Books about Early British India

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Books about Early British India

In 1710 Charles Hampton (Adrian Fletcher's 6 x Great Grandfather) arrived in Calcutta on the "King William" galley. He was carrying papers which entitled him to become a clerk ("writer") of the East India Company in Calcutta - then a small European trading enclave. Charles Hampton became a member of the East India Co Council in Calcutta in the 1820s. His son Samuel Hampton (1735 - 1786 (51)) became an officer in the Bengal Native Infantry when it was formed in 1759 after the "Black Hole of Calcutta". By the time of his death in 1786 Samuel was Colonel commanding Fort William in Calcutta, and also the owner of 9 or so Calcutta houses and lots of slaves and servants. His daughter Sarah Mary married John Palmer - on his way to becoming "The Richest East India Merchant", and a son and grandson were destined to become Generals in the Bengal Army. More of the Dom's ancestors joined the family groups in India in the 1800s, mainly in Madras.

Our ancestral research has spawned its own web pages. The section about Early British India can be found here. This page shares some of the interesting books we have come across in relation to British India, and particularly Bengal, in the 1700s and early 1800s.