George Foxcroft (c. 1634−26 February 1715) was the ninth administrator of the colony of Madras in British India for two terms starting from August 1665 to 16 September 1665 and 22 August 1668 to January 1670. [1] During the rule of his predecessor,Sir Edward Winter,he was imprisoned on suspicion of having made utterances against King Charles II. However,when his term came to an end,he took over as the British East India Company's Agent and was the first to be given the title "Governor of Fort St George". The company's letter constituting the Madras Agent and Council "Our Governor and Agent and Consul in Fort St George" and empowering them to execute judgment in all cases,civil and criminal,was occasioned by the difficulty that arose as to the jurisdiction of the Madras officials over capital cases. This difficulty was solved by the new title and "to modern occupants of the gubernatorial chair it is probably unknown that they owe their designation to a Madras murder." [2]
Elihu Yale was a British-American colonial administrator and philanthropist. Although born in Boston,Massachusetts,he only lived in America as a child,spending the rest of his life in England,Wales and India. Starting as a clerk,he eventually rose up to the rank of President of the British East India Company settlement in Fort St George,Madras. He later lost that position under charges of corruption for self-dealing and had to pay a fine. In 1699,he returned to Britain with a considerable fortune,around £200,000,mostly made by selling diamonds,and spent his time and wealth toward philanthropy and art collecting. He is best remembered as the primary benefactor of Yale College,which was named in his honor,following a sizable donation of books,portrait and textiles under the request of Rev. Cotton Mather,a Harvard graduate. No direct descendants of his has survived to this day.
The Governor-General of India was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1947,the representative of the British monarch. The office was created in 1773,with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William. The officer had direct control only over Fort William but supervised other East India Company officials in India. Complete authority over all of British territory in the Indian subcontinent was granted in 1833,and the official came to be known as the "Governor-General of India".
Sir Streynsham Master was an English colonial administrator who was one of the 17th-century pioneers of the English East India Company. He served as the Agent of Madras from 27 January 1678 to 3 July 1681,and is credited with having introduced the first administrative reforms in the Madras Government. He banned sati and prohibited the burning of a Hindu widow in 1680 in what is the first official British response to sati. He made English the sole official language and language of court in the Madras Presidency,replacing the Portuguese,Tamil and Malayalam languages.
Fort St. George is a fortress in the coastal city of Chennai,India. Founded in 1639,it was the first English fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further settlements and trading activity,in what was originally an uninhabited land. Thus,it is a feasible contention to say that the city evolved around the fortress. The fort currently houses the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly and other official buildings.
The Madras Presidency,or the Presidency of Fort St. George,also known as Madras Province,was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent,the presidency included most of southern India,including the whole of the Indian states of Tamil Nadu,Andhra state and some parts of Kerala,Karnataka,Odisha and the union territory of Lakshadweep. The city of Madras was the winter capital of the Presidency and Ootacamund or Ooty,the summer capital. The coastal regions and northern part of Island of Ceylon at that time was a part of Madras Presidency from 1793 to 1798 when it was created a Crown colony. Madras Presidency was neighboured by the Kingdom of Mysore on the northwest,Kingdom of Cochin on the southwest,and the Kingdom of Hyderabad on the north. Some parts of the presidency were also flanked by Bombay Presidency (Konkan) and Central Provinces and Berar.
Chennai,formerly known as Madras,is the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu and is India's fifth largest city. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. With an estimated population of 8.9 million (2014),the 383-year-old city is the 31st largest metropolitan area in the world.
George Morton Pitt was a Madras-born British politician and administrator who served as the President of Fort St George from 1730 to 1735.
Francis Day (1605–1673) was an administrator associated with the East India Company. He served as a factor of the company's factory at Masulipatnam from 1632 to 1639. In 1639,he negotiated the purchase of a strip of land south of the Dutch factory at Pulicat from the Raja of Chandragiri,where the town of Madras was built. He served as the second Agent of Madras from 1643 to 1644. Along with Andrew Cogan,he is regarded as the founder of Madras.
Beri Thimappa / Thimmanna was the dubash (interpreter) and chief negotiator for Francis Day and Andrew Cogan,the agents of the British East India Company,and was instrumental in the purchase of Madras from the Nayak brothers. Beri Thimmappa migrated in the early 17th century to Chennai from palakollu,near Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. He established a Black Town outside the walls of the newly built Fort of Madras which later became Fort St George.
Sir William Langhorne,1st Baronet was the Agent of Madras from January 1670 to 27 January 1678.
William Gyfford was an English factor and Agent of Madras from 3 July 1681 to 8 August 1684 and the President of Madras from 26 January 1685 to 25 July 1687.
Nathaniel Higginson was an English politician and a scion of the Higginson family of Salem,Massachusetts who served as the first Mayor of Madras,and later as the President of the colony from 3 October 1692 to 7 July 1698.
Edward Harrison was a naval officer and official of the East India Company and British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1717 to 1726. He served as the President of Madras from 11 July 1711 to 8 January 1717.
C.S.I. St. Mary's Church is the Anglican church located at Fort St George in Chennai,Tamil Nadu,India. It lies East of Suez and also the oldest British building in India. The church is popularly known as 'Westminster Abbey of the East'.
The Battle of Madras or Fall of Madras took place in September 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession when a French force attacked and captured the city of Madras from its British garrison.
Lieutenant general Colin Mackenzie,CB was a British officer in the Madras Army who was active as a political officer in Afghanistan.
The Battle of Adyar took place on 24 October 1746. The battle was between the French East India Company men and Nawab of Arcot forces over the St. George Fort,which was held by the French. It was part of the First Carnatic War between the English and the French.
Bantam Presidency was a presidency established by the British East India Company and based at the Company factory at Bantam in Java. Founded in 1617,the Presidency exercised its authority over all the Company factories in India,including the agencies of Madras,Masulipatnam and Surat. The factors at Bantam were instrumental in founding the colony of Madraspatnam in 1639 with the Fort St. George,which later grew into the modern city of Madras. The Presidency of Bantam was twice downgraded,first in 1630 before being restored in 1634 and for the second time in 1653,when owing to the hostility of Dutch traders,the Presidency was shifted to Madras.