John Fendall Jr. (9 October 1762 – 10 November 1825), also known as John of Java and Bengal, was a colonial official in the British

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 governor of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

for five months in 1816 before it was returned to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Early life and service in East India Company

Fendall was born on 9 October 1762 in St Andrew Holburn,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He began service in the

in 1778 at the age of 16. In 1790 he was Collector of

Midnapur Medinipur or Midnapore (Pron: med̪iːniːpur) is a city known for its history in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the West Medinipur district. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River (variously known as '' ...

and had attained the status of Senior Merchant. He returned to London in 1809 for the first time in 31 years. The voyage at that time took 5 ½ months to complete.

Governor of Java

Fendall returned to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in 1815 only to find that he had been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Java, an island the British took from the Dutch in 1811. On 12 March 1816 by the last advice from

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

, John relieved Sir

Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...

as Lieutenant-Governor of

, an island which is now a part of the Republic of

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 ...

. In 1816, the Dutch sent a fleet to reclaim possession of

. However, Fendall had not received orders from the Governor-General, and therefore, stoutly refused to give up possession, and the Dutch had to wait until the orders came. On 19 August, of the same year, the Dutch resumed possession, thus making Fendall the last British Lieutenant-Governor. Fendall left

in June 1818, on the ship ''Caesar''. Fendall returned to Calcutta in 1817 and took his seat on the Bench of Sudder Diwani and Nizamat Adalat, the predecessor of the High Court. It seems that while at Java, Fendall had disallowed some allowance which a certain Col. Yule had claimed. As a result, the fiery soldier followed him to Calcutta and demanded that he should alter his decision. After Fendall refused, Yule pushed the papers in his face and brushed them across it and told him to take it as a personal insult. This Fendall was quite ready to do and sent for a friend, named Assey, to take a challenge to the Colonel. Assey refused to have anything to do with a challenge, in spite of John’s protests, and took the matter to various members of Council. The Council agreed that Fendall could not be called on to defend an official act in such a way and that Col. Yule’s conduct was highly insubordinate. As the Governor-General agreed with them, Fendall was forbidden to fight and his opponent apologized, to escape being tried by

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

. Fendall was transferred to

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 ...

, and became a member of the Supreme Council on 20 May 1820, which constituted membership in the

Bengal Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

. He was a Senior Merchant of the

, and in 1823 was the President of the Board of Trade on the Bengal Establishment. In 1824 he served on the

Viceroy's Executive Council The Viceroy's Executive Council was the cabinet of the government of British India headed by the Viceroy of India. It is also known as the Council of the Governor-General of India. It was transformed from an advisory council into a cabinet consistin ...

. Fendall died on 10 November 1825 in

iand was buried at

South Park Street Cemetery South Park Street Cemetery is located on Mother Teresa Sarani, Central Kolkata, India. The road used to be called Park Street, and prior to that Burial Ground Road. History The Park Street Cemetery was one of the earliest non-church cemeter ...

Personal life

John married first in 1790, Mary Farquharson (1761–1818), the daughter of John Farquharson of "

Yateley Yateley () is a town and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire. It lies in the north-eastern corner of Hart District Council area. It includes the settlements of Frogmore and Darby Green to the east. It had a population of 21,011 at t ...

", Hampshire, England, a scion of the family of Farquharson of Fingean. They had six children, Mary Fendall (later Mary D'Oyly) (1794–1885), Harriet Fendall (later Harriet Thompson) (1797–1842), Harriet Fendall (later Harriet Moultrie) (1797–1867), Louisa Fendall (1799–1899), James Fendall (1801–1866) and Sophia Fendall (1805–1808). John married second, Harriet "Henrietta" Halcott (died 1871) in 1820. They had one son, Thomas Halcott Fendall (1825–1865). John had two residences. One was at Harewood Square, St. Marylebone, London, England. The other was 67 Great Portland St., St. Marylebone, London, England, a house that had belonged to his grandfather.

Ancestry

John was the son of John Fendall Sr., Esq. (1729–1791) and Sarah Bolde (1735–1813). John Sr., was in turn the son of William Fendall Sr. (1693–1753) and Delarivers Pauncefoot (nee Barnes), daughter of John Barnes of Hall Court, Much Marcle, Herefordshire. William Sr., was the son of Thomas Fendall Sr., and his wife, Jane (1648–1736), of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, England. Sarah Bolde was the daughter of Edward Bolde (1688-1755) and Mary Cole (1699-1759). William Fendall Sr, was Delarivers second husband. She was previously married to John Pauncefoot (also spelt Pauncefote) (1692-1722). Delarivers had 5 children with John and 3 children with William.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fendall, John Jr. British East India Company civil servants British rule in Indonesia 1825 deaths 1762 births