Sir John Macpherson, 1st Baronet
Sir John Macpherson, 1st Baronet (1745 – 12 January 1821), was a British administrator in India. He was the acting Governor-General of Bengal from 1785 to 1786.
John Macpherson
1745
Sleat, Isle of Skye
12 January 1821
Brompton Grove
Early life[edit]
Macpherson was born in 1745 at Sleat in the Isle of Skye, where his father, John Macpherson (1713–1765), was minister.[2]
His mother was Janet, daughter of Donald Macleod of Bernera. The father, son of Dugald Macpherson, minister of Duirinish, distinguished himself in classics at Aberdeen University (M.A. 1728, and D.D. 1761), and was minister of Barra in the presbytery of Uist (1734–42), and of Sleat (1742–65). He published Critical Dissertations on the Origin, Antiquities, Language, Government, Manners, and Religion of the Ancient Caledonians, their Posterity, the Picts, and the British and Irish Scots, London, 1768, and paraphrased the Song of Moses in Latin verse in Scots Magazine, vols. i. ix. xi. He upheld the authenticity of the poems assigned to Ossian, and Samuel Johnson declared that his Latin verse did him honour. Martin Macpherson (1743–1812), Dr. Macpherson's elder son, succeeded him at Sleat, and won Dr. Johnson's regard when the doctor visited the highlands.
John, the younger son, was educated at King's College, Aberdeen, and at the University of Edinburgh.[3]
First journey to India[edit]
In March 1767 he sailed for India, nominally as purser of an East India ship, commanded by his maternal uncle, Captain Alexander Macleod. Macpherson landed at Madras, where he obtained an introduction to Mohammed Ali, Nawab of the Carnatic. The latter, whose affairs were in great disorder, had borrowed large sums of money at high interest from the East India Company's officials at Madras. Hard pressed by his creditors, he entrusted Macpherson with a secret mission to Britain, with the object of making representations on his behalf to the home government. Macpherson arrived in Britain in November 1768. He had several interviews with the prime minister, Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, who eventually despatched Sir John Lindsay, as king's envoy extraordinary, to effect a settlement of the Nawab's claims. This commission being novel and unwarrantable, the company protested, and Lindsay was recalled.[3]
Second journey to India[edit]
Macpherson returned to India in January 1770 with the position of a writer in the company's service. He remained for six years at Madras occupied with administrative work. He also renewed his acquaintance with the nabob, for whom, as he himself confesses, he occasionally procured loans of money. In 1776 George Pigot, 1st Baron Pigot, the governor of Madras, obtained possession of a letter addressed to the nabob by Macpherson, in which details were given regarding the latter's mission to Britain. The paper contained severe reflections on the company's action, and indicated that Macpherson had engaged in a plot to set the home government against them. He was therefore dismissed the service. He returned to Britain in 1777, having previously furnished himself with fresh despatches to the home government from the nabob.[3]
MP for Cricklade 1779-1782[edit]
Macpherson remained in England for four years. From April 1779 to May 1782 he sat in the House of Commons for Cricklade, and was one of six members suspected of being in receipt of a salary from the nabob of Arcot in return for pressing the latter's claims on the legislature.[3]
MP for Cricklade 1788[edit]
In 1788 Macpherson was again elected to the House of Commons for Cricklade, but was unseated for bribery on the petition of his opponent, Samuel Petrie, and cast in penalties to the amount of 3,000 pounds. He now joined the whig opposition, and was till 1802 on intimate terms with the Prince of Wales.[3]
Visits to Florence and Vienna[edit]
In 1789 he visited Florence, where his advice was asked by the Grand Duke Leopold on financial and administrative matters. When Leopold became emperor in 1790 he visited him at Vienna. Macpherson's tall figure, handsome face, and courtly manners made him a great favourite in society; and his wide knowledge and linguistic talents won him the respect of scholars.[3]
Dispute with Whitshed Keene[edit]
In 1806, in a discussion on Indian affairs, Whitshed Keene, the member for Montgomery, availed himself of the opportunity to censure his relations with the nabob of Arcot. Macpherson replied to the implied charges in an Open Letter to Whitshed Keene, Esq., M.P., dated 31 May 1806. He stated that in 1777 he had, through his intimacy with the nabob, obtained knowledge of secret overtures made to that prince by France, the exposure of which had been of great service to the British government. He also added that his claims on the nabob were still unpaid.[3]
Death[edit]
Macpherson died unmarried, at Brompton Grove, on 12 January 1821, when the baronetcy became extinct.[3]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the : Moriarty, Gerald Patrick (1893). "Macpherson, John (1745-1821)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 35. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
