Sir Henry Knight Storks GCMG GCB (1811 – 6 September 1874) was a British soldier and colonial governor.
Educated at Charterhouse School, he entered the Army on 10 January 1828 as an ensign of the 61st Regiment of Foot. He was promoted lieutenant on 2 March 1832, exchanged to the 14th Regiment of Foot on 23 March 1832 and was promoted captain on 30 October 1835. Exchanging to the 38th Regiment of Foot on 30 May 1836, he served with them in the Ionian Islands in 1840 and was promoted major on 7 August 1840. He married a Neapolitan lady surnamed Mizzoli in 1841, but she died in 1848.
He went on half pay from the regiment on 23 May 1845 and served in a variety of staff posts. He served as an Assistant Adjutant General during the seventh of the Cape Frontier Wars from 1846 to 1847, and was subsequently promoted to an unattached lieutenant colonelcy on 15 September 1848. From 1849 to 1854, he was Assistant Military Secretary at Mauritius, and was promoted colonel on 28 November 1854.
Promoted major-general, Storks superintended the British bases set up in Ottoman territory during the Crimean War, where he supported the nursing efforts of Florence Nightingale. After the war, he was awarded the KCB (2 January 1857) and employed from 1857 to 1859 by the War Office as Secretary for Military Correspondence.
He now began his career in colonial government, appointed Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands on 2 February 1859. While serving there, he was created GCMG in 1860, and reorganized the judiciary of the islands before the end of the commissionership (by treaty) on 14 November 1863. He was made a GCB on 1 July 1864. Sent next to Malta, he was appointed Governor on 15 November 1864. However, he was called the next year to Jamaica to investigate the disturbances there, including the Morant Bay rebellion, and was appointed Governor of Jamaica on 12 December 1865. He held that post until 16 July 1866. Upon his return, he was created a Privy Councillor (10 November 1866). He resigned the Governorship of Malta on 15 May 1867.
Now back at the War Office, he was appointed Controller-in-Chief and Under-Secretary at the War Office on 19 December 1867. There, he was involved in the re-organization of Army logistics that took place after the Crimean War. He was appointed Surveyor-General of the Ordnance on 5 August 1870, the first to hold that post since the Crimean War. On 10 October 1870 he was appointed colonel of the 70th Regiment of Foot, an office he held for the remainder of his life.
Entering politics, he was elected Member of Parliament for Ripon in 1871, and was promoted lieutenant general on 25 October 1871. While in Parliament, he spoke in favor of the abolition of the purchase system of Army commissions. He was also a strong supporter of the Contagious Diseases Acts, a stance which contributed to his defeat by Earl de Grey in 1874. He died shortly after losing the election, on 6 September 1874.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Ewart Gladstone |
Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands 1859–1863 |
Succeeded by end of British protectorate |
| Preceded by Sir John Gaspard Le Marchant |
Governor of Malta 1864–1867 |
Succeeded by Sir Patrick Grant |
| Preceded by Edward John Eyre |
Governor of Jamaica 1865–1866 |
Succeeded by Sir John Peter Grant |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Lord John Hay |
Member of Parliament for Ripon 1871–1874 |
Succeeded by Earl de Grey |
| Military offices | ||
| Vacant
Title last held by
Lauderdale Maule |
Surveyor-General of the Ordnance 1870–1874 |
Succeeded by Lord Eustace Cecil |