A Son of the Widow

William Richard Acock served as a gunner in the British Royal Artillery during the 1890s in India and present-day Pakistan. In this rare volume, amassed from his original handwritten and typed accounts more than a century later, he shares his timeless and compelling firsthand experiences. From his hometown of Stratford-on-Avon in England, the young twenty-year old came of age in the British Raj while guarding the Khyber Pass, jungle-hunting for tigers, and falling in love with a beautiful sixteen-year old Eurasian girl. As a part of the rank and file, Acock's tastes were simple: loyal friends, patriotic assignments, new adventures, and plenty of beer. While remaining a loyal son of the Widow, Queen Victoria, Acock expanded his close circle of enlisted friends to include a Muslim camel-trader, a Hindu merchant, and a low-caste shoe cleaner. His gregarious and curious nature ensnared him in a host of scrapes, attracted him to exotic new people and experiences, and in doing so, expanded his perceptions to include the possibilities not only of mesmerism and transmigration, but a more universal acceptance of people of all faiths and backgrounds. This book contains the words and writings of W.R. Acock, and has been brought to print by his proud descendants, and is a fitting tribute to one man s extraordinary life.