John Banks (East India Company officer)
John Sherbrooke Banks (1811–1857) was a British major in the East India Company’s army. He was nominated to a Bengal cadetship in 1828 and arrived in India in 1829. He joined the 33rd Bengal Native Infantry and became quartermaster and interpreter by 1833, later doing civil work in the Saugor and Nerbudda region. In 1842 he served with General Pollock’s march on Kabul and soon moved to a staff role in the military secretariat, where he won the confidence of the governor-general, Lord Dalhousie.
When the department head was absent, Banks (by then a captain) arranged the expedition that led to the conquest and annexation of Pegu (Burma). After the war he accompanied Dalhousie to Burma and joined the governor-general’s personal staff as military secretary. In July 1855 he was sent on a confidential mission to Lucknow to tell Sir James Outram the governor-general’s plan to annex Oudh.
After Dalhousie left India, Banks joined the Oudh Commission as commissioner of Lucknow and became a trusted adviser to Sir Henry Lawrence. On Lawrence’s deathbed, Banks was nominated to succeed as chief commissioner, but he died only a few weeks later. He was killed by a bullet to the head while inspecting a critical outpost on 21 July 1857 during the siege of Lucknow.
Banks was known for good judgement, tact, bravery, and his linguistic skills. His widow, the daughter of Major-General Fearon, received a special pension from the India Office in recognition of his services.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:30 (CET).