Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Havilland, Thomas Fiott de

1410820Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 25 — Havilland, Thomas Fiott de1891Henry Manners Chichester

HAVILLAND, THOMAS FIOTT de (1775–1866), lieutenant-colonel, eldest son of Sir Peter de Havilland (d. 1821), knight, of Havilland Hall, Guernsey, by his wife Cartaretta, daughter and heiress of the Rev. Thomas Fiott, was born at Havilland in April 1775. In 1793 he obtained a Madras cadetship, and on 3 May 1793 was appointed ensign in the Madras engineers (pioneers). His subsequent commissions were: lieutenant 1796, captain 1806, major 1815, lieutenant-colonel 1824. He served at the siege of Pondicherry in 1793, and at the reduction of Ceylon in 1795–6; he marched with Colonel Browne's force (four thousand men) from Trichinopoly to assist in the operations against Tippoo Sahib in 1799, and accompanied Baird's troops up the Red Sea to Egypt in 1801. On his return he was captured by a French cruiser, but was speedily released. He served with his corps until 1812, when he returned home on furlough, and was commissioned to build the Jeybourg barracks, Guernsey. In 1814 he was appointed civil engineer and architect for the Madras presidency, an appointment he held until his retirement from the service (after his father's death), 20 April 1825.

He was an officer of much zeal, ability, and originality. When stationed at Seringapatam, where he erected some important military works, he proposed to bridge the Cauvery with five brick arches of 110 feet span and only eleven feet rise, a very bold conception for that day. The authorities scouted the idea, and to prove its feasibility De Havilland erected a similar arch in his garden, which is still standing. He attempted to determine the mean sea level at Madras from daily observations extending over six months, and a datum line, known as ‘De Havilland's benchmark,’ may yet be seen on a stone let into the wall of Fort St. George. He constructed the Mount road, and built the bulwark or old sea wall of Madras. In 1822 he wrote a report on Indian limestones, and recommended that collectors should be instructed to forward specimens of limestones from their several districts for analysis and comparison of the structural values. He built the cathedral and St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Madras, the latter considered one of the handsomest European structures in India. He recommended the survey of the Panjam passage for the improvement of the port, a work carried out by one of his subalterns, the present General Sir Arthur Cotton.

After his retirement De Havilland devoted himself to the affairs of Guernsey, of which he was a justice and member of the legislature. He married in 1808 Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Saumarez, by whom he had two sons: Thomas, a captain in the 55th foot (d. 1843), and Charles Ross de Havilland, a clergyman, who also died before his father, and two daughters. He died at Beauvoir, Guernsey, on 23 Feb. 1866, aged 90.

[Vibart's Hist. Madras Sappers and Miners, London, 1882, ii. 1 et seq., where is De Havilland's report on the origin of the corps; Burke's Landed Gentry (1868); Indian Army Lists; Balfour's Indian Cycl.; Gent. Mag. 1866, pt. i. 603.]

H. M. C.