Thomas Simson Pratt

Sir Thomas Pratt

Pratt as major-general, c. 1864
Birth nameThomas Simson Pratt
Born1797
Kingdom of Ireland[1]
Died2 February 1879 (aged 82)[2]
Bath, Somerset, England
Buried
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
Years of service1814–1879
RankGeneral
Battles / wars
AwardsChina War Medal (1842)
New Zealand War Medal
Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath[7]

General Sir Thomas Simson Pratt, KCB (1797 – 2 February 1879) was a British Army officer. He served in the First Anglo-Chinese War (1839–1841), in India from 1843 to 1855 where he was deputy adjutant-general at Madras, and was commander of the British Forces in Australia from 1856 to 1861. He was promoted to lieutenant-general on 31 May 1865, and to full general eight years later.

He was commander of the British Forces in New Zealand from 1860 to 1861, and was on the Executive Council. He commanded during the First Taranaki War, but as he realised the doubtful validity of the Waitara Purchase (the main cause of the war), he disagreed with Governor Gore Browne, and his military action was ridiculed by the local settlers. He was created KCB for his services in New Zealand by the British Government.

  1. ^ 1871 England Census
  2. ^ "Funeral of General Sir T. S. Pratt". Bath Chronicle. 13 February 1879. p. 7. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Bromley, Janet; Bromley, David (2015). Wellington's Men Remembered: A Register of Memorials to Soldiers who Fought in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo. Vol. 2 M–Z. Pen and Sword Military. ISBN 9781848847507.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hart1864 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian". Vol. 15, no. 1589. 24 October 1860. p. 2.
  6. ^ Prickett, Nigel (2016). Fortifications of the New Zealand Wars (PDF). Wellington: Department of Conservation. p. 158. ISBN 9780478150698.
  7. ^ The Collection of Medals Formed by Bill and Angela Strong (PDF), London: Dix Noonan Web, 18 May 2011, p. 139