James Hallen

Col James H B Hallen CIE FRCSE FRCVS (d.1902) was a 19th-century British veterinarian who served as Principal of the Dick Vet School in Edinburgh from for the academic year 1866/67. His is best remembered for his role as General Superintendent of Horse Btreeding in India and Chief Veterinary Officer to India and his work on the Indian cattle plagues.

Life

He was the son of an army veterinary surgeon. He studied Veterinary Science at William Dick's Veterinary College on Clyde Street in Edinburgh.

In 1866 following the death of William Dick he ran the college on an interim basis until the autumn of 1867 when he was replaced on a permanent basis by Prof William Williams.

In 1868 he was dispatched to Bombay to deal with a sudden outbreak of cattle plague in India.[1]

In 1876 he became the first General Superintendent of Horse Breeding for the British Army in India. This new service focussed on supply of horses and mules to the British Army: a truly huge task in India. This was in response to Lord Northbrook's new policy to breed horses and mules in India rather than import them from Australia and Persia as was the previous practice. The practicalities of this included Hallen's encouragement to Indian farmers to utilise female horses rather than oxen for ploughing purposes. Due to Hallen's popularity in the farming society this was partially successful. But partial success in a country the size of India is still capable of huge impact.[2]

For his services Queen Victoria created him Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE).

He died in June/July 1902.

Artistic recognition

Hallen was one of twenty "shadow portraits" created in the Summerhall building of the college, depicting former Principals. The portraits are now in the Easter Bush buildings.[3]

Family

Not known.

Publications
  • Report of the Indian Cattle Plagues (1871)
  • Cattle Plague: A History (1871)
  • Manual of the More Deadly Forms of Cattle Disease in India (1872)
  • Some Diseases of Cattle in India

References
  1. "Abhilekh Patal". www.abhilekh-patal.in.
  2. Animal Labor and Colonial Warfare: James Hevia
  3. "Edinburgh, Summerhall, Royal (Dick) Veterinary College | Canmore". canmore.org.uk.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.