In 1883, Lumsden was awarded a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath and was appointed as a commissioner on the Council of India for 10 years. He represented Britain a year later at the Anglo-Russian Commission for the demarcation of the north-west boundary of Afghanistan, then acted as British representative on the Afghan Frontier Commission. After retiring from military service in 1893, Lumsden served as a justice of the peace in his home county of Aberdeenshire, before dying on his 89th birthday, 9 November 1918, in Dufftown, Banffshire.
Lumsden's next period of active service was as quartermaster general on the staff of General Napier, who commanded the 2nd division of the expeditionary force to China during the Second Opium War, in 1860.[7] Lumsden took part in the operations of the Anglo-French forces, including the action of Sin-ho, the capture of Tang-ku and the capture of the Taku Forts that led up to the advance on and occupation of Beijing.[8] He was again mentioned in despatches and promoted to brevet-Major and then brevet-lieutenant-colonel.[7]
Lumsden served as Chief of Staff to the commander-in-chief, General Sir F. P. Haines, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, for which he received the Order of the Bath. In 1884, Lumsden returned to the North-West frontier, when he was selected as British representative on the Anglo-Russian Commission for the demarcation of the north-west boundary of Afghanistan.[9][10] While leading the Commission, he felt he had been given insufficiently clear instructions by the British government, which proved very dangerous as the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated to the brink of war with Russia.[11] He resigned and returned to England in 1885 after the Panjdeh Incident.[12] He left London to represent the British at negotiations with Russia in selecting the Afghan Frontier Commission to determine the Afghan boundary.[13]
Following completion of his tenure on the Council of India, Lumsden retired from military service in 1893.[16] He was placed on the Unemployed Supernumerary List three years later and settled down on Buchromb, an estate that he had purchased near Dufftown. During this time he co-wrote Lumsden of the Guides with G. R. Elsmie. The book detailed the role that his brother, Harry Burnett Lumsden, had played in founding The Corps of the Guides, a regiment of the British Indian Army.[17] He identified himself with local affairs and served as a justice of the peace and as Deputy Lieutenant for Banffshire and Aberdeenshire. Lumsden died on 9 November 1918 in his estate at Dufftown, Banffshire.[7]
Family
Lumsden was married to Mary Marriott in 1862.[16] His father was Colonel Thomas Lumsden CB,[2] with one of his three older brothers being Harry Burnett Lumsden. Thomas Lumsden was a distinguished officer of the Bengal Horse Artillery who had served in the Nepal Campaign of 1814 and at the siege of Hatrass and the capture of Kalunga in 1817.[18][19] Thomas was himself the son of Harry Lumsden, an advocate in Aberdeen who had bought an estate at Belhelvie. He returned home on leave from the Bengal Army in 1819 to marry Hay Burnett of Elrick, and went on to serve another 23 years in India before retiring to Belhelvie in 1842. They had a total of six sons, of whom three emigrated to Canada and two (Harry and Peter) followed in their father's footsteps by pursuing military careers in India.[20]
^"The Afghan Frontier". North Otago Times. Vol. XXXI, no. 6058. 21 May 1886. p. 4, col. 1. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
United Kingdom
Indian Army
