John Malcolm
| Sir John Malcolm | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Governor of Bombay | |
|
In office 1 November 1827 – 1 December 1830 |
|
| Monarch |
George IV William IV |
| Governor-General |
The Earl Amherst Lord William Bentinck |
| Preceded by | Mountstuart Elphinstone |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Clare |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 May 1769 Burnfoot, Dumfriesshire, Scotland |
| Died | 30 May 1833 (aged 64) London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Soldier, Statesman, Historian |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch | Madras Army |
| Years of service | 1782–1833 |
| Rank | Major-general |
| Battles/wars |
Third Anglo-Mysore War Fourth Anglo-Mysore War Battle of Mahidpur |
Major-general Sir John Malcolm GCB, KLS (2 May 1769 – 30 May 1833) was a Scottish soldier, diplomat, East India Company administrator, statesman, and historian.
Sir John Malcolm was born in 1769, one of seventeen children of George Malcolm, an impoverished tenant farmer in Eskdale in the Scottish Border country, and his wife Margaret (‘Bonnie Peggy’), née Pasley. He left school, family and country at the age of thirteen, and achieved distinction in the East India Company over the next half century. A spirited character, he was nicknamed ‘Boy Malcolm’; for throughout his life he retained a youthful enthusiasm for field sports and fun and games. But behind this boisterous exterior lay serious intellectual ability and a considerable talent for government.
Arriving at Madras in 1783 as an ensign in the East India Company’s Madras Army, he served as a regimental soldier for eleven years, before spending a year in Britain to restore his health. He returned to India in 1795 as Military Secretary to General Sir Alured Clarke, participating en route in Clarke’s capture of the Cape of Good Hope. In the Anglo-Mysore war of 1799 he served with the Hyderabad contingent, and later as joint secretary of the Peace Commission setting up the new government of Mysore. Later that year he was selected by the Governor-General (Lord Mornington, later Marquess Wellesley) to lead a diplomatic mission to Persia. Following his return in 1801 he became Wellesley’s private secretary, based in Calcutta (Kolkata).
In the Anglo-Maratha war of 1803-5 he accompanied Sir Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) as the Governor-General’s representative and diplomatic agent; the two men forming a lifelong friendship. In 1804 he was appointed British Resident at Mysore, but in 1805-6 saw further service in north India with General Lake. In early 1808 the Governor-General, Lord Minto, sent him on a second mission to Persia, but at this time French influence was dominant in Tehran, and he was rebuffed. Later that year a separate mission from London under Sir Harford Jones arrived in Persia and achieved success, the Persian government having by then become disenchanted with the French. Malcolm was again sent to Persia in 1810, but by that time the British government had decided to conduct diplomatic relations with Persia directly from London, and appointed Sir Gore Ouseley as ambassador.
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