John Capper F.R.A.S. (29 September 1814 – 31 March 1898) According to this information, they had only one child, George Bejamin icCapper in 1842 was a writer and Orientalist, particularly noted for his association with Ceylon (present day

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, ...

) and his editorship of '' The Times of Ceylon''.

History

Capper was born in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

, Surrey, London to Benjamin Pitts Capper (c. 1773 – c. 1850) and Maria Margaret Capper, ne Bessell (c. 1780 – c. 1844) Capper joined the coffee wholesale business of Acland & Boyd, by whom in 1837 he was sent to Ceylon to manage the company's cinnamon and coconut oil interests, and where he oversaw the clearing of much native vegetation for the establishment of new coffee plantations. Capper had some journalistic experience as co-editor of '' The Mining and Steam Navigation Gazette'', and founded ''The Ceylon Magazine'', which ran from 1840 to 1842. It was a serious, scholarly magazine, which served to bring together a group of like-minded individuals who in 1845 formed the Ceylon Branch of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society, was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encourag ...

, with Capper as treasurer. When the Ceylon ''Examiner'' was founded on 7 September 1846, Bessell was its editor and Capper the chief contributor. 1847 saw the collapse of the coffee market, and Acland & Boyd suspended operations. Capper returned to London, where he threw himself into journalistic activity: he wrote articles on Ceylon for

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

' ''

Household Words ''Household Words'' was an English weekly magazine edited by Charles Dickens in the 1850s. It took its name from the line in Shakespeare's '' Henry V'': "Familiar in his mouth as household words." History During the planning stages, titles orig ...

'' (uncredited, as was Dickens' custom), and ''The Emigrant's Guide to Australia'' chiefly aimed at hopeful diggers, the Australian gold rush then being in full swing. Next came ''The Three Presidencies of India: A History of the Rise and Progress of the British Indian Possessions'', which enjoyed a considerable market and praise from critics. A few more books of advice to the prospective emigrant "down under" followed, then his first about Ceylon, ''Pictures from the East'', with illustrations by J. L. K. van Dort. He would collaborate with van Dort again, in ''The Duke of Edinburgh in Ceylon'', a record of Prince Alfred's 1870 tour of the island. During the ten years Capper was in London, he also served as sub-editor of '' The Globe''. Capper returned to Ceylon in 1858, and purchased the twice-weekly ''Ceylon Times'', which he edited with considerable skill and effort but little financial return until 1874, when he sold the newspaper. Capper, now an establishment figure, had unofficial membership of Ceylon’s Legislative Council. On 15 November 1864, he and five other unofficial members — two British and three Ceylonese — resigned in protest at the Government's stringent fiscal policies, and in 1865 formed the Ceylon League, which acted as a thorn in the side of the newly-appointed Sir Hercules Robinson's government. In 1874 he sold the ''Ceylon Times'', left the island, and was involved in promoting the

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

industry. In the meantime, ''The Ceylon Times'' had become moribund and been liquidated. In 1882 he returned to Ceylon, and with his sons Frank Augustus Capper and Herbert Henry Capper revived it as ''The Times of Ceylon'', an evening daily, which became the island's leading English-language newspaper. Capper died in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, Middlesex, England, aged 83 years.

Selected publications

*''The Emigrant's Guide to Australia'', mostly concerned the goldfields of New South Wales and Victoria. A copy of the second edition may be viewe
here
A later edition (1855), also published in Liverpool, was advertised as "J. Capper's 'Philips' Emigrants' Guide to Australia, Containing the fullest Particulars relating to Gold Digging, Cattle-Rearing, Sheep-Breeding, Mining, etc." At least three editions of the ''Guide'' had issued by 1856, and a facsimile edition was published by Hawthorn Press of Melbourne, Victoria in 1973. It should not be confused with earlier, similarly titled publications by Henry Capper, who may be unrelated. *''The Three Presidencies of India: A History of the Rise and Progress of the British Indian Possessions'' (London, 1853), which may be freely viewe
here
*''Pictures from the East'', illustrated by J. L. K. van Dort, (London, 1854) *''The Duke of Edinburgh in Ceylon: A book of elephant and elk sport'', illustrated by J. L. K. van Dort, (London, 1871)

Family

On 5 November 1839 in St Paul's Church,

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

, Sri Lanka Capper married Anna Amelia Ackland (1823– ), daughter of the founder of Ackland & Boyd. On 13 June 1859 in St Leonards Church, Shoreditch, Middlesex, England, he married Sarah Ann Richards (1831-1911). Two of his sons Frank (1859-1937) and Herbert (1856-1905) profitably managed ''The Times of Ceylon'' after Capper retired to England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capper, John 1814 births 1898 deaths English newspaper editors People from British Ceylon Sri Lankan people of British descent