INDIA DURING THE AGE OF EMPIRE

The Journals of Michael Pakenham Edgeworth (1812-1881) from the Bodleian Library, Oxford

Publisher's Note

Many Victorians saw the creation of the great Indian Empire between 1800 and 1860 as Britain’s supreme achievement.

Michael Pakenham Edgeworth - the son of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, author, inventor and educator; and step-brother of Maria Edgeworth, the novelist - was ideally placed as a witness to the creation of British rule in India.

Serving as a member of the Indian civil service from 1831 to his death in 1881, he followed the expansion of British territorial control in India from the coastal regions in the South to the wars with Tipu Sultan and the conquest of the Punjab from the Sikhs in 1849. He was appointed Commissioner for the settlement of the Punjab in 1850.

Fortunately for historians, Michael Pakenham Edgeworth kept a detailed diary of his time in India. It starts in 1828, prior to his journey to India, and over 8,000 pages detail his observations and experiences up to 1867.

Edgeworth had a fine eye for detail and his own passions for the native Indian languages and for botany ensured that he travelled widely in the field, visiting local communities and sparsely populated regions, as well as working in the urban areas. Sketches of local topography, observations on language and customs, descriptions of flora and fauna, and comments on the sights and sounds of the region make this a fascinating source for those interested in the social, cultural and political history of India in the Age of Empire.

This project includes Bodleian Library MS Eng misc g356 (his sketch book); MSS Eng misc d1302-3 & e1469-75 (the journals); MS Eng misc d1305 (copies & extracts from the journals); MSS Eng misc d1306-7 (notes and drawings for Pollen [London, 1877], his main botanical work); MS Eng misc e1476 (statistics); and MS Eng misc e1477 (Sir James Innes’ account of the siege of Lucknow). The letters of Michael Pakenham Edgeworth and his wife are included in Women, Education and Literature: The Papers

of Maria Edgeworth, 1768-1849 Part 1.

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