John Spencer Login

, c. 1815. John Spencer Login was born in Stromness, Orkney, on 9 November 1809, to John Login of the merchant navy and his wife Margaret Spence, from Kirbuster, Birsay. He was ten years older than his brother, the Reverend William S. Login and there were at least two other brothers, Tom and James. With frequent travellers in town, the Login family would often have short-term lodgers who would share their travel stories. Login, perhaps, became inspired by these stories of the sea. The fear of their son going to sea led, Login's parents to send him to school in Kirkwall. Here, however, Login continued to hear sea stories from fishermen. Login's family encountered financial hardship when Login's father died prematurely and due to the absence of insurance, the family could no longer afford to repair the increasing number of shipwrecks. They eventually became reliant on the charity and hospitality of friends. As the Hudson Bay agent for Stromness, Margaret managed the inn, near the Login's Well. ==Early medical career==

Login was admitted to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh under James Syme at around the age of 15. Subsequently, he became surgeon-dresser to Adam Hunter and John Campbell at the Infirmary in Edinburgh. He received his licentiate (LRCSE) in 1828 at age 19. In 1829, he became house surgeon to Robert Liston and John Lizars, following which he became physician's clerk to James Gregory, Thomas Shortt and Robert Christison. He obtained his MD at the age of 21 years in 1831. At the recommendation of Thomas Shortt, Login was sent to provide medical supervision to the Lord Chief Commissioner Adam. Pleased with his treatment, Login was subsequently offered the post of assistant surgeon for the East India Company by John Loch, the Lord Chief's son-in-law. ==Early years in India==

Login arrived in Calcutta in July 1832, as assistant surgeon on the Bengal establishment, initially posted to the Buffs and then accompanying the regiment to Dinapore in October. In 1834, he was appointed to the Nizam's army and in 1836, to the staff of Lord Metcalfe, Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces. In 1838, he was appointed medical charge of the horse artillery in the Afghan campaign. ==Lucknow==

in 1838 as well as physician to the court of Oudh and Postmaster General of Oudh. one of whom was Spencer Login, an early rugby union international who represented England in 1875 and also had a career in the Royal Navy, rising to the rank of rear admiral. As physician to the Court of Oudh, Login was barred from directly examining women in the zenana. However, here, his wife Lena was able assist in diagnosing the medical conditions. In 1839, Login took responsibility for two thousand poor in Herat. After assisting with the re-building of the carpet weaving industry, political instability in the area caused the British mission to leave and Login to move to Kandahar and then Kabul, eventually returning again to Lucknow. Rejoining the Horse Artillery in 1848, Login sent his wife and children back to England. He then fought in the Second Anglo-Sikh War. ==Maharajah Duleep Singh and the Koh-i-Noor==

Following the death of Maharajah Ranjit Singh in 1839 and the ensuing decade of power struggles, civil war and First Anglo-Sikh War, the East India Company army defeated the Sikhs in 1849, resulting in the inducement of the ten year old Maharajah Duleep Singh to sign the Last Treaty of Lahore with the consequential annexation of Punjab. Subsequently, Login was entrusted with the company's two most significant possessions, the guardianship of Maharajah Duleep Singh and the protection of the Koh-i-Noor diamond. In addition, Login was put in charge of cataloguing the newly acquired treasures of the Sikh government's toshakhana (treasury). who saw Login as a significant figure in his life, calling him "MaBap", a collective appellation for mother and father.  The Koh-i-Noor was eventually handed over to Governor-General Dalhousie at the end of 1849 by Login, whilst still set in the armlet that Maharajah Ranjeet Singh had once worn. Lena Login returned to India to assist in the upbringing of Duleep Singh and later they escorted Duleep Singh to England in 1854. ==Later life==

Back in England, Login was knighted in 1854, and with his wife continued the guardianship of the Duleep Singh until 1858. In the same year, he retired from the Bengal Medical Service. Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, he sat on the committee that was set up to investigate all reported brutalities, being one of the interviewers himself. ==Death and legacy==

In 1862-3 he visited India for the last time, to establish the Indian Railways. Upon his return to Britain, he died suddenly at Felixstowe on 18 October 1863 following a short illness and two months after the death of Duleep Singh's mother. ==References==