https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=William_Erskine_%28historian%29William Erskine (historian) - Revision history2026-08-19T09:02:41ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Erskine_(historian)&diff=166721&oldid=previmported>Daemonickangaroo2018: /* References */ Farrer family tree2021-03-17T09:42:57Z<p><span class="autocomment">References: </span> Farrer family tree</p>
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{{Infobox academic<br />
| name = William Erskine <br />
| birth_date = {{birth date|1773|11|8|df=y}}<br />
|birth_place = [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]] <br />
|death_date = {{death date and age|1852|05|28|1773|11|8|df=y}}<br />
|death_place = Edinburgh, Scotland<br />
| nationality = Scottish<br />
|education = [[Royal High School, Edinburgh]]<br />
| alma_mater = [[University of Edinburgh]]<br />
| discipline = Orientalism<br />
<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''William Erskine''' (8 November 1773 – 28 May 1852) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] orientalist and historian.<br />
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==Life==<br />
[[File:The grave of William Erskine, St John's Church, Edinburgh.jpg|thumb|The grave of William Erskine, St John's Church, Edinburgh]]<br />
He was born at Argyle Square in [[Edinburgh]]<ref>Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1773</ref> the son of David Erskine, a lawyer and Clerk to the Signet, and his wife Jean Melvin. He attended the [[Royal High School (Edinburgh)|High School]], then studied Law, receiving a doctorate from [[University of Edinburgh|Edinburgh University]].<br />
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He went to Bombay (now [[Mumbai]]) in 1804 where he was [[master in equity]] in the [[recorder's court]]. <br />
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In 1809 in Madras (now [[Chennai]]), Erskine married Maitland Mackintosh (1792-1861), daughter of [[Sir James Mackintosh]] and his first wife Katherine Stuart. They had fourteen children, one of whom, Frances, married the statistician and civil servant [[Thomas Farrer, 1st Baron Farrer]]. Another daughter, Mary, was head nurse in the Naval Hospital at [[Therapia]] during the [[Crimean War]], and looked after [[Florence Nightingale]] while she recovered from illness. Erskine's sister-in-law, Mary Mackintosh, married the eminent orientalist [[Claudius James Rich]]. <br />
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Erskine wrote principally on [[mediaeval India]], but he also completed [[John Malcolm]]'s biography of [[Clive of India]] after Malcolm's death and translated the ''[[Baburnama]]'', the memoirs of [[Zehir-Ed-Din Muhammed Babur, Emperor of Hindustan]]. <br />
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He was removed from office in 1823 by Sir [[Edward West]] after being accused of [[defalcation]] (misappropriation of funds) and for many of his later years resided in Edinburgh, as well as [[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau]] in South West France. He was [[Provost (civil)|Provost]] of [[St Andrews]], 1836–1839.<br />
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He died at 28 Regent Terrace on [[Calton Hill]] in [[Edinburgh]].<ref>Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1852</ref> He is buried with his family on the lower south terrace of the churchyard of [[St John's, Edinburgh]].<br />
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==References==<br />
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*{{cite DNBSupp|wstitle=Erskine, William (1773-1852)}}<br />
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{{Farrer family tree}}<br />
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[[Category:1773 births]]<br />
[[Category:1852 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]<br />
[[Category:People from Edinburgh]]<br />
[[Category:People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh]]<br />
[[Category:Scottish orientalists]]<br />
[[Category:Scottish historians]]</div>imported>Daemonickangaroo2018