Thomas Douglas Forsyth
| Thomas Douglas Forsyth | |
|---|---|
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Photo of Forsyth, circa 1870
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| Born |
7 October 1827 Birkenhead, England |
| Died | 17 December 1886 (aged 59) Eastbourne, England |
| Occupation | Diplomat |
Sir Thomas Douglas Forsyth KCSI CB FRGS (7 October 1827 – 17 December 1886) was an Anglo-Indian administrator and diplomat.
Forsyth was born in Birkenhead on 7 October 1827. He was the tenth child of Thomas Forsyth, a Liverpool merchant. He was educated at Sherborne and Rugby, and under private tuition until he entered the East India Company's College at Haileybury, where he remained until December 1847.
He embarked for India in January 1848, and arrived at Calcutta in the following March. Here he gained honours in Persian, Hindustani, and Hindi at the company's college, and in September of the same year was appointed to a post under Edward Thornton at Saharanpur. On the annexation of the Punjab after the Second Anglo-Sikh War in March 1849, he was appointed to take part in the administration of the new province, and was sent by Sir Henry Lawrence, together with Colonel Marsden, as deputy-commissioner over him, to Pakpattan. He was shortly afterwards appointed by Lord Dalhousie to the post of assistant-commissioner at Simla. While holding this post he married in 1850 Alice Mary, daughter of Thomas Plumer of Canons Park, Edgware.
He was next stationed at Kangra, where he remained till 1854, when an attack of brain fever obliged him to return for a time to England. On going back to India he spent a short time as deputy-commissioner, first at Gurdaspur and subsequently at Rawalpindi, whence he was transferred in 1855 to Umballa. He was here at the outbreak of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, detected the first signs of disaffection, and reported them. After the capture of Delhi he was one of the special commissioners appointed to hunt up the rebels, and in this capacity was principally engaged in examining the papers of the Nana of Cawnpore. He arrived at Lucknow in time to see the city evacuated by the rebels, and after this event acted as secretary successively to Sir James Outram, Sir Robert Montgomery, and Charles John Wingfield, until, in 1860, he was appointed commissioner to the Punjab. For his services during the rebellion he received the Order of Companion of the Bath.
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