Series 16 - Elliott family letters

19pp

Rosalind McCutcheon of the Irish Genealogical Research Society created the transcripts, which were excerpted from McCutcheon, R. G., ed. (2004), "Elliott letters [1834-69]," Irish Genealogical Research Society Newsletter 4, no. 1, pp. 18-20.

Materials pertaining to transcribed excerpts of 10 letters sent by Catherine and Edward Elliott, landowners in County Kilkenny, to their son Christopher in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) between 1834 and 1850.
The Elliotts' youngest son, Christopher trained as a doctor and took a post in Badulla, Ceylon in 1834. This was at the height of the family's financial troubles, and Lord Duncannon, who had become involved with the family, found the Badulla position for him. In 1836, Christopher resigned his position and moved to the capital, Colombo. Christopher bought a share of a small newsletter, The Colombo Newsletter and, with his partner and co-editor, George Winter, soon developed this into a major newspaper. Christopher became well known for his editorials, many of whom were distinctly unfavourable towards the British administration in Ceylon. In 1848, he took a lead in encouraging the native inhabitants to protest against taxes imposed by the government of Lord Torrington, the then Governor of Ceylon. This passed into the history books as 'The Great Kandyan Rebellion of 1848.' He incurred the wrath of the establishment for this, and was summoned before the Commission of Enquiry. However, he was completely exonerated, the main taxes were withdrawn, and Lord Torrington lost his position and was recalled to England. In 1858, Christopher was appointed Principal Civil Medical Officer and, in 1859, he sold his share of the newspaper.
The series also contains Kerby A. Miller's correspondence with colleagues including Rosalind McCutcheon, who originally transcribed the letters, and Miller's annotated bibliographic entry for her book.