Page:Dictionary of Indian Biography.djvu/360

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Prinsep (q.v.) : born March 28, 1790 : educated at Tunbridge and St. John's College, Cambridge : called to the bar from the Inner Temple, 1817 : practised at the Calcutta bar from 1824 : LL.D. : became Standing Counsel : officiated as Advocate-General of Bengal, 1846, and 1849, and held the post from 1852–5, when he retired: died June 8, 1864.

PRINSEP, HENRY THOBY (1792–1878)

I.C.S. : son of John Prinsep, M.P. : (q.v.) : born July 15, 1792, at Thoby Priory, in Essex : educated privately, at Tunbridge and at the E. I. Co.'s College at Hertford Castle : arrived in Bengal in 1809 : became Assistant Secretary to the Governor-General.the Marquis of Hastings, in 1814, whom he accompanied on his tour through Oudh, the N.W.P. and in the Nipal, Pindari and Mahratta wars : published A History of the Political and Military Transactions in India during the Administration of the Marquis of Hastings, 1823 : was the first Superintendent and Remembrancer of legal affairs : inquired into Patni tenures, and, on his report, the famous Patni Regulation of 1819 was passed : Persian Secretary to Government, 1820 : Secretary, in the Territorial Department, 1826 : Chief Secretary, 1834 : Member of the Supreme Council, temporarily, in 1835, substantively, 1840–3 : retired, 1843 : was unsuccessful in attempts to enter Parliament for the Kilmarnock Burghs, Dartmouth and Dover : M.P. for Harwich, 1850, but unseated for defective property qualification, and unsuccessful at the fresh election : became a Director of the E.I. Co., 1850 : was one of the original members chosen by Jthe E. I. Co. for the new Council of India in 1858, retaining the post till 1874 : translated the Memoirs of a Pathan Soldier of Fortune, the Nawab Muhammad Amir Khan, 1832 : wrote on The Origin of the Sikh Power in the Panjab : on Tibet, Tartary and Mongolia, 1851; on the India Question in 1853, A History of the Life of Ranjit Singh, Historical Results from Discoveries in Afghanistan, and published the Register of the Bengal Civil Servants, 1790–1842 : was the chief founder of the Bengal Civil Fund : on his actuarial calculations (approved by professional actuaries in London) the fund was started : also wrote poetry : died Feb. 11, 1878.

PRINSEP, SIR HENRY THOBY (1836–)

Born 1836 : son of Henry Thoby Prinsep (q,v.) : educated at Harrow and Haileybury : arrived in India on Dec. 7, 1855 : Assistant Magistrate at Midnapur during the mutiny, and as Civil Officer accompanied a Naval Brigade with light guns sent from Midnapur to join troops, to subdue a rising among the Kols : became Registrar of the Sadr Court in Jan. 1862, and of the High Court on its establishment on July I of the same year : held several temporary appointments before becoming a District Judge in 1867 : Judicial Commissioner in Mysore, 1875–6, officiating Judge of the Calcutta High Court, 1877, confirmed in 1878 : he acted as Chief Justice in 1902 : presided, in 1893–4, over the Jury Commission, and, in 1896–8, joined the Governor-General's Legislative Council to assist in revising the Codes of Criminal and Civil Procedure : knighted in 1894, and made K.C.I. E. on retirement in March, 1904. For 26 years he was District Grand Master of the Freemasons in Bengal, and was the last of the members of the Indian Civil Service educated|at Haileybury employed in India.

PRINSEP, JAMES (1799–1840)

Seventh son of John Prinsep and brother of Charles Robert and Henry Thoby Prinsep (q.v.) : born Aug. 20, 1799 : went to India in 1819 as Assistant Assay-master to the Calcutta Mint : Assay-master at the Benares Mint, 1820–30 : Deputy in 1830, and Assay-master, 1832–8, at the Calcutta Mint : died April 22, 1840, from softening of the brain caused by overwork. At Benares, he constructed a new Mint, and Church : built a bridge over the Karamnassa : was Member and Secretary of the Benares Committee for public improvements : established a Literary Institution : published Views and Illustrations of Benares, 1825 : at Calcutta : contributed to and edited the Gleamings of Science, which was developed into the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, of which he was Secretary, 1832–8 : also, at Calcutta, finished the canal, linking the river Hughli with the Sundarbans, which had been commenced by his brother, Captain Thomas Prinsep, Bengal Engineers, who had died suddenly through an accident. He devoted himself to literary and scien-