Page 159 - Arabian Studies (V)

The Political Residents of Aden:
Biographical Notes

Robin Bid well

1839 (January) to 1854 (February)
HAINES, Captain Stafford Bettesworth
Born in 1802, he joined the Bombay Marine as a midshipman.
Haines made his name as a Marine Surveyor and, after charting the
southern shores of Arabia, reported that Aden was the most
suitable place between Bombay and Suez for the establishment of a
coaling station. He commanded the forces which captured the town
and presided over its rapid expansion as a fortress and as an
entrepot. It is not proposed to discuss his administration in detail as
this has been done well by Gordon Waterfield in Sultans of Aden
(London, 1968) and by R. J. Gavin in Aden under British Rule,
1839-1967 (London, 1975). He was summarily dismissed, accused
of financial mismanagement and confined in a debtor’s prison. He
died in 1860, shortly after his release.
1854 (June-October)
OUTRAM, Colonel James
Born in 1803, he received an Indian cadetship and joined the
Bombay Infantry in 1819. Despite numerous campaigns, he found
time to shoot 191 tigers between 1825 and 1834. He distinguished
himself in the Afghan War of 1839, carrying out various missions
in local disguise. He played a prominent part in the annexation of
Scind and was saluted by its conqueror, General Napier, as ‘the
Bayard of India’. In 1847 he was appointed to the highest post
under the Bombay Government—that of Resident at Baroda,
where he conducted a zealous campaign against corruption. His
biographers, General Sir Frederic Goldsmid and Captain Lionel
Trotter both make it clear that he was not pleased at being sent to
Aden, but once there, he acted with typical vigour. He conducted a
campaign against the Fadhlis who, as his adviser G. P. Badger said,

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