John Doran (British Army officer)

General Sir John Doran, KCB (2 October 1824 – 25 September 1903)^[1][2] was a British Army officer from an established Irish family with links to Irish nobility. He saw extensive service in India and the North West Frontier.^[3][4] He had originally taken a commission in one of the East India Company Regiments (the 24th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry) in 1842.^[5]

Sir John Doran
Born	(1824-10-02)2 October 1824 Ireland
Died	25 September 1903(1903-09-25) (aged 78) Surrey, England
Branch	East India Company British Army
Rank	General
Unit	24th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Relations	Major General Beauchamp Doran (son) Brigadier General Walter Doran (son)

In 1893, whilst serving as a lieutenant general in India, Doran was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.^[6][7] He was promoted full general on 1 April 1894.^[8]

Family

Doran's younger brother Robert Doran, also a British Army officer, was killed in the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852.^[9]

Doran married Georgina Sultana Magrath in London on 13 November 1856.^[10] The Dorans had four sons and four daughters; three of the sons had military careers and served as officers in the First World War. Two retired in general officer rank. One daughter married a senior British Army officer, and another daughter served as a sister in the Army Nursing Service, and died after contracting gastritis whilst nursing at Carnarvon, Cape Colony, during the Second Boer War.^[11]

This military family had strong links with the County Wexford in Ireland. His father was Major John Doran of Ely House, Wexford. General Doran died in Surrey, England.^[12] His wife survived him by a further nine years; she died in Wexford, Ireland in 1912.^[13]