science

John Bennet Hearsey

John Bennet Hearsey is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand John Bennet Hearsey rather than just read about it. In short: Lieutenant-General Sir John Bennet Hearsey (21 January 1793 – 23 October 1865) was a British military officer who was colonel of the 21st Hussars and of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry. He was also an amateur naturalist and entomologist and collected a large number of insects from Asia.

Key takeaways

John Bennet Hearsey belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect John Bennet Hearsey to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of John Bennet Hearsey from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lieutenant-General Sir John Bennet Hearsey (21 January 1793 – 23 October 1865) was a British military officer who was colonel of the 21st Hussars and of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry. He was also an amateur naturalist and entomologist and collected a large number of insects from Asia.

Biography Hearsey was born in Midnapore, West Bengal, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Wilson Hearsey and Charlotte Crane. At the time of his birth, his father commanded the 9th Native Infantry at Midnapore. He married his half-niece Harriet Zihur-Ul-Nissa (1806–48), the only daughter of his half-brother Maj. Hyder Young Hearsey and the Khanum Zihur-ul-nissa. His mother-in-law was the daughter of the deposed Prince of Cambay. They had four sons and three daughters. After her death in London, he married Emma Rumball, with whom he had four sons and a daughter. Emma died in 1865. He died in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, from complications of bronchitis, aged 72. He was the great-uncle of Archdeacon Henry Hearsey.

Career Hearsey enlisted in the British Indian army in 1808. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1809, captain in 1819, major in 1833, lieutenant colonel in 1838, brevet colonel in 1849, colonel in 1852, major general in 1854, and lieutenant general in 1862. In 1817, Hearsey fought at the battle of Sitabuldi and the 1825–26 siege and capture of Bhurtpore. During the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1848-49, he fought at Battle of Chillianwala and Battle of Gujrat, and commanded the cavalry in the final pursuit and surrender of the Sikh army. He was injured in battle several times during his career. In 1857, he was the commanding officer at Barrackpore when sepoy Mangal Pandey attempted to start a mutiny and was threatening to shoot British officers. When confronted by Maj.-Gen. Hearsey and ordered to surrender, Pandey shot himself but survived. He and another Indian sepoy—who had refused to arrest Pandey—were later hanged, despite Pandey's pleas that he had been under the influence of opium and bhang at the time of his actions. The incident contributed to the Indian Rebellion of 1857. In July 1857, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath for his role in suppressing the rebellion.

Naturalist Hearsey had a keen interest in insects, collecting specimens from South Asia. He was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1847. He regularly exhibited his specimens from China and India, which were of great interest to British entomologists. Prophalangopsis obscura, a winged insect species found North India, was identified in 1865 by Francis Walker from Hearsey's specimen. His collection was a significant source for John O. Westwood's illustrated book Cabinet of Oriental Entomology; Being a Selection of Some of the Rarer and More Beautiful Species of Insects, Natives of India and the Adjacent Islands (1848). Species named after Hearsey include the stalk-eyed fly Sphyracephala hearseiana. Hearsey's entomological and botanical diary (1838–46) is held at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Gallery John O. Westwood's illustrations from Cabinet of Oriental Entomology based on Hearsey's collection:

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Bennet Hearsey

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Bennet Hearsey claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to John Bennet Hearsey before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about John Bennet Hearsey ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of John Bennet Hearsey

In research: John Bennet Hearsey appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses John Bennet Hearsey in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: John Bennet Hearsey is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1793 births, 1865 deaths, 19th-century British naturalists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Bennet Hearsey outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study John Bennet Hearsey in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what John Bennet Hearsey means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is John Bennet Hearsey in simple terms?

Why does John Bennet Hearsey matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study John Bennet Hearsey?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on John Bennet Hearsey.