EVEREST, George. Gwernvale near Crickhowell, Wales (or Greenwich?) 4.6.1790 — London 1.12.1866. Sir. British (Welsh) Colonial Officer (Military Engineer) and Geographer in India. Eponymous for Mount Everest. Son of William Tristram Everest (1747–1825), a solicitor and justice of peace, and Lucetta Mary Smith (1766–1809). Educated at the military schools of…
EASTWICK, Edward Backhouse. Warfield, Berkshire 13.3.1814 — Ventnor, Isle of Wight 16.7.1883. British Colonial Officer, Diplomat, Indologist and Oriental Scholar (Urdu and Persian). Son of sea-captain Robert William Eastwick (1772–1865) of Bombay Marine and Lucy King (1779–1857), brother of William Joseph E. (1808–1889) of I.C.S. and Council of India. Educated…
DOWNES, Edmund. Northampton, Middlesex 1844 — Eastbourne, Sussex 11.1.1912 (others 11.12.1911). Rev. British Colonial Officer turned Missionary. Son of Rev. John Downes and Lucy Todd. Educated at Radley College and Woolwich. Served as lieutenant in Royal Horse Artillery in India about 8 years, then left army and worked for Church…
DOW, Alexander. Crieff, Perthshire 1735/36 — Bhagalpur 31.7.1779. British (Scottish) Colonial Officer, Historian and Persian Scholar in India. Son of a customs officer. He had mercantile education, but had to leave Scotland after a fatal duel. He came to Bencoolen (Sumatra) as a sailor and entered in 1760 the E.I.C.’s…
DESVAULX, Nicolas-Jacques, baron d’Oinville. Chandernagor 28.3.1745 — Paris 9.7.1817. French Officer in India. Son of an officer working in India for the French Company, grew up in Paris. In 1762 he joined the army and after a few years was sent according to his own wish to India. In 1778…
DELAMAINE, James. 1784? — Cape of Good Hope 1829?. British Colonial Officer. Ensign (1798), Captain (1823) and Major in Bengal Army (1827), then Lieutenant-Colonel and Political Agent at Nemaur. Served long under John Malcolm and knew Sanskrit and Persian. In 1823 the first European to visit Nasik Caves. Left India…
DEASY, Henry Hugh Peter. Dublin 29.6.1866 — Carrigahorig, Co. Tipperary 24.1.1947. British (Irish) Officer and Traveller in Central Asia. Captain. Son of Right Hon. Richard Deasy (1812–1883), Lord Justice of Appeal (Ireland), and Monica O’Connor. He was “educated at Bournemouth and Dublin. Joined the 16th Lancers, 1888, and resigned his…
DAVIDSON, John. India 28.8.1845 — Menton, France (?) 9.9.1917. British Colonial Officer in India. Son of the physician Alexander Davidson (1797–1883) and Mary Anne Blundell. Educated at Winchester College, joined the army in 1863 and the Punjab Cavalry in 1866. From 1875 assistant adjutant-general in Pañjab Frontier Force. Served in…
DALTON, Edward Tuite (or Tuite-Dalton). England? 1815 — Cannes 30.12.1880. British Colonial Officer and Ethnologist in India. Son of music composer Edward Tuite Dalton (1783–1821, of Irish origin) and Olivia Stevenson (1792–1834). Educated at Harrow. “Entered the Army, 1835; in expeditions against frontier tribes of Assam 1839-40, and 1842, commanded…
CUNNINGHAM, Joseph Davey. Lambeth, London 9.6.1812 — near Ambala 28.2.1851. British (Scottish) Colonial Officer and Historian in India. Son of poet Allan Cunningham (1784-1842) and Jean Walker, elder brother of —> A. Cunningham (1814–1893). After education at private schools and Addiscombe “he went to Chatham and to India in the…