Henry Berkeley Fitzhardinge Maxse

Who was Henry Berkeley Fitzhardinge Maxse?

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Berkeley Fitzhardinge Maxse KCMG was a Newfoundland colonial leader and a Captain during the Crimean War.

Maxse was commissioned Lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards in 1849 and transferred to the 13th Light Dragoons and then the 21st Foot in 1852. He was promoted Captain in 1854 and transferred to the Coldstream Guards in 1855. He was promoted Major in 1855 and Lieutenant-Colonel in 1863.

He was wounded at the Battle of Balaclava and received medals of honour for his service. He was lieutenant-governor of Heligoland in 1863 and appointed as governor the following year. Maxse became governor of Newfoundland in 1881.

Maxse was instrumental in the construction of the Newfoundland Railway. Most of his term as governor was spent in Germany with his wife. A noted German-language scholar, he published an English translation of Bismarck's Letters to his Wife and Sisters.

Maxse died as a result of the injuries he suffered at the Battle of Balaclava.