Augustus Clevland

Augustus Clevland (1754–1784)[2] was an East India Company administrator in the Province of Bengal, a Collector of the Revenues and a Judge of the Dewanny Adawlut of the Districts of Bhagalpur and various others.

He departed this Life 12th of Jany 1784 - at Sea - on Board the Atlas Indiaman, Captain [Allan] Cooper, proceeding to the Cape for the recovery of his Health, aged 29 Years.

To his wise and beneficent Conduct the English East India Company were indebted for the Subjecting to their Government the numerous Inhabitants of that wild & extensive Country - The Jungleterry.

IN HIS PRIVATE STATION, By the amiableness of his Deportment, the Gentleness of his manners, And the goodness & generosity of his heart, He was universally admired, beloved & respected by all who had the happiness of knowing him".Several accounts of Clevland's career exist.

The savage band Forsook their haunts and bowed to his Command And where the warrior's arm in vain assail'd His gentler skill o'er brutal force prevail'd ... Now mended morals check the lust for spoil And rising Hamlets prove his generous toil ..." Rudyard Kipling's story "The Tomb of his Ancestors" (1896) is based on the life story of Clevland, represented by the fictional protagonist "John Chinn".

In 1794, ten years after Clevland's death, his personal effects were sold, amongst which were twenty-one works by Hodges, including one entitled Tomb and distant view of Rajmahal Hills, now in the collection of the Tate Gallery.

Arms of Clevland of Tapeley: Azure, a hare salient or collared gules pendent therefrom a bugle horn stringed sable . Detail from memorial stained glass window to Archibald Clevland (1833–1854), Westleigh Church.
1820 Water-colour drawing by Sir Charles D'Oyly (1781–1845) of monument erected by the East India Company of the Bhagalpur District, Bengal, India, to the memory of Augustus Clevland (1755–84). Two memorials were erected to him in Bhagalpur, one in stone sent by the Court of Directors of the East India Company(EIC) from England, the other depicted here, a shrine built by EIC and acquaintances. British Library, shelfmark: WD 4404.
Residence in Bhagalpur, Bengal, India, overlooking River Ganges , of Augustus Clevland (1754–1784). Collection of Tapeley Park. Other views by Sir Charles D'Oyly (1781–1845) exist in the collection of the British Library . [ 1 ]
A camp of a thousand men formed by Augustus Clevland three miles from Bhagalpur with his mansion in the distance, by William Hodges