Lieutenant General The Rt Hon Sir Henry Knight Storks GCB, GCMG 1870 - 1874

Born in 1811, Sir Henry Knight Storks was the eldest son of Mr Serjeant H Storks, who later became a County Court Judge.

After education at Charterhouse he entered the Army as an Ensign in the 61st Foot on 10th January 1828, and became a Lieutenant on 2nd March 1832. On 23rd March he exchanged to the 14th Foot in which he became a Captain on 30th October 1835. On 30th May of the following year he exchanged to the 38th Foot with whom he served in the Ionian Islands.

After obtaining his majority on 7th August 1840 he went on half pay from the Regiment on 23rd May 1845. He was employed as Assistant Adjutant General at the Cape of Good Hope during the Kaffir War of 1846 - 47 and was Assistant Military Secretary at Mauritius from 1849 - 1854. He was given an unattached Lieutenant Colonelcy on 15th September 1848 and became Colonel on 28th November 1854.

During the Crimean War he was placed in charge of British establishments in Turkey and superintended the final withdrawal of the British from Turkey at the end of the war.

Employment as Secretary for military correspondence at the War Office from 1857 - 1859 followed.

He was made KCB on 2nd January 1857 and on 2nd February 1859 he was appointed High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands, being the last man to hold that post. He received the GCMG in 1860 and was promoted Major General on 12th November 1862.

Following complaints against two Ionian judges, he found it necessary to reorganise the judicial bench before the British protectorate ended by treaty on 14th November 1863.

On 1st July 1864 he received the GCB and was made Governor of Malta on 15th November of the same year. In 1865 he was sent to Jamaica to enquire into disturbances there, becoming Governor on 12th December 1865 and holding the appointment until 16th July 1866. As a reward for his services he was made a Privy Councillor. On 19th December 1867 he was appointed Controller- in- Chief and Under- Secretary at the War Office.

He was appointed Colonel of the 70th Regiment on 10th October 1870 at which time the Regiment was serving in Ireland. There they gained such a good reputation that many Irishmen enlisted in it.

He was elected MP for Ripon on 15th February 1871 and assisted Cardwell in the prolonged debates on the abolition of purchase in the Army. He became Lieutenant General on 25th October of the same year. He lost his Parliamentary seat at the election of 1874 and died later in the same year on 6th September.