Christopher Biden - Revision history

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2022-08-10T19:37:29Z

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← Older revision		Revision as of 01:07, 11 August 2022
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	\| baptised = 13 May 1790		\| baptised = 13 May 1790
	\| death_date = 25 February 1858 (aged 68)		\| death_date = 25 February 1858 (aged 68)
	\| death_place = [[Chennai\|Madras]], [[~~British~~ India]]		\| death_place = [[Chennai\|Madras]], [[India]]
	\| monuments = [[St. George's Cathedral, Chennai\|St George's Cathedral, Chennai]]		\| monuments = [[St. George's Cathedral, Chennai\|St George's Cathedral, Chennai]]
	\| occupation = Officer in the [[East India Company]] Mercantile Marine		\| occupation = Officer in the [[East India Company]] Mercantile Marine
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	==Career==		==Career==

	Between 1807 and 1818 Biden completed seven return voyages to India as a mate on the [[East Indiaman]] Royal George. By 1821 he was captain of the [[East Indiaman]] [[Princess Charlotte of Wales (1812 EIC ship)\|Princess Charlotte of Wales]]. Between 1821 and 1830 he completed four voyages to India as captain of the Princess Charlotte and one voyage to China as captain of the new Royal George.<ref name=Gateway>{{cite web \|title=Biden's ancestral Chennai connect \|author=Tim Willasey-Wilsey \|url=https://www.gatewayhouse.in/joe-biden-chennai/ \|publisher=Gateway House \|date=31 August 2020 }}</ref> Biden then spent two years in [[Blackheath, London\|Blackheath]] with his family, publishing a book on naval discipline in 1830.<ref name=Gateway/> In 1832 and 1834 he sailed his own ship on voyages to India. On the second voyage he named [[Nelsons Island\|Nelson Island]] in the [[Chagos Archipelago]].<ref name=Gateway/>		Between 1807 and 1818 Biden completed seven return voyages to India as a mate on the [[East Indiaman]] ''Royal George''. By 1821 he was captain of the [[East Indiaman]] [[Princess Charlotte of Wales (1812 EIC ship)\|''Princess Charlotte of Wales'']]. Between 1821 and 1830 he completed four voyages to India as captain of the ''Princess Charlotte'' and one voyage to China as captain of the new ''Royal George''.<ref name=Gateway>{{cite web \|title=Biden's ancestral Chennai connect \|author=Tim Willasey-Wilsey \|url=https://www.gatewayhouse.in/joe-biden-chennai/ \|publisher=Gateway House \|date=31 August 2020 }}</ref> Biden then spent two years in [[Blackheath, London\|Blackheath]] with his family, publishing a book on naval discipline in 1830.<ref name=Gateway/> In 1832 and 1834 he sailed his own ship on voyages to India. On the second voyage he named [[Nelsons Island\|Nelson Island]] in the [[Chagos Archipelago]].<ref name=Gateway/>

	In 1839 Biden returned to India to take up the position of Master Attendant and Marine Storekeeper at [[Chennai\|Madras]]. Whilst at Madras he worked on improving safety for shipping in coastal waters, and was involved in charitable activities.<ref name=Gateway/> He founded the Biden Home for Destitute Seamen at [[Royapuram]].<ref name=Times>{{cite web \|title=Joe Biden's roots are in the British Empire \|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/joe-bidens-roots-are-in-the-british-empire-dpfgpmrch \|author=Ben MacIntyre \|work=[[The Times]] \|date=15 January 2021}}</ref>		In 1839 Biden returned to India to take up the position of Master Attendant and Marine Storekeeper at [[Chennai\|Madras]]. Whilst at Madras he worked on improving safety for shipping in coastal waters, and was involved in charitable activities.<ref name=Gateway/> He founded the Biden Home for Destitute Seamen at [[Royapuram]].<ref name=Times>{{cite web \|title=Joe Biden's roots are in the British Empire \|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/joe-bidens-roots-are-in-the-british-empire-dpfgpmrch \|author=Ben MacIntyre \|work=[[The Times]] \|date=15 January 2021}}</ref>

	==Death==		==Death==
			[[File:Christopher_Biden,_St._George%27s_Cathedral.jpg\|thumb\|Grave in St. George's Cathedral]]
	Biden died at Madras in February 1858 at the age of 68 and is commemorated by a plaque in [[St. George's Cathedral, Chennai\|St George's Cathedral]].<ref name=Gateway/> His widow died in London in 1880. He was also survived by two sons and a daughter, another daughter having died on the voyage out to India in 1839.<ref name=Gateway/>		Biden died at Madras in February 1858 at the age of 68 and is commemorated by a plaque in [[St. George's Cathedral, Chennai\|St George's Cathedral]].<ref name=Gateway/> His widow died in London in 1880. He was also survived by two sons and a daughter, another daughter having died on the voyage out to India in 1839.<ref name=Gateway/>

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	One of Biden's sons, Horatio Biden, joined the [[Madras Army]] and is said to have descendants living in India. In 2020 there was speculation in the media that the Bidens of India might be related to [[Joe Biden]], later [[president of the United States]]. It was suggested that Joe Biden's immigrant ancestor William Biden, who died in [[Baltimore]] in 1849, was Christopher Biden's brother William Henry Biden. However, William Henry Biden is recorded as having died at [[Yangon\|Rangoon]] in 1843, so is not the William Biden of Baltimore and any common ancestor of Joe Biden and the Bidens of India would have to be further back than John Biden of Houghton.<ref name=Gateway/>		One of Biden's sons, Horatio Biden, joined the [[Madras Army]] and is said to have descendants living in India. In 2020 there was speculation in the media that the Bidens of India might be related to [[Joe Biden]], later [[president of the United States]]. It was suggested that Joe Biden's immigrant ancestor William Biden, who died in [[Baltimore]] in 1849, was Christopher Biden's brother William Henry Biden. However, William Henry Biden is recorded as having died at [[Yangon\|Rangoon]] in 1843, so is not the William Biden of Baltimore and any common ancestor of Joe Biden and the Bidens of India would have to be further back than John Biden of Houghton.<ref name=Gateway/>

	Harriott Biden kept a common-place book with newspaper cuttings, letters, etc., relating to her husband's work in Madras. The book is preserved on ~~micro-film~~ at the Centre of South Asian Studies at Cambridge University.<ref>{{cite web \|title=Biden papers \|url=https://www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/archive/papers/item/biden-papers/ \|access-date=27 January 2021}}</ref>		Harriott Biden kept a common-place book with newspaper cuttings, letters, etc., relating to her husband's work in Madras. The book is preserved on microfilm at the Centre of South Asian Studies at Cambridge University.<ref>{{cite web \|title=Biden papers \|url=https://www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/archive/papers/item/biden-papers/ \|access-date=27 January 2021}}</ref>

	==Selected publications==		==Selected publications==

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2021-06-05T22:58:12Z

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{{Infobox person
| name = 
| image = Christopher Biden.jpg
| image_upright =
| landscape = 
| alt = 
| caption = Christopher Biden with dog Hector by George Chinnery
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Houghton, Cambridgeshire|Houghton]], [[Huntingdonshire]], England
| baptised = 13 May 1790
| death_date = 25 February 1858 (aged 68)
| death_place = [[Chennai|Madras]], [[British India]]
| monuments = [[St. George's Cathedral, Chennai|St George's Cathedral, Chennai]]
| occupation = Officer in the [[East India Company]] Mercantile Marine
| spouse = Harriott Freeth
}}

'''Christopher Biden''' ({{circa}} 1789 – 25 February 1858) was a British officer in the [[East India Company]] Mercantile Marine. He came from the village of [[Houghton, Cambridgeshire|Houghton]] in [[Huntingdonshire]]. Retiring after more than twenty years at sea, he wrote a book about naval discipline, made two voyages in his own ship to India, and then settled in Madras as a civil servant of the East India Company.

==Early life and family==
Biden was born in [[Houghton, Cambridgeshire|Houghton]], [[Huntingdonshire]], England.<ref name=Medium>{{cite web |title=Biden's Biden Roots: Westbourne or Huntingdon, England or maybe Nagpur, India? |author=Megan Smolenyak |url=https://smolenyak.medium.com/bidens-biden-roots-westbourne-or-huntingdon-england-or-maybe-nagpur-india-7ed1d67a6dfe|publisher=[[Medium (website)|Medium]]|date=18 November 2020}}</ref> Biden's father, John Biden, leased [[Houghton Mill]].<ref name=Hunts>{{cite web |title=Here's the historical evidence of a possible link between Joe Biden and the tiny English village of Houghton |author=Julian Makey |url=https://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/could-quintessential-english-village-have-links-to-joe-biden-6619490|publisher=The Hunts Post|date=9 November 2020}}</ref> Biden and his younger brother William Henry Biden went to sea at a young age, their father having died in 1797. An older brother, Henry Loyd, went to [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]] and became a clergyman. In 1818 Biden married Harriott Freeth in [[Great Wilne]], a village in [[Derbyshire]] close to the town of [[Sandiacre]] where his brother was curate.

==Career==

Between 1807 and 1818 Biden completed seven return voyages to India as a mate on the [[East Indiaman]] Royal George. By 1821 he was captain of the [[East Indiaman]] [[Princess Charlotte of Wales (1812 EIC ship)|Princess Charlotte of Wales]]. Between 1821 and 1830 he completed four voyages to India as captain of the Princess Charlotte and one voyage to China as captain of the new Royal George.<ref name=Gateway>{{cite web |title=Biden's ancestral Chennai connect |author=Tim Willasey-Wilsey |url=https://www.gatewayhouse.in/joe-biden-chennai/ |publisher=Gateway House |date=31 August 2020 }}</ref> Biden then spent two years in [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]] with his family, publishing a book on naval discipline in 1830.<ref name=Gateway/> In 1832 and 1834 he sailed his own ship on voyages to India. On the second voyage he named [[Nelsons Island|Nelson Island]] in the [[Chagos Archipelago]].<ref name=Gateway/>

In 1839 Biden returned to India to take up the position of Master Attendant and Marine Storekeeper at [[Chennai|Madras]]. Whilst at Madras he worked on improving safety for shipping in coastal waters, and was involved in charitable activities.<ref name=Gateway/> He founded the Biden Home for Destitute Seamen at [[Royapuram]].<ref name=Times>{{cite web |title=Joe Biden's roots are in the British Empire |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/joe-bidens-roots-are-in-the-british-empire-dpfgpmrch |author=Ben MacIntyre |work=[[The Times]] |date=15 January 2021}}</ref>

==Death==
Biden died at Madras in February 1858 at the age of 68 and is commemorated by a plaque in [[St. George's Cathedral, Chennai|St George's Cathedral]].<ref name=Gateway/> His widow died in London in 1880. He was also survived by two sons and a daughter, another daughter having died on the voyage out to India in 1839.<ref name=Gateway/>

==Legacy==

One of Biden's sons, Horatio Biden, joined the [[Madras Army]] and is said to have descendants living in India. In 2020 there was speculation in the media that the Bidens of India might be related to [[Joe Biden]], later [[president of the United States]]. It was suggested that Joe Biden's immigrant ancestor William Biden, who died in [[Baltimore]] in 1849, was Christopher Biden's brother William Henry Biden. However, William Henry Biden is recorded as having died at [[Yangon|Rangoon]] in 1843, so is not the William Biden of Baltimore and any common ancestor of Joe Biden and the Bidens of India would have to be further back than John Biden of Houghton.<ref name=Gateway/>

Harriott Biden kept a common-place book with newspaper cuttings, letters, etc., relating to her husband's work in Madras. The book is preserved on micro-film at the Centre of South Asian Studies at Cambridge University.<ref>{{cite web |title=Biden papers |url=https://www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/archive/papers/item/biden-papers/ |access-date=27 January 2021}}</ref>

==Selected publications==
*''Naval Discipline: Subordination Contrasted with Insubordination''

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biden, Christopher}}
[[Category:1858 deaths]]
[[Category:British East India Company civil servants]]
[[Category:British East India Company Marine personnel]]
[[Category:English emigrants to India]]
[[Category:English philanthropists]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Chennai]]
[[Category:People from Huntingdonshire]]