General Sir Robert Brownrigg, 1st Baronet, GCB (8 February 1758 – 27 April 1833) was an Irish-born British statesman and soldier. He brought the last part of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

under British rule.

Early career

Brownrigg was commissioned as an ensign in 1775. After service with the 9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot, he was appointed

Military Secretary Military Secretary is a post found in the military of several countries: * Military Secretary (India) *Military Secretary of Israel, called Military Secretary to the Prime Minister *Military Secretary (Pakistan) *Military Secretary (Sri Lanka) * Mil ...

to the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...

in 1795, and accompanied him to The Helder in Holland in 1799. In 1803 he was appointed Quartermaster-General to the Forces. In 1805 he was made Colonel of the 9th (East Norfolk) Regiment.

Walcheren campaign

July 1809, he joined the expedition to the Schelt. Brownrigg served as chief-of-staff to the commander

Lord Chatham William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...

during the aborted operation to seize

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

that stalled on

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

island. On Chatham's instructions he drew up a memorandum assessing the situation for a council of war at which it was decided to abandon the attempt against Antwerp.Reiter p.157-58

Governor of Ceylon

He left his post as Quartermaster-General to the Forces in 1811, and then, in 1813, he was appointed Governor of Ceylon. In 1815, he acquired the

Kingdom of Kandy The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the Sri Lanka, island of Sri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century. Initially a client kingdom ...

through an agreement with the help of defecting ministers of the Kandyan King, in the central region of the island, and annexed it to the British crown. The treaty was historically known as "

Kandyan Convention The Kandyan Convention ( Sinhala: උඩරට ගිවිසුම ''Udarata Giwisuma'') was a treaty signed on 2 March 1815 between the British Governor of Ceylon Sir Robert Brownrigg and the chiefs of the Kandyan Kingdom, British Ceylon (no ...

". In recognition of his achievement, Brownrigg was created a baronet in 1816. Brownrigg fought the Great Rebellion of 1817–18 and managed to defeat that, aided by reinforcements from India. He attained the rank of full General in 1819 and left Ceylon the following year. The gilded bronze ancient

Statue of Tara The Statue of Tara is a gilt-bronze sculpture of Tara that dates from the 7th-8th century AD in Sri Lanka. Some argue it was looted from the last King of Kandy when the British annexed Kandy in the early nineteenth century, it was given to th ...

was reputedly found on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka. It was acquired by Brownrigg, who later donated it to the British Museum when he was living near

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

in 1830.figure
Collection Online, British Museum, retrieved 9 December 2013 This account however is rejected by the authorities in Sri Lanka who believe that Brownrigg took the statue from the last King of Kandy when the British annexed Kandy. Brownrigg died near

in 1833.

Family

In 1789, Brownrigg married Elizabeth Catharine Lewis and together they went on to have six sons and a daughter. Then in 1810 he married Sophia Bissett.

Legacy

In 2011, President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

initiated, at the country's Parliament, a formal revocation of Robert Brownrigg's Gazette Notification - under which participants of the Great Rebellion of 1817–18 had been condemned as "traitors" and their properties confiscated. Brownrigg's Gazette Notification was declared null and void, and all those he branded as "traitors" were declared to be National Heroes of Sri Lanka. A National Declaration was awarded on their behalf to their descendants on Republic Day of Sri Lanka, 22 May.

References

Sources

* Reiter, Jacqueline. ''The Late Lord: The Life of John Pitt–2nd Earl of Chatham''. Casemate Publishers, 2017. * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brownrigg, Robert 1758 births 1833 deaths Royal Norfolk Regiment officers British Army generals British Army commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Governors of British Ceylon People of the Kingdom of Kandy General Officers Commanding, Ceylon 19th-century British military personnel Irish soldiers in the British Army People from County Wicklow