Robert Brownrigg

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Sir Robert Brownrigg
1810 painting by Thomas Lawrence
Born	1759 County Wicklow, Ireland
Died	27 April 1833 (aged 73–74) Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	General
Commands held	British Ceylon
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

General Sir Robert Brownrigg, 1st Baronet GCB (1759 – 27 April 1833) was a British statesman and soldier. Brownrigg bought the last part of Sri Lanka under British rule.

Military career

Brownrigg was commissioned as an ensign in 1775.^[1] After service with the 9th Foot, he was appointed Military Secretary to the Duke of York in 1795, and accompanied him to The Helder in Holland in 1799.^[1]

In 1803 he was appointed Quartermaster-General to the Forces.^[2] In July 1809, he joined the expedition to the Schelt.^[1]

He left his post as Quartermaster-General to the Forces in 1811, and then, in 1813, he was appointed Governor of Ceylon.^[1] In 1815, he acquired the Kingdom of Kandy through an agreement with the help of defecting ministers of the Kandyan King, in the central region of the island, and annexed it to the British crown. The treaty was historically known as "Kandyan Convention".^[1] In recognition of his achievement, Brownrigg was created a baronet in 1816.^[1] There was a major rebellion in October 1818( but Brownrigg also managed to defeat that aided by reinforcements from India. ^[1] He attained the rank of full General in 1819 and left Ceylon the following year.^[1]

The gilded bronze ancient Statue of Tara was reputedly found on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka. It was acquired by Brownrigg, who later donated it to the British Museum when he was living near Monmouth in 1830.^[3] This account however is rejected by the authorities in Sri Lanka who believe that Brownrigg took the statue from the last King of Kandy when the British annexed Kandy.^[4]

Brownrigg died near Monmouth in 1833.^[1]

Family

In 1789 Brownrigg married Elizabeth Catharine Lewis and together they went on to have six sons and a daughter.^[1] Then in 1810 he married Sophia Bissett.^[1]

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 Robert Brownrigg at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
↑ The London Gazette: no. 15566. p. 266. 12 March 1803. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
↑ figure, Collection Online, British Museum, retrieved 9 December 2013
↑ Greenfield, Jeanette (1996). The return of cultural treasures (2nd ed. ed.). [Cambridge]: Cambridge university press. p. 132. ISBN 0521477468.

Military offices
Preceded by New Post	Military Secretary 1795–1803	Succeeded by William Clinton
Preceded by Sir David Dundas	Quartermaster-General to the Forces 1803–1811	Succeeded by Sir James Gordon
Government offices
Preceded by John Wilson, acting	Governor of Ceylon 1812–1820	Succeeded by Edward Barnes, acting
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by New creation	Baronet 1816–1833	Succeeded by Robert Brownrigg

v t e ←Governors of British Ceylon →

Military Governors of Ceylon	Agnew Stewart Doyle Bonnevaux de Meuron Andrews*

Governors of Ceylon	North Maitland Wilson Brownrigg Barnes Paget Campbell Barnes Wilson Wilmot-Horton Stewart-Mackenzie Campbell Emerson Tennent Torrington MacCarthy Anderson MacCarthy Ward Lockyer Wilkinson MacCarthy O'Brien Robinson Robinson Irving Gregory Longden Douglas Hamilton-Gordon Havelock Walker Ridgeway im Thurn Blake Clifford McCallum Stubbs Chalmers Stubbs Anderson Stubbs Manning Clementi Alexander Clifford Fletcher Stanley Bourdillon Thomson Tyrrell Stubbs Wedderburn Caldecott Moore**

Acting, Resident and Superintendent, became Governor-General of Ceylon*

v t e Kingdom of Kandy topics

History	Founding Sinhalese–Portuguese War Kandyan Treaty of 1638 An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon Treaty of Batticaloa Kandyan Wars Uva Rebellion Matale Rebellion Kandyan Convention

Monarchs	House of Siri Sanga Bo House of Dinajara Nayaks of Kandy

The King's Council	Adigar Dissava Rate Mahatmaya Diyawadana Nilame Basnayaka Nilame

Society	Kandyan castes system

People	Ehelepola Nilame Gajaman Nona Galagoda Adikaram Gongalegoda Banda John D'Oyly Joseph Vaz Keppetipola Disawe Pilimatalavuva Puran Appu Robert Brownrigg Wariyapola Sri Sumangala

Culture	Esala Perahera Esala Mangallaya Relic of the tooth of the Buddha Jewellery Dance

Landmarks	Temple of the Tooth Royal Palace Natha Devale Kandy House Udawatta Kele Sanctuary Wace Park Botanical Garden of Peradeniya Kandy Lake Bogoda Wooden Bridge Walauwa

Persondata
Name	Brownrigg, Robert
Alternative names
Short description	British Army general
Date of birth	1759
Place of birth	County Wicklow, Ireland
Date of death	27 April 1833
Place of death	Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales

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