Philip Melvill (East India Company officer)

Philip Melvill
Born26 October 1795[1]
Topsham, Devon, England[2][3]
Died4 October 1882 (aged 86)
Lostwithiel, Cornwall
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service / branchBengal Army

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.

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

  1. ^ England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975
  2. ^ 1871 England Census
  3. ^ 1881 England Census
  4. ^ a b c d The Roll of Honour of the Melvill Family
  5. ^ a b Cambridge South Asian Archive
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ Heathcote, T.A. (1995). The Military in British India: The Development of British Land Forces in South Asia, 1600-1947. Manchester history of the British army. Manchester University Press. p. 265. ISBN 978-0-7190-3570-8.
  8. ^ "No. 24303". The London Gazette. 7 March 1876. p. 1787.
Military offices
Preceded by Military Secretary to the East India Company
1837–1858 		Succeeded by