William Erskine Baker

General Sir William Erskine Baker KCB (29 November 1808 – 16 December 1881) was a senior British Indian Army officer, who became Military Secretary to the India Office.

Early life William Erskine Baker was born in Leith, near Edinburgh, Scotland, on 29 November 1808 and was the fourth son of Elizabeth and Captain Joseph Baker R.N. His father died in 1817, and in 1821 he, his mother and eight siblings went to live with his mother’s uncle, Admiral James Vashon, in Ludlow, Shropshire. He was posted to the Irrigation Department of the North-West Provinces under the command of Colonel Colvin,

In 1843, following the annexation of the Sindh to British India, Baker was appointed Superintendent of Canals and Forests in Sindh. He served in the First Anglo-Sikh War and fought at the Battle of Sobraon in 1846.

Personal life In 1837 Baker married Frances Gertrude Duncan, third daughter of Major-General Alexander Duncan, on 29 June 1837. They were married for 44 years, but had no children. On 27 February the following year Baker’s sister Josephine married Colonel John Colvin in Ludlow, Shropshire.