Friends of Hastings Cemetery

Lt.-Col. Philip Goldney (1802-1857) was the son of Thomas Goldney and Charlotte Milward.

Aged 31 he married Mary Louisa, who was 18, the eldest daughter of Colonel Holbrow, on the 4th of December 1833 at Calcutta, Bengal, India.

They had 8 children:

1. Philip Louis Brooke Goldney 1834–Deceased

2. Charlotte Catherine Goldney 1836–1921 

3. Eliza Elenora Goodwyn Goldney 1837–1912

4. Philip William Goldney 1839–1848

5. Mary Elizabeth Goldney 1847

6. Thomas Holbrow Goldney 1847–1915

7. Frederick Charles Napier Goldney 1849–1941

8. Amy Louise Goldney 1851–1933

Lt.-Col. Goldney was the civil commissioner for Faizalbad.  He was ambushed and killed in 1857 during the Indian Mutiny whilst trying to escape by boat from Faizabad, his party having reached as far as Begumjee, a distance of thirty miles, when they were attacked by mutineers.  Goldney ordered the boats to be pulled to an island in the river, and directed his officers to cross to the other side and escape across the country.  He himself declined to leave the island, and either remained under fire till he fell, or was seized by the mutineers and shot.

With no news of her husband, Mary Goldney's first thought was to make for Allahabad, together with her four [?[ children, Charlotte, Shirley, Thomas and Frederick.  But she abandoned this plan on hearing that all Europeans there had been slaughtered.  Along with the other families, she continued southwards, constantly pursued by bands of mutineers.

On 15 June, the party made contact with Rajah Madho Singh.  Though sympathetic to the rebel cause, this Rajah took mercy on the European women and children and sheltered them in his fort at Amethi…..

By 23 June, Allahabad had been recaptured and the Goldney family were able to board a steamer, which took them down the Ganges to Calcutta and safety

During a stop at Dinapoor, Captains Orr and Reid came aboard. Both these men had escaped from Fyzabad with Colonel Goldney, and bore witness to his selfless courage.

In 1861 she requested that her pension be paid in India.  It would seem she travelled back for a time, probably to stay with one of her children.

In the 1891 census Mary Goldney was living at 9 Villa Road, described as a lodging-keeper, with her daughter Amy Murray.

Sussex Express - Saturday 18 July 1891
On the 13th inst., at St. Leonards, Mary Louisa, widow of the late Col. Philip Goldney, Bengal Army, aged 70

EC O04

This grave was recorded in 2013 and is probably still extant, but at the moment it hasn’t been able to be verified.

Colonel Philip Goldney,
Bengal Army

 Who was killed 9th June 1857 near Hyderabad
in the Indian Mutin , aged 55 years

and of his widow Mary Louisa who died at St Leonards
13th July 1891 Aged 78 years.

Mary Louisa Goldney:

Escape from Sultanpoor in 1857

Privately published Jersey, June 9th, 1858.

 Reprinted in facsimile by Bates & Hindmarch [Cheltenham] 2020,