Henry Berkeley Fitzhardinge Maxse

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Berkeley Fitzhardinge Maxse KCMG (1832, Effingham Hill, England – 10 September 1883, St. John's, Newfoundland) was a Newfoundland colonial leader and a captain during the Crimean War.

"Fitz-Maxse" pictured during the Crimean War. (Henry Berkeley FitzHardinge Maxse) (1832-1883)

Maxse's grave in Brookwood Cemetery

Maxse was commissioned lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards in 1849 and transferred to the 13th Light Dragoons and then the 21st Foot in 1852. He was promoted captain in 1854 and transferred to the Coldstream Guards in 1855. He was promoted major in 1855 and lieutenant-colonel in 1863.

He was wounded at the Battle of Balaclava and received medals of honour for his service. He was lieutenant-governor of Heligoland in 1863 and appointed as governor the following year. Maxse became governor of Newfoundland in 1881.

Maxse was instrumental in the construction of the Newfoundland Railway. Most of his term as governor was spent in Germany with his wife, Auguste von Rudloff (d.1915). A noted German-language scholar, he published an English translation of Bismarck's Letters to his Wife and Sisters.

Maxse died as a result of the injuries he suffered at the Battle of Balaclava. He is buried in Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey.