General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Sir Robert Brownrigg, 1st Baronet, GCB (8 February 1758 – 27 April 1833) was an

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-born

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statesman and soldier. He brought the last part of Sri Lanka under British rule.

Early career

Brownrigg was commissioned as an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in 1775. After service with the

9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

, he was appointed Military Secretary to the Duke of York in 1795, and accompanied him to

The Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base A naval base, navy base, ...

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

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 during the aborted operation to seize Antwerp that stalled on Walcheren island. On Chatham's instructions he drew up a memorandum assessing the situation for a

council of war A council of war is a term in military science that describes a meeting held to decide on a course of action, usually in the midst of a battle. Under normal circumstances, decisions are made by a commanding officer, optionally communicated ...

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 {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonialism, colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of Captain-majors of ...

. In 1815, he acquired the Kingdom of Kandy 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". In recognition of his achievement, Brownrigg was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

in 1816. Brownrigg fought the

Great Rebellion of 1817–18 Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great ...

and managed to defeat that, aided by reinforcements from India. He attained the rank of full

in 1819 and left Ceylon the following year. The gilded bronze ancient Statue of Tara was reputedly found on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka. It was acquired by Brownrigg, who later donated it to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

when he was living near Monmouth 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 Monmouth 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 of Sri Lanka initiated, at the country's Parliament, a formal revocation of Robert Brownrigg's Gazette Notification - under which participants of the

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 National Hero is a status an individual can receive in Sri Lanka for those who are considered to have played a major role in fighting for the freedom of the country. The status is conferred by the President of Sri Lanka. The recipients of the a ...

. 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