Prinsep
Encyclopedia
The family descended from John Prinsep
John Prinsep
John Prinsep was born the son of a vicar in rural Oxfordshire, England, with limited horizons for advancement. He joined the East India Company as a cadet, travelling to Bombay, and was soon engaged in mercantile pursuits, eventually becoming the earliest British merchant to plant indigo, and...
, an 18th-century merchant who was the son of Rev. John Prinsep, rector of Saundby
Saundby
Saundby is a village in Nottinghamshire, England two miles west of Gainsborough and lies within the civil parish of Beckingham cum Saundby. The parish is bordered on one side by the River Trent. The village Church of St Martin was extensively restored in 1885....
, Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, and Bicester
Bicester
Bicester is a town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in England.This historic market centre is one of the fastest growing towns in Oxfordshire Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the M40 motorway linking it to London, Birmingham and...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. John Prinsep, his son, founded indigo
Indigo
Indigo is a color named after the purple dye derived from the plant Indigofera tinctoria and related species. The color is placed on the electromagnetic spectrum between about 420 and 450 nm in wavelength, placing it between blue and violet...
production in India as well as the making of cotton fabrics in Bengal, opened a copper mint in India and was a founder of the Westminster Life Insurance Society in London, where he later served as Alderman and in Parliament. Prinsep arrived in India as a soldier in the army of the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
but became a merchant soon afterwards. During his 16 years in India, John Prinsep amassed a £40,000 fortune, which he used to set himself up as a London businessman and get himself elected to Parliament. Prinsep made two large fortunes and lost both. He was the first of three succeeding generations of Prinseps in India, all of whom were known for their artistic abilities. Among his descendants are the artist Valentine Cameron Prinsep
Valentine Cameron Prinsep
Valentine Cameron Prinsep, often known as Val Princep, was a British painter of the Pre-Raphaelite school.-Early life:...
, the Anglo-Indian antiquarian, scholar and architect James Prinsep
James Prinsep
James Prinsep was an Anglo-Indian scholar and antiquary. He was the seventh son of John Prinsep, a wealthy East India merchant and Member of Parliament....
and others.
A partial listing of Prinsep family members:
- Augustus Prinsep (1803–30), eighth and youngest son of John Prinsep, sketcher, writer, civil servant, born in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, attended Haileybury CollegeHaileybury and Imperial Service CollegeHaileybury and Imperial Service College, , is a prestigious British independent school founded in 1862. The school is located at Hertford Heath, near Hertford, from central London, on of parkland occupied until 1858 by the East India College...
, then clerk with East India CompanyEast India CompanyThe East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
, Calcutta, attempted to settle in AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
but unsuccessful, died aboard ship - Charles Robert Prinsep (1789–1864), Lincoln's InnLincoln's InnThe Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
barrister and economist, graduate of St John's College, CambridgeSt John's College, CambridgeSt John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, Judge Advocate General of Bengal, resided at Belvedere EstateBelvedere EstateThe Belvedere Estate consists of Belvedere House and the 30 acre grounds surrounding it, in which the National Library of India is housed. Its is located near the Alipore Zoological Gardens, in Calcutta...
, Calcutta, son of patriarch John Prinsep - Charles Robert Prinsep, SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
merchant for whom Singapore's Prinsep Street and Prinsep Place are named, owner of the Prinsep nutmeg plantation, 6,700 nutmeg shrubs covering much of what is now downtown Singapore - Edward Augustus Prinsep, (b. 1828), Calcutta merchant, son of William Prinsep of Calcutta
- Lieut. Frederick Bruce Prinsep (d. 1879), soldier, 21st Hussars, 3rd European Light Cavalry, decorated for his role in the Indian Mutiny campaign of 1858
- George Augustus Prinsep Esq., (d. 1839) prominent Anglo-Indian journalist, cotton merchant, salt manufacturer, shipping owner, Calcutta, member, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, assumed editorship of The Courier newspaper of Calcutta after failure of early business venture, publisher Calcutta Gazette, regained fortune through salt interests, son of merchant John Prinsep
- George Levett-Prinsep, Norfolk CrescentCity of WestminsterThe City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
- Henry Charles Prinsep (1844–1922), manager of family estates in Western Australia, civil servant, Chief Protector of Aborigines, artist, son of Charles Robert Prinsep, and brother of 'May' Prinsep (who married Hallam Tennyson, elder son of Alfred, Lord Tennyson), born in Calcutta, died in Busselton, Western AustraliaBusselton, Western Australia-Growth and development:According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics the Shire had a permanent resident population of 25,950 in 2004 with the town of Busselton accounting for 67% or 17,400 of the total. The Shire's permanent population is expected to continue to increase significantly to...
, home of his wife Josephine Bussell's family - Sir Henry Thoby Prinsep (1793–1878), merchant and civil servant, Bengal Civil Service, named director of East India CompanyEast India CompanyThe East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
1849, served on the Council of India 1858–74, son of patriarch John Prinsep, lived at Little Holland HouseLittle Holland HouseLittle Holland House was the dower house of Holland House in Kensington, England. Henry Thoby Prinsep, a director of East India Company and member of the Prinsep family, gained a 21-year lease on it from Henry Fox, 4th Baron Holland thanks to the painter George Frederic Watts, a friend of both the...
, KensingtonKensingtonKensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
, London, one of London's sought-after salons of the age, and The Briary, Isle of WightIsle of WightThe Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, amateur oil painter, married in 1835 to Sarah Monckton Pattle (Calcutta, 1816-BrightonBrightonBrighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, 1887), and brother-in-law of photographer Julia Margaret CameronJulia Margaret CameronJulia Margaret Cameron was a British photographer. She became known for her portraits of celebrities of the time, and for photographs with Arthurian and other legendary themes.... - Lt. Col. Henry Auriol Prinsep (1836–1914), soldier, Bengal Staff Corps, his daughter Mary married Hon. William Fitzwilliam James Dundas
- James PrinsepJames PrinsepJames Prinsep was an Anglo-Indian scholar and antiquary. He was the seventh son of John Prinsep, a wealthy East India merchant and Member of Parliament....
(1799–1840), numismatist, linguist, artist, scholar, Secretary of the Asiatic SocietyAsiatic SocietyThe Asiatic Society was founded by Sir William Jones on January 15, 1784 in a meeting presided over by Sir Robert Chambers, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the Fort William in Calcutta, then capital of the British Raj, to enhance and further the cause of Oriental research. At the time of...
, son of John Prinsep, brother of Henry Thoby Prinsep and William Prinsep (executor of his estate), died at sea returning to England, 1840 - John PrinsepJohn PrinsepJohn Prinsep was born the son of a vicar in rural Oxfordshire, England, with limited horizons for advancement. He joined the East India Company as a cadet, travelling to Bombay, and was soon engaged in mercantile pursuits, eventually becoming the earliest British merchant to plant indigo, and...
, vicar's son, patriarch of the Prinsep family in India, indigo planter, entrepreneur, arrived in India a few weeks after Warren HastingsWarren HastingsWarren Hastings PC was the first Governor-General of India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but was acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1814.-Early life:...
became Governor General in 1773, amassed a large fortune in indigo production, retired to frescoed mansion on London's Leadenhall StreetLeadenhall StreetLeadenhall Street is a street in the City of London, formerly part of the A11. It runs east from Cornhill to Aldgate, and west vice-versa. Aldgate Pump is at the junction with Aldgate...
later occupied by the India Office, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
aldermanAldermanAn alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
, Member of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,... - James Hunter Prinsep, Bengal Civil Service
- James F. M. PrinsepJames F. M. PrinsepJames Frederick McLeod Prinsep was an English footballer who held two 'youngest player' records for almost 125 years, before they were both broken within the space of just over a year....
(1861–95), footballer, was the grandson of Henry's brother, William. - Thomas Prinsep (1800–30), engineer, amateur artist, Calcutta, India
- Thomas Prinsep of Croxall HallCroxall HallCroxall Hall is a restored and extended 16th century manor house situated at Croxall, Staffordshire . It is a Grade II* listed building....
, DerbyshireDerbyshireDerbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, High Sheriff of DerbyshireHigh Sheriff of DerbyshireThis is a list of High Sheriffs of Derbyshire from 1568.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been...
1802, former India merchant, artist, cattle breeder, son of patriarch John - Thomas Levett-PrinsepThomas Levett-PrinsepThomas Levett-Prinsep , born Thomas Levett at Wychnor Park in Staffordshire, was a Derbyshire JP, member of the Tamworth Board of Guardians, landowner and cattle breeder in Derbyshire who took on the additional name of Prinsep upon inheriting his uncle's holding of Croxall Hall.Thomas Levett was...
, heir to his uncle Thomas Prinsep and son of Theophilus LevettLevettLevett is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy. Ancestors of the earliest Levett family in England, the de Livets were lords of the village of Livet, and undertenants of the de Ferrers, among the most powerful of...
of Wychnor ParkWychnor HallWychnor Hall is an early 18th century country house near Burton on Trent, Staffordshire. Formerly owned by the Levett family, descendants of Theophilus Levett, Steward of the city of Lichfield in the early eighteenth century, the hall has been converted to a Country Club. It is a Grade II listed...
Derbyshire. On the early death of Prinsep, his seat at Croxall Hall, Derbyshire, devolved onto his nephew Levett, who took the name Levett-Prinsep, resided at Croxall Hall, Derbyshire, Justice of the PeaceJustice of the PeaceA justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
and landowner - Valentine Cameron PrinsepValentine Cameron PrinsepValentine Cameron Prinsep, often known as Val Princep, was a British painter of the Pre-Raphaelite school.-Early life:...
(1838–1904), painter, son of Henry Thoby Prinsep, trained to become an Indian merchant but turned to art instead, author of Imperial India, a book of travel writing - William H. Prinsep (1794–1874), merchant, Palmer & Co., Carr, Tagore & Co., founder, Union Bank (failed), founder, Bengal Tea Association, founder, Bengal Coal Company, owner, Bengal Salt Company (inherited from his brother George), SheriffSheriffA sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
, Fort William, Calcutta, amateur artist (studied under George ChinneryGeorge ChinneryGeorge Chinnery was an English painter who spent most of his life in Asia, especially India and southern China.- Early life :Chinnery was born in London, where he studied at the Royal Academy Schools...
), retired to Hyde Park Place, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, secretary, Great Western RailwayGreat Western RailwayThe Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
, South Devon RailwaySouth Devon RailwaySouth Devon Railway could mean:* South Devon Railway Company - the company that built the railway from Exeter to Plymouth* South Devon Railway Trust - the heritage railway from Totnes to BuckfastleighOther heritage railways in South Devon include:...
, one of seven sons of patriarch John Prinsep . Appointed secretary of the Oswestry & Newtown Railway in September 1855 but appointment rescinded in October 1855 because shareholders thought that he would be biased in favour of the Great Western Railway.
- The tree PrinsepiaPrinsepiaPrinsepia is a genus of trees in the Rosaceae. It bears fruit which looks like a cherry. The plant grows largely in India, China, Bangladesh, and Taiwan, yet P...
that grows in India, China and Bangladesh, is named for James PrinsepJames PrinsepJames Prinsep was an Anglo-Indian scholar and antiquary. He was the seventh son of John Prinsep, a wealthy East India merchant and Member of Parliament....
, secretary of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta.