Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) John Fortescue Finnis, 53rd Sikhs, 1911

Reproduction of portrait photograph by Langfier Limited, 1911.

Finnis was born 14 February 1870. He served as an officer in the Manchester Regiment before joining the Indian Army. Finnis rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. His death, in Mesopotamia on 14 January 1916, is recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and his name appears on the Basra Memorial in Iraq. Finnis is also commemorated on a Punjab Frontier Force memorial plaque from St Augustine's Church, Kohat, that is now in the National Army Museum Collection (NAM. 1998-10-105-2).

From a photograph album of 284 portrait photographs of British and Indian Officers of the Indian Contingent, who attended the Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary, 1911.

The Coronation of King George V and his wife Queen Mary took place on 22 June 1911 at Westminster Abbey. This was followed by the Delhi Coronation Durbar on 12 December 1911, which was attended by around 100,000 people.