George Francis Brown (1802–1871
) was a British civil servant of 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 ...
, and Commissioner of
Bhagalpur
Bhagalpur is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern banks of the river Ganges. It is the 2nd largest city of Bihar by population and also the headquarters of Bhagalpur district and Bhagalpur division. Known as the Silk ...
,
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
at the time of the
Santhal rebellion
The Santhal rebellion (also known as the Sonthal rebellion or the Santhal Hool), was a rebellion in present-day Jharkhand and
West Bengal , Eastern India against both the British East India Company (BEIC) and zamindari system by the Santhal. I ...
.
Early life
He was the son of
David Brown, and younger brother of
Charles Philip Brown
Charles Philip Brown (10 November 1798 – 12 December 1884) was a British official of the East India Company. He worked in what is now Andhra Pradesh, and became an important scholarly figure in Telugu language literature.
Background
Telugu li ...
.
His father, a chaplain in
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, died in 1812, and his mother Frances (née Cowley) then brought her family of eight children to London. In 1819 he was nominated for the
East India College
The East India Company College, or East India College, was an educational establishment situated at Hailey, Hertfordshire, nineteen miles north of London, founded in 1806 to train "writers" (administrators) for the Honourable East India Company ( ...
. Appointed as writer in 1820, he returned to India in November 1821, and was given posts at the assistant level, in the revenue and judicial systems, in 1823.
Official
In 1826 Brown had an acting judicial position in
Futtehpore
Fatehpur is a village in Gopalganj district (near Hathwa) of Bihar state, India. It is located between Mirganj and hore , near the Sabeyan Airport. Fatehpur is one of the 1365 villages, that were under Hathwa Raj Zamindari.
Fatehpur is fam ...
, and in 1827 in
Allahabad
Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...
. In 1830 he became judge in
Jaunpur, and in 1831 also Collector there.
In 1834 he was consulted by
John Low on the state of affairs in
Awadh
Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...
.
In 1835 Brown took 18 months furlough, in the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
, for the sake of his health. In 1837 he was appointed Officiating (acting) Commissioner of Revenue at
Bhagalpur
Bhagalpur is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern banks of the river Ganges. It is the 2nd largest city of Bihar by population and also the headquarters of Bhagalpur district and Bhagalpur division. Known as the Silk ...
(12th Circuit or Division). Also, that, he was appointed to
Suheswan, but this was a post he never took up.
His post at Bhagalpur was confirmed in 1854.
Brown raised funds for a Gothic church in Bhagalpur. He also helped set up a Christian mission there, with the Rev. Frederick William Vaux.
Santal rebellion
The
Santals
The Santal or Santhal are an Austroasiatic speaking
Munda ethnic group in South Asia. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal state of India in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar and A ...
settled in
Damin-i-koh
Damin-i-koh (or sometimes referred to simply as Damin) was the name given to the forested hilly areas of Rajmahal hills broadly in the area of present Sahebganj, Pakur and Godda districts in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
Etymology
Damin-i-koh i ...
, a forested area. James Pontet had responsibility from 1837 for developing the area as a source of revenue. The Santals opposed other incomers, and the situation was disturbed in the mid-1850s by the building of a railway line. Santal leaders emerged, and led a rising.
The rebels moved on the town of
Barhait, and gained an initial victory at
Pirpainti
Pirpainti is a sub township panchayat located in the Bhagalpur district of the Indian state of Bihar.
History
The name in itself is composed of two terms "Pir" and "payat". "Pir" is related to saints while "payat" in local terms means sitting ...
, against British forces led by Major F. W. Burroughs, sent from Bhagalpur. Brown made proclamations, and declared
martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
, though he was later found to have erred procedurally. He persisted with claims that the rebellion was being promoted by agitators, and argued his case with
Frederick James Halliday
Sir Frederick James Halliday (25 December 1806 – 22 October 1901) was a British civil servant and the first Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal.
Early life and career
Frederick James Halliday was born on 25 December 1806 at Ewell, Surrey. Acc ...
. But Alfred Clarke Bidwell was appointed special commissioner for the suppression of the insurrection.
The rebels were defeated after fighting on a large scale, with thousands killed. Bidwell's report pointed a finger at Pontet, accused of failing to support the large number of Santal migrants to the area. The official view was that the local administration was at fault.
A separate
Santal Pargana district was created in 1855, under George Yule. Yule became also Commissioner at Bhagalpur, with
Ashley Eden
Sir Ashley Eden (13 November 1831 – 8 July 1887) was an official and diplomat in British India.
Background and education
Eden was born at Hertingfordbury, Hertfordshire, the third son of Robert Eden, 3rd Baron Auckland, Bishop of Bath a ...
as deputy.
Later life and death
Brown retired from the East India Company service (retirement after 35 years of service became normal in 1854), and joined the
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...
in 1860. He died on 9 April 1871, and his will was proved in London.
Family
Brown married in 1830 Catharine Jemima Gane, third daughter of James Gane; she died at
Putney
Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
History
Putney is an ancient paris ...
on 6 December 1863. Their children included:
*
George James Cowley-Brown;
*
Francis David Millet Brown VC;
* George Peploe Brown, Royal Artillery and artist (youngest son, died 1909), who married Harriette, daughter of
William Wilberforce Bird;
* Hannah Maria(h) Brown who married
John Henry Pratt
John Henry Pratt FRS (4 June 1809 – 28 December 1871) was a British clergyman, astronomer and mathematician. A Cambridge Apostle, he joined the British East India Company in 1838 as a chaplain and later became Archdeacon of Calcutta. Although ...
; and
* Lucy Gisborne Brown, baptised 1836 at
Rondebosch
Rondebosch is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. It is primarily a residential suburb, with shopping and business districts as well as the main campus of the University of Cape Town.
History
Four years after the first Dutch s ...
, South Africa, appears (as Browne and a spinster) in an official notice of her father's death as executor.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, George Francis
1802 births
1871 deaths
British East India Company civil servants