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Authority record
Sir Charles Forbes
Person · 1773-1849

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 Colville
Person · 1770-1843

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 Arnold Talbot Wilson
Person · 1884-1940

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 Arnold Talbot Wilson
Person · 1884-1940

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 Alexander Malet
Person · 1800-1886

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

Sir Alexander Johnston
Person · 1775-1849

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.