[1] He was born in Paris, the youngest of five sons of Edward Greathed (née Harris) and Mary Elizabeth Glyn of Uddens House, Wimborne, Dorset.

Two months later he was asked to repeat the feat, reached Meerut and joined Sir Henry Barnard beyond the Jumna river, later taking a major part in the Battle of Badli-ki-Serai on 8 June 1857.

On the capture of Lucknow, he returned to his railway duties and was rewarded for his services in the mutiny by a brevet majority and the award of CB in the 1860 Birthday Honours.

On arrival in England, he was promoted brevet lieutenant-colonel for his service in China and spent the next four years as assistant military secretary at the Horse Guards.

In 1872, when at home on leave, he read a paper before the Institute of Civil Engineers on The Irrigation Works of the North-West Provinces, for which he received a Telford Medal.