Correspondence of Sir William Jones

The Correspondence from William Jones to Samuel Davis consists of 37 letters collected into a brown leather bound book, approximately in date order. The introduction to the book states the letters are "chiefly concerning the Literature & Science of Asia; including some of the early history of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta." The correspondence reveals a lively communication from Jones to Davis and often concerning Davis interest in Indian astronomy.
Also within the book is a handwritten version of an introduction to these letters as printed in the "Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society Vol. III - Part I", 1831 in which all the letters were printed
The letters also contain one letter from Sir Joesph Banks to Samuel Davis thanking him for paper on the History of Astronomy which Banks had communicated to the Royal Society and remarks from a Mr Cavendish. These are handwritten and the letter is dated March 18th, 1790
The binding is broken and therefore care must be taken in using this material.

Samuel Davis was born in the West Indies where his father was Commissary General. After his father died he returned to England with his mother and siblings. He became an East India cadet in 1778, and sailed for India aboard the Earl of Oxford, arriving in Madras in 1780. In 1783 Warren Hastings assigned him as Draftsman and Surveyor on Samuel Turner's Mission to Bhutan and Tibet, but unable to enter Tibet he remained in Bhutan for the duration of the Mission.
On his return he was appointed Assistant to the Collector of Bhagalpur and Registrar of its Adalat Court. There he met William Jones and they became good friends, Davis also becoming a member of the Asiatic Society founded by Jones. He subsequently became Collector of Burdwan, a town in the Bengal Presidency, and from 1795-1800 was Magistrate of the district and city court in Benares. He continued in civil posts in India until his retirement in 1806 when he returned to England via St. Helena. He was elected as a Director of the East India Company on his return.
While in Burdwan, Davis married Henrietta Boileau and they had four sons and seven daughters. The eldest son, John Francis Davis, became the second Governor of Hong Kong. Davis died on 16 June 1819 at Birdhurst Lodge near Croyden in Surrey.

Open. Please contact the archivist using the email address given here. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID

The letters from William Jones to Samuel Davis were presented to the Royal Asiatic Society by John Francis Davis, son of Samuel Davis, on June 19th, 1830

Samuel Davis was born in the West Indies where his father was Commissary General. After his father died he returned to England with his mother and siblings. He became an East India cadet in 1778, and sailed for India aboard the Earl of Oxford, arriving in Madras in 1780. In 1783 Warren Hastings assigned him as Draftsman and Surveyor on Samuel Turner's Mission to Bhutan and Tibet, but unable to enter Tibet he remained in Bhutan for the duration of the Mission.
On his return he was appointed Assistant to the Collector of Bhagalpur and Registrar of its Adalat Court. There he met William Jones and they became good friends, Davis also becoming a member of the Asiatic Society founded by Jones. He subsequently became Collector of Burdwan, a town in the Bengal Presidency, and from 1795-1800 was Magistrate of the district and city court in Benares. He continued in civil posts in India until his retirement in 1806 when he returned to England via St. Helena. He was elected as a Director of the East India Company on his return.
While in Burdwan, Davis married Henrietta Boileau and they had four sons and seven daughters. The eldest son, John Francis Davis, became the second Governor of Hong Kong. Davis died on 16 June 1819 at Birdhurst Lodge near Croyden in Surrey.

The Letters were printed in the "Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society Vol.III - Part I", 183, pp.1-31. This can be found online at https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mzhAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law

Published