History

24 Dec 1878

Hugh MacCalmont was part of the 'Wolseley Gang', a group of officers who worked closely with the first High Commissioner of Cyprus, and was ADC to Sir Garnet Wolseley during his tenure on the island

 

Hugh MacCalmont was part of the 'Wolseley Gang', a group of officers who worked closely with the first High Commissioner of Cyprus, and was ADC to Sir Garnet Wolseley during his tenure on the island:

A proper “Government House”, a great big wooden barrack of a place, had been run up, and Lady Wolseley arrived on Christmas Eve, bringing with her little daughter Frances, who is now Viscountess Wolseley. Some other officers’ wives made their appearance. “She is quite the Queen of Cyprus” I wrote home about Lady Wolseley, “receiving deputations of Turks and Greeks, who go in for worshipping the ground she treads on. In the meantime the unfortunate ADC is engaged in showing these brutes to their chairs, ordering cigarettes and coffee, doing everything, in fact, except handing these delicacies to them…It was an utter mistake leaving Constantinople in every way.