Harry Lowis

{{short description|English cricketer and soldier}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Harry Lowis

| image =

| country = England

| fullname = Harry Elliott Lowis

| birth_date = 9 September 1864

| birth_place = Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India

| death_date = {{death date and age|1938|2|13|1864|9|9|df=yes}}

| death_place = Marylebone, London, England

| nickname =

| family =

| batting = Unknown

| bowling = Unknown

| role =

| club1 = Europeans

| year1 = 1892/93–1897/98

| club2 = Bombay

| year2 = 1902/03

| columns = 1

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 6

| runs1 = 163

| bat avg1 = 18.11

| 100s/50s1 = –/1

| top score1 = 72

| deliveries1 = 160

| wickets1 = 4

| bowl avg1 = 22.50

| fivefor1 = –

| tenfor1 = –

| best bowling1 = 1/5

| catches/stumpings1 = 2/–

| date = 30 November

| year = 2023

| source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/harry-lowis-30787 ESPNcricinfo

}}

Harry Elliott Lowis (9 September 1864 – 13 February 1938) was an English first-class cricketer and an officer in both the British Army and the British Indian Army.

The son of Edmund Elliot Lowis, he was born in British India at Calcutta in September 1864. He attended the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, graduating from there as a lieutenant into the 1st West India Regiment in May 1885.{{London Gazette|issue=25468|date=8 May 1885|page=2107}} In April 1889, he transferred to the British Indian Army,{{London Gazette|issue=26114|date=12 December 1890|page=6991}} with promotion to captain following in May 1896.{{London Gazette|issue=26768|date=14 August 1896|page=4632}} In India, Lowis played first-class cricket, making his first-class debut for the Europeans cricket team against the Parsees at Bombay in the 1892–93 Bombay Presidency Match;{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/13/13969/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Harry Lowis|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=30 November 2023|url-access=subscription}} this was the first cricket match played in India with first-class status. Between 1892 and 1897, he played in five first-class matches for the Europeans, in addition to playing for Bombay against the touring Oxford University Authentics in November 1902. In six first-class matches, he scored 163 runs at an average of 18.11; he made one half century, a score of 72.{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/harry-lowis-30787|title=Player profile: Harry Lowis|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=30 November 2023}} With the ball, he took 4 wickets at a bowling average of 22.50.

He continued to serve in the British Indian Army into the 1900s, gaining promotion to the rank of major in May 1903 and lieutenant colonel in January 1911.{{London Gazette|issue=27578|date=21 July 1903|page=4592}}{{London Gazette|issue=28506|date=20 June 1911|page=4606}} He spent time in British Hong Kong with the 119th Infantry from at least 1903 to 1906.{{cite book|title=Who's who in the Far East|publisher=The China Mail|location=British Hong Kong|year=1906|page=207|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LiZEAAAAIAAJ|language=en}} Serving with the 10th Jats during the First World War, he was conferred the rank of brevet colonel in October 1915 as a reward for distinguished service in the field.{{London Gazette|issue=29344|date=29 October 1915|page=10728|supp=y}} In March 1916, he was mentioned in dispatches during Operations in the Tochi for commanding a frontal attack with great skill against a force of Khostwal tribesmen estimated at some 7–8,000.{{London Gazette|issue=29514|date=17 March 1916|page=3038|supp=y}}{{London Gazette|issue=29652|date=4 July 1916|page=6701|supp=y}} Lowis gained the full rank of colonel in January 1917,{{London Gazette|issue=30351|date=23 October 1917|page=10990|supp=y}} and was later made a temporary brigadier-general when he was appointed an inspector of depots in September 1917.{{London Gazette|issue=30388|date=16 November 1917|page=11936|supp=y}}

He retired from active service in April 1920, nearly two years after the conclusion of the First World War.{{London Gazette|issue=31891|date=7 May 1920|page=5254}} Lowis returned to England, where he retired to Westward Ho! in Devon. He died while visiting Marylebone on 13 February 1938.{{cite news|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000329/19380422/024/0004|title=Wished ashes to be thrown away|work=Western Morning News|location=Plymouth|page=4|date=22 April 1938|access-date=30 November 2023|url-access=subscription|via=British Newspaper Archive}}