| Publication |
2009.
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| Summary/Abstract |
An account of how successive generations of a single family, the Ouseleys, were involved in the expansion and consolidation of British rule in India from the 1780s into the twentieth century. The various individual case histories illustrate general patterns of life and service for civilians and soldiers alike.
This is the story of how successive generations of a single family, the Ouseleys, were involved in the expansion and consolidation of British rule in India from the 1780s into the 20th century. It is a story which exemplifies many of the general truths about the conditions of civil and military service in India over that period, including the fortunes of illegitimate and mixed marriage children. It is above all a story of service, of achievement for some and dishonour for others, of long life in retirement for some and of tragic early death for others. The varied birthplaces of the actors in the story also provide a vivid reminder of the peripatetic life of British officers and their wives and children.
The Ouseley family played their part in three significant stages of British dominion in India. Firstly, in the late 18th century extension of British influence, beginning after the reformist Cornwallis was appointed Governor-General and continuing through the period of expansion under Wellesley. Secondly, in the increasing opportunities offered to adventurous British men and women during the heyday of the East India Company and the 1818-1857 period of consolidation of British dominion in India. Many of the first and second generation Ouseleys in India served during this period: products of Addiscombe (the soldiers) and Haileybury (the civil servants), they became the colonels and generals, the commissioners, judges and scholars at the height of the Company's success. And thirdly, in the post-Mutiny establishment of British imperial Raj: a period which saw the third, fourth and fifth generations of Ouseleys play their part.
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