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'''William Henry Tippet''' (1782-1824) was the Judge and Magistrate of [[Patna]], India, from 1816 to 1824.

==Biography==

Tippet was born in [[Bombay]] on 21 November 1782. His father was Captain James Tippet, an artillery officer with the [[British East India Company]], who met Tippet's mother, Mary Mason, when he was stationed on the South Atlantic island of [[St Helena]] (c. 1770-1778). The Masons were a prominent plantation family.<ref>A. Chaplin, ''A St Helena Who’s Who: A Complete Guide to the People on St Helena During Napoleon’s Captivity'', (revised ed. by A. Sutton, 2014), London, 1919, pp. 23, 32, 86; T.W. Hearl, ''St Helena Britannica: Studies in South Atlantic Island History'', (ed. by A.H. Schulenburg), London, 2013, pp. 134, 146.</ref> In 1775, Tippet's father and grandfather, Benjamin Mason, had accommodated [[Captain James Cook]], during his second visit to the island.<ref>''The Endeavour Journal of James Cook'', May 1775; K. Denholm, ''South Atlantic Haven: A Maritime History for the Island of St Helena'', St Helena, 1994, p. 9.</ref>

[[File:City of Patna, on the River Ganges, 19th century.jpg|left|thumb|19th-century Patna]]

From an early age, Tippet pursued a career in the service of the East India Company. Aged 17 years, he served as a Cadet, then attained the ranks of Ensign (1799) and Lieutenant (1800), before leaving military service to take up a position with the Company as a Writer in [[Bengal]] in July 1803.<ref>''India Office records in the British Library''.</ref>

As a youth, Tippet formed a relationship with Mussooruat Sauer Nhaunus of Tellicherry, daughter of [[Chovvakkaran Moosa]], who was a pepper merchant from the [[Keyi family]] and, at that time, the richest man in [[Malabar Coast|Malabar]].<ref>Will of W.H. Tippet in the UK National Archives. J. McDonald, 'Migration as an Opportunity for Reinvention: Alfred and Margaret Rich of Gundaroo', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://oa.anu.edu.au/essay/18/text32361, originally published 19 November 2015, accessed 3 December 2015. Cf. A.P. Ummer Kutty, ''Keyi Charitram'', Tellicherry, 1916, passim; A. Bulley, ''The Bombay Country Ships, 1790-1833'', Abingdon, 2000, pp. 42; M.P. Mujeebu Rehiman, ‘Merchants and Colonialism: the Case of Chovvakaran Moosa and the English East India Company’, ''History Farook'' working paper series (August 2006), pp. 4-7.</ref> Eventually, Tippet married Mussooruat under English law and their three ‘natural-born’ children were baptized and recognized as legitimate heirs.

In the civil service wing of the British East India Company, Tippet served in a variety of junior judicial and administrative positions; first at [[Tirhoot]], then in the [[Sadr Diwani Adalat]] (Supreme Court of Revenue), before becoming the Judge and Magistrate of [[Cawnpore]] in 1813. His jurisdiction was extended to include [[Ghazipur]] and [[Benares]] in 1815 and [[Murshidabad]] in 1816, before he was appointed Judge and Magistrate of the City of Patna.<ref>India Office records in the British Library; 1817 Bengal Obituary, p. 394 (Thomas Gentil); ''The India Office and Burma Office List'', London, 1829, p. 17.</ref>

As a Magistrate, Tippet was sympathetic to the protection and development of local economies and supported the legal interests of senior merchants of both European and Indian heritage.<ref>B. Ram, ''Land and Society in India: Agrarian Relations in Colonial North Bihar'', Chennai, 1997, p. 211.</ref>

Tippet died at sea, aged 41, aboard the ''Berwickshire'', during a voyage to St Helena.<ref>''Departures from Bangal Alamanac, 1824''; ''Accounts and Papers on East India Affairs'', vol. 25, London, 1826, p. 6.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tippet, William}}
[[Category:1782 births]]
[[Category:1824 deaths]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army soldiers]]
[[Category:British East India Company]]
[[Category:British East India Company civil servants]]

William Tippet - Revision history

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