Edward Alured Draper (22 October 1776 in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

– 22 April 1841 in Rivière Noire,

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

) was a military officer in the British Army and civil servant in Mauritius.

Life

Draper was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. In 1793 he matriculated at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

Military career

In 1796, he became Lieutenant, then Captain in the British Army, and he served in

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. As a brevet major, he brought home the despatches after the capture of

St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

in 1803. One of the people he knew in the Caribbean was Sir

Thomas Picton Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton (24 August 175818 June 1815) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. He fought in the Napoleonic Wars and died at Waterloo. According to the historian Alessandro Barbero, Picton was "respecte ...

, who served as governor of Trinidad. Picton was tried in England for permitting the torture of Luisa Calderón in Trinidad. Picton did not deny the use of torture, but Draper defended him and became involved in a pamphlet war, issuing an "Address to the British Public". Draper was jailed for three months for

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

ling Picton's accusers, and had the consolation of being visited by the Prince Regent, whom he seems to have met as a

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

. A few years later he was again in the limelight as ADC. He retired from the army as colonel.

Mauritius

In 1812, he came to

. In the same year, he founded the Mauritius Turf Club and initiated racing at

Champ de Mars Racecourse The Champ de Mars Racecourse () is a thoroughbred horse race track in Port Louis, Mauritius. The Racecourse was inaugurated on 25 June 1812, by The Mauritius Turf Club (MTC) which was founded earlier the same year by Edward Alured Draper, who se ...

. For a short period he was appointed Chief Secretary in

Bourbon Island Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon, a beer produced by Brasseries de Bourbon * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * Bourbon coffee, a type of coffee ma ...

. Back in Mauritius, Draper served in different capacities, namely as Chief of Police, Colonial Secretary, Collector of Customs, Civil engineer, Registrar of Slaves, Magistrate and Colonial Treasurer. In 1818, he was suspended by General Cage Hall but once more his powerful friends in England came to his rescue and Draper was reinstated. In 1822 he married a Mauritian lady named Lucie de Krivelt. Draper supported the Mauritian planters against the British official in respect of slaves trade and the abolition of slavery issues. Dismissed by Governor Nicolay in 1832, Draper was sent back to England. In 1836, he was back again in Mauritius, this time appointed Colonial Treasurer and

Paymaster General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The position is currently held by Nick Thomas-Symonds of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. History The post was ...

. He died on 22 April 1841 and was buried at Riviere Noire.

Sources

* *Anniversaries and events, from the

philatelic bureau

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Draper, Edward 1776 births 1841 deaths British colonial governors and administrators in Africa People educated at Eton College Scots Guards officers British Mauritius people British Mauritius judges Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford