Description

Major General John Ramsay

Lent by Lady Broun Lindsay

Microfilm No. 24

TS copies of letters in the possession of Lady Broun Lindsay:

(Throughout the papers, Ranjit Singh is referred to as ‘Ranjit Sinji’, this has been changed in this listing for reasons of clarity and to enable searching)

1. Countess of Dalhousie to Mrs. Percival, Pulo Penang Island, 1830. Detailed description of flora and fauna of the island.
2. The same. Camp Futtapore near Cawnpore, 20 January 1831. Description of Lord Dalhousie’s entourage travelling with him; detailed description of the camp organization and method of procedure.
3. Major General Hon. John Ramsay to Lord Dalhousie. Camp at Nallaghurbad, 21 October 1831.
4. The same. Rossee, 22 October 1831. Meeting with Ranjit Singh and Lord William Bentinck.
5. The same. Rossee, 23 October 1831. Arrangements for meeting with Ranjit Singh and Lord William Bentinck; Maj. Gen. Hon. John Ramsay chosen as a delegate.
6. The same. 24 October 1831.
7. The same. 25 October 1831. Description of the delegation to Ranjit Singh, and a description of him and entourage.
8. The same. 26 October 1831. Description of the return visit of Ranjit Singh.
9. The same. 27 October 1831. Description of return visit of Lord William Bentinck to Ranjit Singh.
10. The same. 28 October 1831. About appointments.
11. The same. 29 October 1831. Describes the review of troops by Ranjit Singh, and return review by the Governor-General.
12. Col. Mountain to Lord Ramsay. Camp Byrode, 27 December 1831. Description of Delhi; visits the King and the Kutub; also of the Governor-General riding to camp; meets the Nawab of Ferozpur.

Microfilm No. 26

The papers of George Lord Ramsay (brother of the Marquess of Dalhousie). Born 1806 – went to India 1829 as A.D.C. to his father – died 1832:

Diary, July 1829 – June 1832:

1. 26 July 1829. Sails from England; description of voyage via Rio de Janeiro, where he stays some time; visits the slave market ‘a healthy boy £40’; leaves 16 September on the Pallas for Cape of Good Hope; witnesses a dance by Malays which he describes in detail and calls feast of the Malabars; rides to Stellenbosch, roads lined with oak trees; put up at George Inn.
2. 10 December 1829. Arrives Calcutta; moves into Government House, then to Government House in Fort William; Barrackpore 22 December; returns to Calcutta and goes hunting with Calcutta hounds.
3. Lord Combermere hands over to Lord Dalhousie; first shikar, February 1830, return 13 March to Calcutta; his parents take house in Garden Reach; father has a seizure; notes the feast of the Churruk Pooja when low-caste men wound themselves with knives etc.; sees hook swinging; hog-hunting.
4. Sails to Penang May, arrives August; description of Prince of Wales Island; returns to Bengal in October; has vapour baths for his rheumatism; goes to Simla by river Ganges; long description of sailing on Ganges.
5. Patna. Meets R.C. Chaplain, Padre Giulio Cesare, a Milanese, whom he likes immensely. Dinapur ? on Ganges again, Shikar; Buxar – a depot of 600 horses; Ghazepur; more about horses, sees a nautch, not impressed.
6. Benares, January 1831. Description of camp; Allahabad; bathing at the confluence; a tax of one rupee levied for this by the company and at Juggernath; marching; Cawnpore; review of troops; Colonel Boileau at Kurnal; Subathro, Simla. Ranjit Singh’s mission arrives – description.
7. 26 September. Lord and Lady William Bentinck, Lady Dalhousie, and party start for Kotzhur; leaves the hills in October (has been very ill there); 15th End of Dussehra, the Gurkhas perform the head-cutting ceremony; Umballa; visit Meerut; an earthquake on 24 October; marches.
8. Delhi. Visit to the King of Delhi; the Kuttub; Multan; Agra; march to Cawnpore; by boat to Calcutta, arrives 4 January 1832; returns to England. Last entry 3 June 1832.