Philip Melvill (East India Company officer)
Philip Melvill (26 October 1795 – 4 October 1882) was a British Bengal Army officer who went on to be Military Secretary to the East India Company.
Philip Melvill | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 October 1795[1] Topsham, Devon, England[2][3] |
| Died | 4 October 1882 (aged 86) Lostwithiel, Cornwall |
| Allegiance |  |
| Service/ | Bengal Army |
Military career
Born the fourth son of Captain Philip Melvill,[4] Melvill was commissioned into the Bengal Army in 1815.[5] His elder brothers included Sir James Cosmo Melvill and Henry Melvill. Sir Philip Melvill was his younger brother.[6]
He was appointed Military Secretary to the East India Company in 1837[5] remaining there until 1858.[7]
He retired when the East India Company was nationalized in 1857 to Ethy near Lostwithiel in Cornwall where he died.[4]
Family
Melvill's eldest son, Philip Sandys Melvill, became Agent to the Viceroy and Governor-General of India at Baroda.[4][8] His younger son, Teignmouth Melvill, won the Victoria Cross during the Anglo-Zulu War.[4]
References
- England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975
- 1871 England Census
- 1881 England Census
- The Roll of Honour of the Melvill Family
- Cambridge South Asian Archive
- "Memoirs of the Late Philip Melvill, Esq. Lieut. Gov. of Pendennis Castle, Cornwall : With an Appendix Containing Extracts From His Diaries and Letters Selected by a Friend...together with Two Letters and a Sermon, Occasioned by His Death". London: Hatchard. 1812.
- The military in British India: the development of British Land Forces in South Asia, 1600-1947 By T. A. Heathcote, Page 265 Manchester University Press, 1995, ISBN 978-0-7190-3570-8
- "No. 24303". The London Gazette. 7 March 1876. p. 1787.
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Salmond |
Military Secretary to the East India Company 1837–1858 |
Succeeded by Sir William Baker |