Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 1.djvu/365

 1900 he was joined by the Rev. O. C. Tomkins. The end came, in the way so often feared and so often nearly reached, in 1901. On 4 April Chalmers and Tomkins, with some South Sea mission boys and a teacher, sailed for Goaribari Island. They reached Risk Point on 7 April and anchored off the village of Dopima. Crowds boarded the boat and would not leave. In the hope of drawing them off, Chalmers and Tomkins landed with their party. They never returned. Invited into a native house, the missionaries were knocked on the head, killed, and eaten. Chalmers was twice married: (1) to Jane, daughter of Peter Hercus, who died at Sydney on 20 Feb. 1879; and (2) to Elizabeth Harrison, a widow who, as Elizabeth Large of Leeds, had been a friend of his first wife. She died on the island of Dam on 5 Oct. 1900. There were no children. Chalmers was a man of simple, unquestioning faith and overflowing zeal, of sanguine temperament, restless spirit, and dauntless courage; in manner unconventional, and possessing singular powers of winning the confidence alike of white men and of the wildest savages. He was an excellent speaker, and had some command of vivid, picturesque narrative. He left three records of his experiences: 'Work and Adventure in New Guinea' (jointly with W. Wyatt Gill, 1885; new edit. 1902); 'Pioneering in New Guinea' (1887; new edit. 1902); and 'Pioneer Life and Work in New Guinea' (1895). His autobiography is incorporated in the Life by Lovett (1902).

 CHAMBERLAIN, CRAWFORD TROTTER (1821–1902), general, born in London on 9 May 1821, was third son of Sir Henry Chamberlain, first baronet, sometime consul-general and chargé d'affaires in Brazil, by his second wife. Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain [q. v. Suppl. II] was an elder brother.

After education at private schools and under tutors Crawford obtained a cadetship in the Bengal army in 1837, and was posted to the 28th Bengal native infantry. From this corps he was transferred to the 16th Bengal native infantry, and with the outbreak of the Afghan war in 1839 his active service began. He was present at the siege of Ghazni (23 July 1839) and at the operations around Kandahar. In Sept. 1841 he was appointed to the command of the 5th Janbaz cavalry, and in the following month he became adjutant of Christie's horse. Until the end of the Afghan campaign he was engaged in constant and severe fighting. In 1843 he was sent to Scinde with two squadrons of Christie's horse as an independent command, to be known as Chamberlain's horse. In 1845 he was invalided to the Cape, where he married. Next year he returned to India as second in command of the 9th irregular cavalry, into which his own corps had been absorbed. During the Sikh war (1845-9) he was constantly in action. He was at the battle of Chillian walla on 13 Jan. 1849, receiving the medal and clasp. On 30 Jan. he was again engaged in the neighbourhood; here he was wounded, and was made the subject of a special despatch by Lord Gough (31 Jan.) (, Sir Neville Chamberlain, pp. 236-7). At the battle of Gujarat on 21 Feb., he had to be lifted into the saddle, where he remained throughout the day. He was awarded the clasp, was mentioned in despatches, and, being promoted to captain and brevet major in Nov. 1849, was given the command of the 1st irregular cavalry, formerly Skinner's horse. He served with them in the Momund expedition of 1854 and received a medal and clasp.

With 1857 came more serious work. On the outbreak of the mutiny Chamberlain displayed the utmost courage and resolution. The force of his influence and the fine state of discipline in his regiment were made manifest when his men, in the midst of mutiny, suspected and overt, volunteered to shoot condemned rebels at Jullundur (4 June 1857). Stronger proof still was forthcoming, when Chamberlain, although not the senior officer on the spot, was entrusted with the dangerous duty of disarming the 62nd and 69th regiments at Mooltan. He executed this commission on 11 June with what was described as 'an extraordinary mixture of audacity and skill.' Sir John Lawrence in his report declared that 'the disarming at Mooltan was a turning-point in the Punjab crisis second only in importance to the disarming at Lahore and Peshawur.' At Cheechawutnee (Sept.) Chamberlain was attacked by an overwhelming force of the enemy,. and was compelled to take the unusual course of housing his cavalry in a caravanserai. The situation required great promptness and the firmest exercise of discipline. Chamberlain himself was 