Sir Hugh Cleghorn

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

LLD (1751-1836) was the first colonial secretary to Ceylon. He was key in the takeover of Ceylon from Dutch control to the British Empire. In 1795 Cleghorn used his friendship with Comte Charles-Daniel de Meuron, who owned a regiment of Swiss mercenaries, the

Regiment de Meuron The Regiment de Meuron was a regiment of infantry originally raised in Switzerland in 1781 for service with the Dutch East India Company (VOC). At the time the French, Spanish, Dutch and other armies employed units of Swiss mercenaries. The regime ...

, that controlled Ceylon for the Dutch, to transfer control to the British. His grandson Hugh Francis Clarke Cleghorn was instrumental in the foundation of the forest department and forest conservation in India.

Life

He was born in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

around 1751. He attended the High School in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

1762–3. He was Professor of Civil and Natural History at St Andrews University from 1773 to 1793. He took a long leave of absence from 1788 to 1790 and traveled with the young Alexander Home, 10th

Earl of Home Earl of Home ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1605 for Alexander Home of that Ilk, 6th Lord Home. The Earl of Home holds, among others, the subsidiary titles of Lord Home (created 1473), and Lord Dunglass (1605), i ...

on an extended trip of Europe:

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and

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, lecturing at universities along the route.St Andrews University: Special Collections: The Cleghorn Papers He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 1790. His proposers were John Playfair, Alexander Hamilton and

James Hutton James Hutton (; 3 June O.S.172614 June 1726 New Style. – 26 March 1797) was a Scottish geologist, agriculturalist, chemical manufacturer, naturalist and physician. Often referred to as the father of modern geology, he played a key role i ...

. In 1795 Cleghorn traveled to India and Ceylon with Charles Daniel, the Comte de Meuron. The Regiment de Meuron withdrew its support of the Dutch and shortly thereafter, on 15 October 1796, the town and fortress of Columbo surrendered to the British. Cleghorn received £5000 for his role in arranging the Regiment's transfer of allegiance. In 1798 Cleghorn was appointed Colonial Secretary of Ceylon. However, he did not get on with Governor Frederick North, the first British civilian governor of the island, who arrived on 12 October 1798. Cleghorn resigned his post and returned to Scotland. Cleghorn had several properties, primarily Stravithie Castle, north of Dunino, a large townhouse, "St Leonards" in

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

and the estate of Pitreavie near

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

. All are in

. He also had property at

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

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. In 1829 he was staying at Society in

to have a bladder stone removed by Dr Bell. He died in February 1836.

Family

Cleghorn married Rachel some time around 1795. Hugh's sons Patrick Cleghorn and John Cleghorn both spent much time 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 ...

. A third son, Peter Cleghorn, was the father of Hugh Francis Clarke Cleghorn

. His daughter Jenny ("Jessie") Douglas Cleghorn married and lived in

References

External links

A secret service Agent who became the first Colonial Secretary of Ceylon, HUGH CLEGHORN

The Island The Island(s) may refer to: Places * Any of various islands around the world, see the list of islands * The Island (Cache County, Utah), an island on the Bear River, Utah * The Island, Chennai, a river island in India * The Island, Chicago, a n ...

, March 3, 2005 1752 births 1837 deaths Sri Lankan people of Scottish descent Chief Secretaries of Ceylon Academics of the University of St Andrews Scottish spies British people in colonial India {{SriLanka-politician-stub