Hugh Fraser, engineer and British army officer in India, was born on this day.
He arrived in India in 1828 as lieutenant in Bengal Engineers of the East Indian Company army. For a few years he worked with the department of public works, participating in land and road surveys as well as in projects of road and bridge construction in north India. He was then posted at Fort William as garrison engineer and also appointed civil architect of the Bengal Presidency in 1847.
He played a major role in the British campaign as commanding engineer in the Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852-1853), alone mounting the defences of his opponents during an attack, for which he won high praise from the British government. He stayed back in Burma and was part of major building work, leaving his stamp on the architecture of Rangoon (Yangon).
Before the 1857 Uprising he was appointed chief engineer of the Punjab and in April 1857 chief engineer, North-Western Provinces at Agra. He distinguished himself at the battle of Sussia in July 1857. He was promoted to the post of colonel in September 1857, and appointed lieutenant-governor of the North-Western Provinces.
Fraser died in Mussoorie in August 1858, and is buried there.