ENGLISH SCHOOL

ENGLISH SCHOOL
C.1800
View of Barnsville Park, Gloucestershire, later Sedbury Park, seat of Sir Henry Cosby
Pencil and watercolour, in reeded wood and verre églomisé frame
32.5 x 50.7cm; 12¾ x 20in

Provenance

The contents of The Grange, Wendover.

Catalogue Note

Sir Henry Augustus Montagu Cosby (1743-1822) joined the East India Company's Madras Regiment in 1760. He was employed in Coote's advance on Pondicherry, where he distinguished himself by saving the life of the commanding officer. He was present at the siege of Vellore, and after being promoted to lieutenant was sent with a detachment of Europeans and Sepoys to Masulipatam, where he remained in command until 1764. He then served in the siege of Madura and in 1767 he was promoted to a captain. He commanded the 6th battalion of Madras sepoys at the battles of Chengama and of Errore, and at the siege of Arlier, where he was wounded in 1768. In 1784 he returned to India for the last time, and after commanding in Trichinopoly and Tinnevelly as brigadier-general he was appointed colonel of the 4th Madras Europeans, and finally left India in December 1786, after thirty years of continuous service. He had made a large fortune in India, and purchased the beautiful seat of Barnsville Park, near Chepstow, which he greatly improved and embellished.