Sir Thomas Metcalfe, 4th Baronet
| Sir Thomas Metcalfe, Bt | |
|---|---|
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Sir Thomas Metcalfe, Bt, on a picture from the Delhi Book
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| Born |
2 January 1795 Portland Place, London |
| Died | 3 November 1853 (aged 58) Metcalfe House, Delhi, British India |
| Resting place |
St. James' Church near Kashmiri Gate, Delhi 28°39′56.2″N 77°13′53.5″E / 28.665611°N 77.231528°E |
| Occupation | Governor-General's Agent at the Imperial court of the Mughal Emperor |
| Employer | East India Company |
| Title | Baronet |
| Successor | Sir Theophilus Metcalfe, 5th Baronet |
| Spouse(s) | Grace Clark (1815-); Fe'licite Anne Browne (1826- her death, 1842) |
| Children |
Sir Theophilus John Metcalfe, 5th Baronet Emily Ann Theophila Metcalfe Charles Theophilus Metcalfe Georgiana Charlotte Theophila Metcalfe Eliza Theophila Debonnaire Metcalfe Sophia Selena Theophila Metcalfe |
Sir Thomas Theophilus Metcalfe, 4th Baronet, KCB (2 January 1795 – 3 November 1853) was an East India Company civil servant and agent of the Governor General of India at the imperial court of the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar.
Sir Thomas Theophilus Metcalfe was born on 2 January 1795 at 49 Portland Place, London, and christened on 27 March 1795 in St Marylebone Parish Church, Saint Marylebone, London, England. He arrived in Delhi in 1813 and lived there for forty years. His elder brother, Charles Metcalfe (1785–1846), was Resident to the Mughal Emperor's court, and briefly the provisional Governor General of Bengal (1835–36). He married Fe'licite Anne Browne on 13 July 1826.
In 1830, Metcalfe began to build the "Metcalfe House" on the outskirts of Delhi, taking land belonging to Gurjar villagers. He filled it with his collections of art, books and relics of Napoleon. The Metcalfe House was called Matka Kothi by the bearers and khansamahs (chefs) serving Sir Thomas, as they found it difficult to pronounce the name Metcalfe.
In 1835, Metcalfe became the agent at Delhi after the murder of William Fraser and ran the "Delhi Territory", the area around the old capital under British control since 1803. He succeeded his brother as Baronet in 1844, and became an important figure in the cultural climate of Delhi.
While working in India as the Governor-General's Agent at the Imperial court of the Mughal Emperor, between 1842 and 1844, Metcalfe ordered a series of images of the monuments, ruins, palaces and shrines from Delhi artist named Mazhar Ali Khan, and later an album termed as Reminiscences of Imperial Delhi (also Dehlie Book or Delhi Album) was compiled by Metcalfe in 1844, containing 89 folios around 130 paintings by Indian artists, and including descriptive text and touching words and was sent to his daughter Emily as she headed from an English schooling to join him in Delhi. The album has now been acquired by the British Library.
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