Papers of Sir Charles Colville

A series of letters sent from Mauritius concerning the setting up of an astronomy observatory. Dated from 1829-1831. Also a copy of the Mauritius Gazette, Saturday 20th June 1829 containing an article on astronomy.

Sir CHARLES COLVILLE was the second son of John, ninth Lord Colville of Culross. He entered the army in 1781, and was a career soldier serving, amongst other places, in the West Indies, Ireland, Egypt and Gibraltar, and rising to the rank of General. He was was commander-in-chief at Bombay from 1819 to 1825, and governor of the Mauritius from 1828 to 1834. He was promoted to General in 1837, and died on 27 March 1843 at Rosslyn House, Hampstead.

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It is probable that Colville sent the Papers to Alexander Johnston, Vice-President of the Royal Asiatic Society, in order to garner support for an observatory in Mauritius.

Sir CHARLES COLVILLE was the second son of John, ninth Lord Colville of Culross. He entered the army in 1781, and was a career soldier serving, amongst other places, in the West Indies, Ireland, Egypt and Gibraltar, and rising to the rank of General. He was was commander-in-chief at Bombay from 1819 to 1825, and governor of the Mauritius from 1828 to 1834. He was promoted to General in 1837, and died on 27 March 1843 at Rosslyn House, Hampstead.

The material was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2019.

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These papers were written or sourced by Charles Colville when he was governor of Mauritius.

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