Charles Allan Cathcart (28 December 1759 – 10 June 1788) was a British noble and politician. From 1784 to 1788, he served as a member of parliament for

Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; sco, Clackmannanshire; gd, Siorrachd Chlach Mhannainn) is a historic county, council area, registration county and Lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross and the hi ...

. In 1787 he was "invested with full powers by His Majesty and the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

to open a commercial intercourse with the

Emperor of China ''Huangdi'' (), translated into English as Emperor, was the superlative title held by monarchs of China who ruled various imperial regimes in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heave ...

," dying en route.

Early life and education

Charles Allan Cathcart was born on 28 December 1759. He was the second son of Charles Cathcart, the 9th

Lord Cathcart Earl Cathcart is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1814 for the soldier and diplomat William Cathcart, 1st Viscount Cathcart. The Cathcart family descends from Sir Alan Cathcart, who sometime be ...

, and Jean, the daughter of

Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Archibald Hamilton of Riccarton and Pardovan (1673 – 5 April 1754) was a British people, British officer of the Royal Navy, and Whig (UK), Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain, House of Commons between 1708 and ...

. He had an older brother,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, and younger brothers Archibald and George. He also had the younger sisters Jane, Mary, and Louisa. He graduated from

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

in 1767. He was educated at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, graduating in 1772.

Career

Military positions

He joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in the United States in 1776 as a volunteer, until he was commissioned in the

23rd Foot The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated ...

as a 2nd lieutenant in 1777. He became a captain in the

77th Foot The 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot (The Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line regiment of the British Army, raised in 1787. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot to form the Duke of Cambri ...

in December 1777. While sailing to join the 77th Foot in Ireland from New York City, he was captured by a French

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

. When he was released, in 1780 he was made major and second in command of the

98th Foot The 98th (Prince of Wales) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. It was originally raised in 1824 as the 98th Regiment of Foot, before assuming the title of the 98th (Prince of Wales) Regiment of Foot in 1876. Later, in 1 ...

under

William Fullarton Colonel William Fullarton of Fullarton (12 January 1754 – 13 February 1808) was a Scottish soldier, statesman, agriculturalist and author. He sat in the House of Commons between 1779 and 1803. Early life He was born on 12 January 1754 the on ...

. In 1781 he began serving in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and he distinguished himself in battle against the French at

Cuddalore Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is the city and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important port during the British Raj. While the early history of Cudda ...

in June 1783.

Member of parliament

In the general election for Clackmannan in 1784, Cathcart was an opposition candidate with the support of Sir Thomas Dundas. Winning the election, from the British general election on 10 April 1784Edith, Lady Haden-Guest
Clackmannanshire
in ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754–1790'' (1964).Edith, Lady Haden-Guest
CATHCART, Hon. Charles Allan (1759–88), of Sauchie, Clackmannan.
in ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754–1790'' (1964). until 10 June 1788 he served as a member of parliament for

. On 2 and 19 July 1784 he spoke in the House in the East India debates, wherein he "praised Hastings's icability and integrity, and, concentrating on military organization, urged a clear definition of the status of commanders-in-chief in relation to the civil administration." His words were praised by William Pitt and

Henry Dundas Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Pri ...

, who said they would incorporate some of his proposed reforms into the ultimate bill. He left in 1784 or 1785 for India.

Ambassador to China

After Cathcart had left for India, Dundas selected him for his "manners and good understanding" to negotiate a commercial treaty with the

. Cathcart nominated Captain

Erasmus Gower Admiral Sir Erasmus Gower (3 December 1742 – 21 June 1814) was a Welsh naval officer and colonial governor. Naval career Gower, aged 13, joined the Royal Navy in 1755 under the patronage of his uncle, Captain John Donkley. He was present at ...

as his preferred captain to carry the embassy but Gower was serving as flag captain to governor John Elliot in Newfoundland at the time and subsequently Cathcart sailed with Captain

Richard Strachan Sir Richard John Strachan, 6th Baronet GCB (27 October 1760 – 3 February 1828) was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of admiral. Sir Dicky, as his friends r ...

in . He was "invested with full powers by his Majesty and the East India Company to open a commercial intercourse with the Emperor of China." He started his voyage as special envoy to China in 1787, and died on 10 June 1788 en route.

Death and monument

When Cathcart died at sea aboard the ship ''Vestal'' on 10 June 1788 in the Straits of Bangka off

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

, the ship returned to Anjer-Lor,

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, to avoid burial in shark-infested waters. He was interred in the morning of 16 June "to a salute of minute guns fired from the ''Vestal'' and of volleys of small arms." Before his companions returned to England, they built him a monument comprising a painted panel with Latin inscriptions, which was designed by

Julius Caesar Ibbetson Julius Caesar Ibbetson (29 December 1759 – 13 October 1817) was a British 18th-century Landscape art, landscape and Watercolor painting, watercolour painter. Early life and education Ibbetson was born at Farnley, Leeds, Farnley Moor, Leed ...

. The monument was built to commemorate Cathcart as "ordered by the Honorable Thomas Stamfort Raffles Lieutenant Governor of Java." The following year, Ibbotson displayed his painting of the burial scene at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

. A rendition of the monument was also completed by Jacobus Flikkenschild in 1815.

References

External links

Portrait of Cathchart
from the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

{{S-end 1759 births 1788 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1784–1790 Alumni of the University of Glasgow People educated at Eton College Younger sons of barons