiency. A man of varied accomplishments and considerable attainments, linguistic, and in other ways, he possessed a strong masculine common sense which never failed him, and which not unseldom stood in the way of his gaining the favour of Governors, who as a rule prefer to deal with an entourage possessed of more pliable knees and a less unbending back. To a courage and gallantry of which he gave full proofs when occasion demanded their display, he added an almost womanly gentleness, especially with children, among whom he was always a great favourite—
He was a man, take him for all in all
We shall not look upon his like again
It may not be known that Colonel Drever’s father was in the Madras Army and died in the first Chinese war. He too was a gallant soldier of whom his brother officers were proud; for there is in St. George’s Cathedral a tablet to his memory along with that of other officers who died in that war. Subjoined is the official record of Colonel Drever’s service: –
Colonel William Scott Drever, C.S.I., (Born 22nd July 1830.)—Ensign, 11th June 1847; Arrived in India, 29th September 1847; 31st Madras N. I., 2nd October 1847; Sick Certificate to Europe, 8th April 1849 to 7th Feb. 1852; Lieutenant, 31st N. I., 10th July 1850; Quarter Master and Interpreter, 31st Regiment L. I. 30th June 1854; Executive Officer, D. P. W., 2nd January 1855; Superintendent of Police, North Canara, 7th May 1859; Captain Madras S. C. 18th Feb. 1861; Inspecting Supt. Of Police, Western Range, 21st February 1861; Privilege leave 27th April to 25th June 1861 and from 6th to 31st March 1863; Had charge of Canara District, 11th December 1861; Had charge of Malabar, 16th May 1862; Special leave in India from 10th June to 7th July 1863; Sick leave to Europe, 8th July 1863 to 25th October 1864; Inspecting Superintendent, Western Range, 25th October 1864; Privilege leave, 11th May to 8th June 1866; Major S. C., 11th June 1867; Acting Commissioner of Police, Town of Madras 1st August to 31st October 1867, and from 9th December 1867 to 12th December 1868; Justice of the Peace, 8th May 1868, Acting Inspector-General of Police, Madras, 13th December 1868; Acting Commissioner of Police 5th June 1869; Privilege leave, 6th June to 5th September 1869; Commissioner of Police, Town of Madras, 3rd September 1869; Officiating President of the Municipal Commission, Town of Madras, without prejudice to his duties, 7th September 1869; Privilege leave, 1st to 30th September 1870; Furlough on medical certificate, 14th October 1870 to 31st December 1871; Commissioner of Police, 4th January 1872; Acting Inspector-General of Police, 1st February 1872 to 4th January 1873; Lieutenant-Colonel, 11th June 1873; President of the Committee for the management of the Government Workhouse, Madras, 13th January 1874; Privilege leave, 8th September to 4th December 1874; Furlough, P. A., 9th May, 1875 to 2nd November 1876; Commissioner of Police, 6th November 1876; Acting Inspector-General of Police, 12th March 1878 to 4th November 1879; Companion of the Most Exalted order of the Czar (sp?) of India, 25th May 1878; Colonel, S. C., 11th June 1878; Commissioner of Police up to 24th August 1880; Furlough to Europe on medical certificate from 25th August 1880 to 22nd August 1882; Commissioner of Police, Madras, 25th August 1882.
War Services – Was employed in suppressing the insurrection in the Parlakimedi District in 1856 and 1857; was employed in North Canara in 1859 in conducting operations for the suppression of an armed insurrection in that district; on several occasion engaged in personal encounter with the rebels who were all eventually captured or slain. (Melal.)