Edward Everett was born on 4 June 1835 and educated at Marlborough. He entered the 79th as an ensign on 1 Mar 1855 and joined the regiment in the Crimea after the fall of Sebastopol. He was with the regiment in India in 1858-59, at Lucknow and the other actions to curtail the Mutiny. He was a captain on 2 May 1865, promoted to major on 1 July 1881. He was with the regiment in the Nile Expedition of 1884-85 for which he was awarded a brevet of lieutenant-colonel. He was second in command of the regiment for the Sudan Frontier Force operations in 1885-86 and highly commended for his command of six companies of the regiment and Egyptian troops in a night attack on Kosheh at Ginnis. At Absari he again led a very brave sortie with the Cameron Highlanders against dervish snipers who were harassing his two companies as they stayed under cover. The bayonet charge killed 14 of the enemy but resulted in an officer and man being killed and two officers and 3 men wounded. Everett was awarded the DSO for his actions at this, the battle of Ginnis.
Colonel Everett succeeded to the command of the 1st Battalion, Cameron Highlanders in July 1887 and he retired on 15 June 1889. He was appointed CB in 1907. He died in Bournemouth on 2 April 1920. The medals shown below were sold at Noonans of Mayfair in May 2016. They include the CB, the DSO, the Indian Mutiny medal, the medal for Egypt and Sudan 1882-1889, and the Khedive’s Star 1884-86. The medal on the right is the Order of the Medjidie 3rd Class. The photo shows him in the dress uniform of the 79th Highlanders in the rank of captain c1870, showing a crown and star on his collar.
