David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre (18 December 1808-1 July 1851),[1] also known as D. O. Dyce Sombre and David Dyce Sombre, was an Anglo-Indian held to be the first person of Asian descent to be elected to the British Parliament. He was elected to represent the Sudbury constituency in July 1841, but was removed in April 1842 due to bribery in the election process.[2]
Background
Sombre was great-grandson of a mercenary soldier Walter Reinhardt alias Sombre, whose second wife was the famous Begum Samru who made her grandson-in-law George Sombre, and then his son Dyce Sombre her heirs.
Walter Reinhard(t) Sombre (d. 4 May 1778, bur Agra) had a son, named Zafar Yab Khan (1764-1803) alias Zafaryab Khan, by his first wife, Badi Bibi, whose identity is not known. His name was changed to "Walter Balthazzar Reinhardt" or perhaps to "Aloysius Balthazzar Reinhardt" at the time of baptism; according to a biography of his grandson, he was called Aloysius Reinhardt. He died in 1803 due to cholera. The son had married Juliana/Mme Reybaud/Bhai Begam (1770-1815), and had one daughter named Julia Anne (1787-1820). Julia Anne Reinhardt married George Alexander Dyce, illegitimate half caste son of a Major General Dyce. They had four children, Georgiana (b 02.09.1807), David Ochterlony (b 18.12.1808), George Archibald (b 01.08.1810,died within a year), Anna Maria (b 24.12.1813).
Having become "family", George Alexander Dyce was rapidly made commander of the Begam's army. He considered that he was entitled to the Begam's wealth through marriage to Reinhard(t)'s heir, and when Julia Anne died in 1820, began to help himself. George Alexander Dyce was an uncaring and unloving father. Therefore, he was removed but he continued to make a real nuisance of himself until his death. Among his other inequities, he instituted a civil suit against his own son and caused his arrest (and subsequent release upon heavy bail).
When Julia Anne died in 1820, Begam Sumroo looked after the children as her own. Young David was taken over and brought up by her as her son and heir.
Although educated by Protestant missionaries, David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre was brought up a Catholic. He added Sombre to his name on being formally nominated by the Begam as her sole heir and successor. She transferred to him her wealth, and the administration of her principality but her attempts to have him accepted by the British as ruler on her death were to no avail.
When the Begam died in 1836, the British took possession of Sardhana, all the arms which she had brought from them to equip her army, as well as the lands of Badshapur, which were her private property. They also failed to honour undertakings to continue the many pensions paid from the revenue. David's attempts to have these wrongs rectified were unsuccessful, although compensation for the arms was eventually granted long after his death. He was also embroiled in attempts by his father to grab his fortune. His personal life was also marked by extravagant spending - gambling, womanizing, and even the occasional pimping - to please European friends and better-off Anglo-Indian friends such as Sir Charles Metcalfe Ochterlony.[3]
After a visit to China, David set out for England and the Grand Tour of Europe. He married in 1840, the Honourable Mary Anne Jervis, described as a Jamaican planter's daughter[4], and alternatively as the daughter of Viscount St. Vincent, an ambitious seeker after money and position. He also got himself elected as MP for Sudbury in July 1841, and was then deposed in April 1842 after objections from the loser. His life turned for the worse, when his wife had him certified insane and held under restraint. David escaped his guards and fled to France, where an attempt to have him extradited failed. Doctors all over Europe examined him and found he was perfectly sane, but his attempts to reverse the judgement were brushed aside. Meanwhile he travelled from one end of Europe to the other. Finally, with a change of Government, there seemed a chance of success. He returned to England with indemnity from arrest, but a few days before the case was due to be heard he died suddenly in excruciating agony from a septic foot on 1 July 1851. [5]
He was buried at once in an unmarked grave, which has not been touched since - yet his body was also returned to India to be buried in Sardhana! His Will providing for the establishment of a school in SardhanaCite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
References
- ^ List of Inscriptions on Christian Tombs and Tablets of Historical Interest in the United Provinces. BiblioBazaar, LLC. 2009. pp. 17–18. ISBN 1115907212.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Fisher, Michael H. (2006). Counterflows to colonialism: Indian travellers and settlers in Britain, 1600-1857. Orient Blackswan. p. 318. ISBN 8178241544.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Fisher, Michael H. (May 15, 2010). The Inordinately Strange Life of Dyce Sombre: Victorian Anglo Indian MP and Chancery "Lunatic" (Columbia/Hurst). Columbia University Press. p. 384. ISBN 023170108X.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)more details from Amazon CUP description: "The descendent of German and French Catholic mercenaries, a Scots Presbyterian subaltern, and their secluded Indian wives, David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre (1808-1851) defied all classification in the North Indian principality where he grew up. He also lived as the adopted child of a Muslim courtesan, a woman who would transform herself into the wildly successful, Catholic ruler of a small, cosmopolitan kingdom....Accusations of spousal mistreatment led to Sombre's arrest and confinement. Termed a "chancery lunatic," he fled to France and spent years reclaiming his sanity and fortune. Sombre's efforts set new precedents for international and medical law.... - ^ Christopher Howse. [1]
- ^ Howse
