Showing 6112 results

Sir Alexander Johnston, PC, FRS (25 April 1775 – 6 March 1849), was born in Carnsalloch, Dumfriesshire but moved with his family to India when his father received a posting in the Madras Presidency. He returned to England to study law. Johnston became a British colonial official who served as third Chief Justice of Ceylon and second Advocate Fiscal of Ceylon. He introduced a range of administrative reforms to the country and was an advocate of the rights of the native people. He was also an orientalist and along with Henry Thomas Colebrooke and others he was a founding member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

Sir Alexander Malet was the son of Sir Charles Warre Malet.

Arnold Talbot Wilson was born in 1884 and educated at Clifton College. He started his military career in 1903 and went to serve in India. From there he was posted to Iran. In 1907, Wilson was transferred to the Indian Political Department and sent to the Persian Gulf, where he served as a political officer. Wilson oversaw the discovery of the first oil site in the Middle East, Masjid-i-Suleiman, in 1908. He became Consul-General of Muhammerah (1909–11) and was put in charge of the Turko-Persian Frontier Commission. In January 1915 as the British were moving troops from India into Mesopotamia through the Persian Gulf and Basra, Wilson was designated as the assistant, and then deputy, to Sir Percy Cox, the British Political Officer for the region. Based in Baghdad, he then became the acting Civil Commissioner for Mesopotamia. He continued to serve in this role until 1920. He retired from service in 1921.
In 1933, Wilson was elected in a by-election as the Conservative MP for Hitchin. However, in October 1939 after the outbreak of the war, he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, serving as a pilot officer (air gunner) in 37 Squadron of RAF Bomber Command. Still an MP, he was killed in northern France, near Dunkirk, on 31 May 1940 when his bomber aircraft crashed. He is buried at Eringhem churchyard, half-way between Dunkirk and Saint-Omer.

Arnold Talbot Wilson was born in 1884 and educated at Clifton College. He started his military career in 1903 and went to serve in India. From there he was posted to Iran. In 1907, Wilson was transferred to the Indian Political Department and sent to the Persian Gulf, where he served as a political officer. Wilson oversaw the discovery of the first oil site in the Middle East, Masjid-i-Suleiman, in 1908. He became Consul-General of Muhammerah (1909–11) and was put in charge of the Turko-Persian Frontier Commission. In January 1915 as the British were moving troops from India into Mesopotamia through the Persian Gulf and Basra, Wilson was designated as the assistant, and then deputy, to Sir Percy Cox, the British Political Officer for the region. Based in Baghdad, he then became the acting Civil Commissioner for Mesopotamia. He continued to serve in this role until 1920. He retired from service in 1921.

In 1933, Wilson was elected in a by-election as the Conservative MP for Hitchin. However, in October 1939 after the outbreak of the war, he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, serving as a pilot officer (air gunner) in 37 Squadron of RAF Bomber Command. Still an MP, he was killed in northern France, near Dunkirk, on 31 May 1940 when his bomber aircraft crashed. He is buried at Eringhem churchyard, half-way between Dunkirk and Saint-Omer.

Sir Charles Colville was the second son of John, ninth Lord Colville of Culross. He entered the army in 1781, and was a career soldier serving, amongst other places, in the West Indies, Ireland, Egypt and Gibraltar, and rising to the rank of General. He was was commander-in-chief at Bombay from 1819 to 1825, and governor of the Mauritius from 1828 to 1834. He was promoted to General in 1837, and died on 27 March 1843 at Rosslyn House, Hampstead.

Sir Charles Forbes was educated at Aberdeen University before going to India as head of the first mercantile house, Forbes and Co. of Bombay. He not only conducted business but was also involved in community projects such as ensuring fresh water for the local inhabitants. On leaving India he returned to England where he served as MP for Beverley, Yorkshire, from 1812-1818, and then for Malmesbury, Wiltshire, from 1818-1832. He supported Catholic emancipation and votes for women.

He married Elizabeth Cotgrave (d.1861) in 1811. Forbes died in 1849. His eldest son, John, had predeceased his father. The title Forbes had inherited from his uncle was, in turn, inherited by his second son, Charles. His daughter, Elizabeth, married General, Lord James Hay, second son of the seventh Marquess of Tweeddale.

Sir Charles Warre Malet entered the service of the East India Company at an early age. He filled various posts, including charge of a mission to the Mughal emperor and of the residency at Cambay from 1774 to 1785, where he formed views in favour of expanding British power in India. Malet also developed an unrivalled knowledge of Gujarat and western India more generally, and was dispatched by the government in Calcutta to persuade the Maratha leader Sindhia to accept the appointment of a company resident to the court of the peshwa at Poona, a post which he took up himself in November 1785. He considered western India an asset to improve British trade with China, and considered it important to have greater control over the rulers of western India. When Tipu Sultan attacked Travancore in 1789, Cornwallis made an alliance with the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Peshwa of Mahratta through Malet. This treaty was signed with difficulty, as Tipu also sought to forge alliances with the Peshwas. For his efforts Malet was created a baronet in February 1791. Malet retired to Britain in 1798 accompanied by Susanna (d. 1868), daughter of the portrait painter James Wales. The couple married on 17 September the following year and had eight sons. He died at Bath on 24 January 1815, when he was described as living at Wilbury House, Wiltshire.