Prinsep may mean any of several notable members of the British Prinsep family.
The family descended fromJohn Prinsep, an 18th-century merchant who was the son of Rev. John Prinsep, rector ofSaundby,Nottinghamshire, andBicester,Oxfordshire. John Prinsep, his son, foundedindigo production in India as well as the making of cotton fabrics in Bengal, opened a copper mint in India and was a founder of the Westminster Life Insurance Society in London, where he later served as Alderman and in Parliament. Prinsep arrived in India as a soldier in the army of theEast India Company but became a merchant soon afterwards. During his 16 years in India, John Prinsep amassed a £40,000 fortune, which he used to set himself up as a London businessman and get himself elected to Parliament. Prinsep made two large fortunes and lost both. He was the first of three succeeding generations of Prinseps in India, all of whom were known for their artistic abilities. Among his descendants are the artistValentine Cameron Prinsep, the Anglo-Indian antiquarian, scholar and architectJames Prinsep.
Charles Robert Prinsep,Singapore merchant for whom Singapore's Prinsep Street and Prinsep Place are named, owner of the Prinsep nutmeg plantation, 6,700 nutmeg shrubs covering much of what is now downtown Singapore[4]
Edward Augustus Prinsep, (1828–1900), Calcutta merchant, son of William Prinsep of Calcutta[5]
George Augustus Prinsep Esq., (d. 1839) prominent Anglo-Indian journalist, cotton merchant, salt manufacturer, shipping owner, Calcutta, member,Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, assumed editorship ofThe Courier newspaper of Calcutta after failure of early business venture, publisherCalcutta Gazette, regained fortune through salt interests, son of merchant John Prinsep[7]
Lt. Col. Henry Auriol Prinsep (1836–1914), soldier, Bengal Staff Corps, his daughter Mary married Hon. William Fitzwilliam James Dundas[10][11]
James Prinsep (1799–1840),numismatist,linguist, artist, scholar, Secretary of theAsiatic Society, son of John Prinsep, brother of Henry Thoby Prinsep and William Prinsep (executor of his estate), died at sea returning to England, 1840[12]
Sir Henry Thoby Prinsep (1836–1914), judge of the High Court, Calcutta
Arthur Thoby Haverleigh Prinsep (1862–1938), Sir Henry Thoby's son, Australian and New Zealand-based author, actor, poet, journalist and footballer. Wrote under the name F. D'A. C. De L'Isle.[15][16][17] He is also the father ofGordon De Lisle.
John Prinsep, vicar's son, patriarch of the Prinsep family in India, indigo planter, entrepreneur, arrived in India a few weeks afterWarren Hastings became Governor General in 1773, amassed a large fortune in indigo production, retired to frescoed mansion on London'sLeadenhall Street later occupied by the India Office,Londonalderman,Member of Parliament
Thomas Levett-Prinsep, heir to his uncle Thomas Prinsep and son of TheophilusLevett ofWychnor Park[19][20] Derbyshire. On the early death of Prinsep, his seat at Croxall Hall, Derbyshire, devolved onto his nephew Levett, who took the name Levett-Prinsep,[21] resided at Croxall Hall, Derbyshire,Justice of the Peace and landowner[22]
Valentine Cameron Prinsep[23] (1838–1904), painter, son of Henry Thoby Prinsep, trained to become an Indian merchant but turned to art instead, author ofImperial India, a book of travel writing
Anthony Leyland Val Prinsep (1888-1942), son of Valentine Prinsep, theatre manager and producer who marriedMarie Lohr andMargaret Bannerman.[24][25]
William H. Prinsep (1794–1874), merchant, Palmer & Co.,Carr, Tagore and Company, founder, Union Bank (failed), founder, Bengal Tea Association, founder, Bengal Coal Company, owner, Bengal Salt Company (inherited from his brother George),Sheriff,Fort William,Calcutta, amateur artist (studied underGeorge Chinnery), retired to Hyde Park Place,London, secretary,Great Western Railway,South Devon Railway, one of seven sons of patriarch John Prinsep.[26] Appointed secretary of the Oswestry & Newtown Railway in September 1855 but appointment rescinded in October 1855 because shareholders thought that he would be biased in favour of the Great Western Railway.[27]
^"...Our house belonged to a man without a nose: M. Princeps [sic]. He was met only on horseback. Sometimes – on Sundays – he had a silver nose: other times not..." (Charles-Albert Cingria,Œuvres complètes, vol. 2, p. 829).
^National Archives RAIL552/1 (Minute book of Oswestry & Newtown Railway, pp. 46–7, 54–5, 76–7)
Surname list
This page lists people with thesurnamePrinsep. If aninternal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change thatlink by adding the person'sgiven name(s) to the link.
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