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David Robertson MacDonald
Lieutenant-Colonel David Robertson Macdonald of Kinlochmoidart (1764–1845), born David Robertson, was a British Army officer linked to the history of Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon). Life He was born David Robertson on 29 September 1764, the son of the eminent Edinburgh historian and minister of Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, William Robertson (historian), William Robertson, and his wife Mary Nisbet. His brothers included William Robertson, Lord Robertson, William Robertson and Lord Robertson. Trained in the military, he served in the British Army linked to the East India Company and raised the first Malay Regiment in Ceylon in 1796. He served as Deputy Adjutant General of Ceylon in the late 18th century. In 1802 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were John Playfair, Alexander Dirom, and James Russell (surgeon), Dr James Russell. In later life he lived at 24 Walker Street. Robertson Macdonald died on 7 September 1845. He is buried in t ...
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British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve personnel and 4,697 "other personnel", for a total of 108,413. The British Army traces back to 1707 and the Acts of Union 1707, formation of the united Kingdom of Great Britain which joined the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland into a Political union, single state and, with that, united the English Army and the Scots Army as the British Army. The Parliament of England, English Bill of Rights 1689 and Convention of the Estates, Scottish Claim of Right Act 1689 require parliamentary consent for the Crown to maintain a peacetime standing army. Members of the British Army swear allegiance to the Charles III, monarch as their commander-in-chief. The army is administered by the Ministry of Defence (United Kingd ...
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Alexander Dirom
Lieutenant General Alexander Dirom of Luce and Mount Annan FRS FRSE (21May 17576October 1830) was a British military commander who saw overseas service in Barbados, Jamaica and India. He is remembered not only as a military commander but also as an agricultural improver, which earned him Fellowship of both the Royal Society of London and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His most notable contribution was to identify the importance of salt in animal diets, leading to the widespread use of "salt-licks" from around 1800. His views on the British corn trade also paved the way to the formulation of the Corn Laws in the early 19th century. Biography He was born in Banffshire the son of Alexander Dirom of Muiresk (Provost of Banff) and his wife, Ann Fotheringham. He was appointed ensign in the 61st Regiment of Foot on 8 December 1778 and lieutenant in the 88th Foot 13 October 1779. He served with the regiment in Barbados (1780) and Jamaica (1780–84) as Military Secretary to the GoC ...
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Fellows Of The Royal Society Of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established in 1783. , there are around 1,800 Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Fellows. The Society covers a broader range of fields than the Royal Society of London, including literature and history. The Fellowship includes people from a wide range of disciplines: science and technology, arts, humanities, medicine, social science, business, and public service. History At the start of the 18th century, Edinburgh's intellectual climate fostered many clubs and societies (see Scottish Enlightenment). Though there were several that treated the arts, sciences and medicine, the most prestigious was the Society for the Improvement of Medical Knowledge, commonly referred to as the Medical Society of Edinburgh, co-founded by the mathematicia ...
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British East India Company Army Officers
British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture * British English, the English language as spoken and written in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, more broadly, throughout the British Isles * Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group * Brittonic languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic language family (formerly called British) ** Common Brittonic, an ancient language Other uses *People or things associated with: ** Great Britain, an island ** British Isles, an island group ** United Kingdom, a sovereign state ** British Empire, a historical global colonial empire ** Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) ** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) * British Raj, colonial India under the British Empire * British Hong Kong, colonial H ...
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1845 Deaths
Events January–March * January 1 – The Philippines began reckoning Asian dates by hopping the International Date Line through skipping Tuesday, December 31, 1844. That time zone shift was a reform made by Governor–General Narciso Claveria on August 16, 1844, in order to align the local calendars in the country with the rest of Asia as trade interests with Imperial China, Dutch East Indies and neighboring countries increased, after Mexico became independent in 1821. The reform also applied to Caroline Islands, Guam, Marianas Islands, Marshall Islands, and Palau as part of the Captaincy General of the Philippines. * January 10 – Elizabeth Barrett receives a love letter from the younger poet Robert Browning; on May 20, they meet for the first time in London. She begins writing her ''Sonnets from the Portuguese''. * January 23 – The United States Congress establishes a uniform date for federal elections, which will henceforth be held on the first Tuesday after the ...
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1764 Births
Events January–June * January 7 – The Siculicidium is carried out as hundreds of the Székelys, Székely minority in Transylvania are massacred by the Habsburg monarchy, Austrian Army at Madéfalva. * January 19 – John Wilkes is expelled from the House of Commons of Great Britain, for seditious libel. * February 15 – The settlement of St. Louis is established. * March 15 – The day after his return to Paris from a nine-year mission, French explorer and scholar Anquetil Du Perron presents a complete copy of the Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrian sacred text, the ''Zend Avesta'', to the Bibliothèque nationale de France, ''Bibliothèque Royale'' in Paris, along with several other traditional texts. In 1771, he publishes the first European translation of the ''Zend Avesta''. * March 17 – Francisco Javier de la Torre arrives in Manila to become the new Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines. * March 20 – After the British victory in the ...
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David Robertson-Macdonald
Admiral David Robertson-Macdonald, 11th of Kinlochmoidart (6 August 1817 – 16 May 1910), also known as David Robertson, was a Scottish officer in the Royal Navy. He joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer, and saw service off the Portuguese and Spanish coast, in the West Indies and in the Mediterranean. Promoted to Lieutenant in August 1841, he served in HMS ''Hazard'' in the 1842 war with China, before the ship was posted to New Zealand. In August 1844, Lieutenant Robertson assumed the role of Acting Commander of HMS ''Hazard'', following the death of Commander Charles Bell, RN, at Kororāreka, New Zealand. At Kororāreka in the early morning of 11 March 1845, Commander Robertson, with a party of 45 sailors and marines, repulsed the first attack of the Battle of Kororāreka from Kawiti, Pumuka and their party of some 200 warriors, at Christ Church and along Matavia Pass. Missing presumed dead following the naval party's withdrawal to the stockade, he was later found concea ...
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Greyfriars Kirkyard
Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a number of notable Edinburgh residents are interred at Greyfriars. The Kirkyard is operated by the City of Edinburgh Council in liaison with a charitable trust, which is linked to but separate from the church. The Kirkyard and its monuments are protected as a category A listed building. History Greyfriars takes its name from the Franciscan friary on the site (the friars of which wear grey habits), which was dissolved in 1560. The churchyard was founded in August 1562 after royal sanctions were granted to replace the churchyard at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh. The latter burial ground was not used after around 1600. The Kirkyard was involved in the history of the Covenanters. The Covenanting movement began with ...
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James Russell (surgeon)
James Russell FRSE RSA (1754–1836) was a Scottish surgeon who was the first professor of clinical surgery at the University of Edinburgh. He was president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and was a co-founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1805 he published one of the earliest descriptions of direct inguinal hernia. His collection of anatomical specimens was donated to the Surgeon's Hall in Edinburgh and is now known as the James Russell Collection. Early life He was born in Edinburgh. His father, also James Russell (d 1773), was a surgeon who became Deacon (President) of the Incorporation of Surgeons in 1752. He gave up his surgical career to take up the Chair of Natural Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh in 1764 succeeding Adam Ferguson who had become Professor of Moral Philosophy.Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. (1874). ''List of Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh from the year 1581 to 31st December 1873''. Edinburgh: ...
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John Playfair
John Playfair FRSE, FRS (10 March 1748 – 20 July 1819) was a Church of Scotland minister, remembered as a scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his book ''Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth'' (1802), which summarised the work of James Hutton. It was through this book that Hutton's principle of uniformitarianism, later taken up by Charles Lyell, first reached a wide audience. Playfair's textbook ''Elements of Geometry'' made a brief expression of Euclid's parallel postulate known now as Playfair's axiom. In 1783 he was a co-founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He served as General Secretary to the society 1798–1819. Life Born at Benvie, slightly west of Dundee to Margaret Young (1719/20 – 1805) and Reverend James Playfair (died 1772), the kirk minister of Liff and Benvie. Playfair was educated at home until the age of 14, when he entered the University of St Andrews ...
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Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. It shares a maritime border with the Maldives in the southwest and India in the northwest. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, while the largest city, Colombo, is the administrative and judicial capital which is the nation's political, financial and cultural centre. Kandy is the second-largest urban area and also the capital of the last native kingdom of Sri Lanka. The most spoken language Sinhala language, Sinhala, is spoken by the majority of the population (approximately 17 million). Tamil language, Tamil is also spoken by approximately five million people, making it the second most-spoken language in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has a population of appr ...
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Royal Society Of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established in 1783. , there are around 1,800 Fellows. The Society covers a broader range of fields than the Royal Society of London, including literature and history. The Fellowship includes people from a wide range of disciplines: science and technology, arts, humanities, medicine, social science, business, and public service. History At the start of the 18th century, Edinburgh's intellectual climate fostered many clubs and societies (see Scottish Enlightenment). Though there were several that treated the arts, sciences and medicine, the most prestigious was the Society for the Improvement of Medical Knowledge, commonly referred to as the Medical Society of Edinburgh, co-founded by the mathematician Colin Maclaurin in 1731. Maclaurin was u ...
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