![Thomas_Rumbold](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Thomas_Rumbold.jpg)
Sir Thomas Rumbold, 1st Baronet (15 January 1736 – 11 November 1791) was a British administrator 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 ...
and politician who sat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
between 1770 and 1790. He served as
Governor of Madras
This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947.
English Agents
In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized b ...
from 1777 to 1780. He became infamous for his corruption and, for in effect stealing, the ring of the
Nawab of Arcot
The Carnatic Sultanate was a kingdom in South India between about 1690 and 1855, and was under the legal purview of the Nizam of Hyderabad, until their demise. They initially had their capital at Arcot in the present-day Indian state of Tamil N ...
. He brought home from India 1.5 million
pagoda
A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...
s (a pagoda was worth eight shillings) or about £600,000 (at that time) and was a classic example of a
nabob
A nabob is a conspicuously wealthy man deriving his fortune in the east, especially in India during the 18th century with the privately held East India Company.
Etymology
''Nabob'' is an Anglo-Indian term that came to English from Urdu, poss ...
. Attempts were made to investigate the misdemeanour by
Henry Dundas
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Prime Minister William Pitt and the most powerful politician in Scotland in the late 18t ...
but the case did not make much headway.
Life
Rumbold was the third son of William Rumbold, an officer of the
East India Company's naval service. He joined the company's service as a writer at the age of 16, then transferred to the company's military service. Promoted to Captain in 1757, he served as
Clive's aide-de-camp at the
Battle of Plassey. He subsequently transferred back to the Civil Service, becoming chief at
Patna
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
in 1763 and a member of the
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 ...
Council from 1766 to 1769; he was mentioned as a possible
Governor of Bengal in 1771, but
Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-Genera ...
was appointed.
In 1769 Rumbold returned to Britain with a large fortune, knowing the importance of parliamentary influence in the internal politics of the East India Company. He was elected to Parliament in 1770, initially as MP for
New Shoreham, a notoriously corrupt and expensive borough where he probably bribed extensively. He received the majority of the votes, but so many were disallowed by the
returning officer
In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.
Australia
In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral c ...
on grounds of bribery that he was defeated; however, on petition the result was overturned and Rumbold declared duly elected. Initially he voted with the opposition but by 1773 had joined his former commander,
Clive, in supporting the government and its conduct of Indian affairs.
![Joanna Law Rumbold (1755 - 1823)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Joanna_Law_Rumbold_%281755_-_1823%29.jpg)
At the next election, in
1774, Rumbold was embroiled in another election-bribery scandal at
Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about above sea level on a ...
: he and
Sir Francis Sykes were initially declared elected, but their defeated opponent petitioned to have the result overturned and produced copious evidence of corruption. Rumbold and Sykes were both shown to have bribed at a rate of 20 guineas (£21) a man, the total spent amounting to several thousand pounds. The Commons Committee not only overturned the election result, but ordered that Sykes, Rumbold, and a long list of other inhabitants of the town should be prosecuted by the Attorney General for bribery and perjury. However, the prosecution never took place, and the Commons was eventually persuaded to reverse its condemnations of Sykes and Rumbold so that both were able to stand for the same borough at the next general election, in
1780.
[
In the meanwhile, Rumbold continued his career in India. He had been a director of the East India Company in 1772 and again from 1775 to 1777, and in June 1777 he was appointed ]Governor of Madras
This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947.
English Agents
In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized b ...
. During his governorship, British troops occupied Guntur
Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...
(then French), which shortly afterwards was annexed to Madras, and also captured Pondichéry and Mahé; reporting the capture of Pondicherry to Lord North
Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was 12th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most o ...
in October 1778 he declared that he had "happiness to succeed in fulfilling the wishes of his Majesty's ministers", and asked for a suitable reward. He was created first baronet of Wood Hall (referring to Woodhall Park, his Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
estate) on 27 March 1779.
However, Sir Thomas was also responsible for negotiations with Haidar Ali
Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...
, and was unable to dissuade him from invading the Carnatic or to prevent him from succeeding. He resigned the governorship for reasons of ill health in 1780, and was subsequently dismissed from the service of the company by the court of directors, who held him responsible for the Carnatic invasion and the Second Anglo-Mysore War
The Second Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company from 1780 to 1784. At the time, Mysore was a key French ally in India, and the conflict between Britain against the French and Dutch in ...
. A parliamentary enquiry was also imminent, and he was anxious to be in the Commons to defend himself, but he had once more been unseated for electoral corruption (having won the 1780 election at Shaftesbury in his absence the result had been overturned again), and had to buy himself a seat at Yarmouth (Isle of Wight). (While bribing voters was illegal, paying the patron of a pocket borough
A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...
for a nomination as MP was still legal at this period.)
Rumbold supported the establishment of a parliamentary committee of enquiry into the causes of the war in the Carnatic, and spoke repeatedly during the debates that followed. However, the committee did not call him to give evidence, and eventually passed a motion for his impeachment. He was alleged to have diverted a staggering £600,000 into his own pockets, and it was proved that he had been consistently remitting back to England sums three times as big as his salary. But Rumbold's defence was vigorous, no useful evidence to back the charges against him was forthcoming from India, and he was acquitted. Nevertheless, it seems to have been widely believed that he had bribed Henry Dundas
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Prime Minister William Pitt and the most powerful politician in Scotland in the late 18t ...
and Richard Rigby
Richard Rigby PC (February 1722 – 8 April 1788), was an English civil servant and politician who sat in the British House of Commons for 43 years from 1745 to 1788. He served as Chief Secretary for Ireland and Paymaster of the Forces. Rigby ...
, the members in charge of the proceedings against him. The story obviously cannot be proved and perhaps ought not to be taken seriously.
Rumbold continued as an MP until 1790, and died the following year.[
]
Legacy
Rumbold was buried at Watton-at-Stone
Watton-at-Stone is a village in the English county of Hertfordshire, situated midway between the towns of Stevenage and Hertford in the valley of the River Beane. The 2011 census showed a population of 2,272 living in 946 households. Watton-at ...
, where there is a monument to him in the parish church.
Rumbold was painted by:
* Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to:
Places
* Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England
** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich
* Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England
** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency)
* Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...
. "Thomas Rumbold and his Son": Victoria Art Gallery
The Victoria Art Gallery is a public art museum in Bath, Somerset, England. It was opened in 1900 to commemorate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. It is a Grade II* listed building and houses over 1,500 objects of art including a collection of ...
.
* Reynolds. Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
.
* Romney (a portrait in the Hunterian Art Gallery),
Descendants
His oldest son, William Richard Rumbold
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
having pre-deceased him, he was succeeded as baronet by his son George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
, a diplomat. Another son, Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...
, served as MP for Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...
.
His daughter Elizabeth Anne attempted to restore the reputation of her father in a book published posthumously in 1868.
References
External links
Gillray cartoon of Rumbold and Dundas, in the National Portrait Gallery
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rumbold, Thomas
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
Members of Parliament for the Isle of Wight
1736 births
1791 deaths
British MPs 1768–1774
British MPs 1774–1780
British MPs 1780–1784
British MPs 1784–1790
Governors of Madras
British East India Company Army officers
British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War
Burials in Hertfordshire
Directors of the British East India Company