Elliott Graham Colvin (1836–1883) was a British Indian Civil Service (ICS) Officer. He served in Mathura and Meerut during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and later became Meerut's

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

. After his death, a gate was erected in his memory in Bulandshahr on the instructions of

Frederic Growse Frederic Salmon Growse (1836 – 19 May 1893) was a British civil servant of the Indian Civil Service (ICS), Hindi scholar, archaeologist and collector, who served in Mathura and Bulandshahr in the North-Western Provinces during British rule in ...

Early life and family

Elliott Colvin was born in 1836 in Calcutta, now Kolkata, to John Russell Colvin. His siblings included Auckland Colvin and Walter Colvin. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and Haileybury, England. In 1850 he became a naval cadet. On 18 September 1862 in Nainital, he married Edith, the eldest daughter of Peter Cunningham. '' The Times of India'' later noted that "he was peculiarly happy in his married life". He learnt French, German and Russian, and was familiar with several Northern Indian dialects.

Career

Colvin returned to India in 1855 and was an assistant in the Agra division at the onset of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, during which he served at Mathura. He fought at

Hathras Hathras is a historical city in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the headquarters of Hathras district, formed on 3 May 1997 by merging parts of Aligarh, Mathura and Agra. It is a part of the Aligarh Division. The primary spoken language is a ...

, Aligarh and the surrounding areas. He also became well known at Budaun. He spent a few months at Meerut before being appointed as superintendent of the

Terai District , image =Terai nepal.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption =Aerial view of Terai plains near Biratnagar, Nepal , map = , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , biogeographic_realm = Indomalayan realm , global200 = Terai-Duar savanna a ...

towards

Rohilkhand Rohilkhand (previously Rampur State) is a region in the northwestern part of Uttar Pradesh, India, that is centered on the Rampur, Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. It is part of the upper Ganges Plain, and is named after the Rohilla tribe. Th ...

. In 1880 he was transferred to Benares. Later, he became settlement officer, collector and commissioner back at Meerut. There, he led the search for European graves and commissioned maintenance of the burial sites.

Death and legacy

At the age of 47, Colvin's health began to deteriorate. He died of "inflammation of the lungs" on 3 November 1883 at

Sahanpur Sahanpur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Bijnor district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Demographics , the India census showed Sahanpur had a population of 18,349. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Sahanpur has a ...

, and his body was taken to Meerut. He was buried at Meerut cemetery. At Meerut, he was succeeded by Mr. Quinton, a member of the Viceregal Council. Following his death, a gate in his memory was constructed at a cost of 4,000 rupees at the east wall of Moti Bagh in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, at the instruction of

. Growse wrote in his 1884 book ''

Bulandshahr; or, Sketches of an Indian district; social, historical and architectural ''Bulandshahr: Or, Sketches of an Indian District: Social, Historical and Architectural'' is an 1884 book written by Frederic Growse, a district magistrate and collector for the Indian Civil Service, about the district of Bulandshahr in the North ...

'' that Colvin's "sudden untimely death, on the 3rd November 1883, was deeply felt by all classes of the community". An illustration of the gate was planned for inclusion in the second part of Growse's ''Indian Architecture of To-day as Exemplified in New Buildings in the Bulandshahr District''.

Colvin gate

File:Colvin Gate, Bulandshahr.png, Facing Moti Bagh File:Colvin Gate, front.png, Facing market File:Colvin gate side.jpg, Inside arch File:Colvin Gate memorial, Bulandshahr.png, Memorial plaque

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colvin, Elliott Graham 1836 births 1883 deaths 19th-century British civil servants Indian Civil Service (British India) officers People educated at Eton College People from Kolkata