Christopher Biden ( 1789 – 25 February 1858) was a British officer in 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 ...

Mercantile Marine. He came from the village of

Houghton Houghton may refer to: Places Australia * Houghton, South Australia, a town near Adelaide * Houghton Highway, the longest bridge in Australia, between Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland * Houghton Island (Queensland) Canada * Houghton Townshi ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...

. Retiring after more than twenty years at sea, he wrote a book about naval discipline, made two voyages in his own ship to India, and then settled in Madras as a civil servant of the East India Company.

Early life and family

Biden was born in

, England. Biden's father, John Biden, leased

Houghton Mill Houghton Mill is a water mill located on the Great Ouse in the village of Houghton, Cambridgeshire, England. It is a National Trust property and a Grade II* listed building. History Mills have been recorded here since 974. The mill was owned ...

. Biden and his younger brother William Henry Biden went to sea at a young age, their father having died in 1797. An older brother, Henry Loyd, went to

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and became a clergyman. In 1818 Biden married Harriott Freeth in

Great Wilne Great Wilne is a small village in Derbyshire, England on the border with Leicestershire. It is south east of Derby. It is a village split from its church of St Chad's by the river. The church is at the very small hamlet of Church Wilne which can ...

, a village in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

close to the town of

Sandiacre Sandiacre is a town and civil parish in the borough of Erewash in Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England adjoining the border with Nottinghamshire. The population of the town was 8,889 at the 2011 Census. The name Sandiacre is usuall ...

where his brother was curate.

Career

Between 1807 and 1818 Biden completed seven return voyages to India as a mate on the

East Indiaman East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

''Royal George''. By 1821 he was captain of the

''Princess Charlotte of Wales''. Between 1821 and 1830 he completed four voyages to India as captain of the ''Princess Charlotte'' and one voyage to China as captain of the new ''Royal George''. Biden then spent two years in

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

with his family, publishing a book on naval discipline in 1830. In 1832 and 1834 he sailed his own ship on voyages to India. On the second voyage he named Nelson Island in the

Chagos Archipelago The Chagos Archipelago () or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas, and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives archi ...

. In 1839 Biden returned to India to take up the position of Master Attendant and Marine Storekeeper at

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. Whilst at Madras he worked on improving safety for shipping in coastal waters, and was involved in charitable activities. He founded the Biden Home for Destitute Seamen at

Royapuram Royapuram is a locality in the northern part of the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is best known for its beach, and for Royapuram Railway Station. The station is the first railway station of south India, opening in 1856, and is today ...

Death

Biden died at Madras in February 1858 at the age of 68 and is commemorated by a plaque in St George's Cathedral. His widow died in London in 1880. He was also survived by two sons and a daughter, another daughter having died on the voyage out to India in 1839.

Legacy

One of Biden's sons, Horatio Biden, joined the

Madras Army The Madras Army was the army of the Presidency of Madras, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company until the Government ...

and is said to have descendants living in India. In 2020 there was speculation in the media that the Bidens of India might be related to Joe Biden, later

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

. It was suggested that Joe Biden's immigrant ancestor William Biden, who died in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

in 1849, was Christopher Biden's brother William Henry Biden. However, William Henry Biden is recorded as having died at

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

in 1843, so is not the William Biden of Baltimore and any common ancestor of Joe Biden and the Bidens of India would have to be further back than John Biden of Houghton. Harriott Biden kept a common-place book with newspaper cuttings, letters, etc., relating to her husband's work in Madras. The book is preserved on microfilm at the Centre of South Asian Studies at Cambridge University.

Selected publications

*''Naval Discipline: Subordination Contrasted with Insubordination''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biden, Christopher 1858 deaths British East India Company civil servants British East India Company Marine personnel English emigrants to India English philanthropists Military personnel from Chennai People from Huntingdonshire