Francis Casparus Regel (1776 - 1823)

Born 1776 in Houghly, Bengal, India

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 27 Nov 1823 at about age 47 in Sadras, Madras, India

Biography

Francis Casparus Regel was born in 1776 in Houghly, Bengal, India. He was the son of Frans Regel and Petronella Verboom.^[1]

He married Frederica Wilhelmina Ricke (1790 - 1855). They had five sons and two (or three?) daughters:

• John Anthony Regel (1806–1860)
• Benjamin Charles (Carel) Regel (1807–1871)
• Johanna Cornelia Elizabeth Regel (1810–1868)
• Anna Wilhelmina Regel (1811–)
• John Henry Regel (1819–1861)
• Francis William Regel
• George Peter Alexander Regel
• Births: On March 18, 1821, "At Sadras, the lady of F.C. Regel, Esq., Chief of the Netherlands' Possessions on the coast of Coromandel and Madura, of a daughter".^[2]

He became 'opperhoofd' (chief factor) of Sadras, India, on 19 May 1818, after this trading post was returned by the English to the Dutch. It used to be a profitable post, because the quality of the cotton fabrics in Sadras was very high. The fabrics were painted with great care. Stone for the construction of houses in Batavia and Ceylon was also an important article.^[3] But by now it was such a poor area, that Regel did not have sufficient income to cover his expenses. And although his population was extremely difficult, he did not have an adequate military police force.

Elijah Hoole writes in his Personal Narrative of a Mission to the South of India about October 1820: The following morning I reached Sadras and passed a pleasant day in the society of F.P. (sic) Regel, Esq., a Dutch gentleman at the head of that settlement. The fort of Sadras lies in ruins, having been blown up during the war and the place altogether is too small and too poor to be of any value to the Netherlands Government. They retained it however and some other stations in India of a similar description until an advantageous exchange was made by them for the beautiful Island of Java.^[4]

In a letter of April 1821 Regel is quoted about the religious situation in Sadras: Neither Church nor Bell we have here in Sadras and I can freely say that I live here in a desert. You see that there is a very large field open for missionary work.^[5]

In October 1823 Regel became seriously ill. He passed away on 27 November 1823. On Sunday 7 December 1823 missionary Kindlinger held a memorial service in Sadras.

Nowadays the Fort of Sadras (dating from the beginning of the 17th century) still partly exists. All but one building was blown up by the English in 1781. An elephant boarding place has also been preserved, as well as the cemetery with 14 tombstones. The site is now protected by the Archaeological Survey of India which must prevent further decay.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Ancestry.com. India, Select Births and Baptisms, 1786-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: India, Births and Baptisms, 1786-1947. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
2. ↑ The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and Its Dependencies, Volume 12, page 393
3. ↑ https://www.vocsite.nl/geschiedenis/handelsposten/coromandel.html
4. ↑ Elijah Hoole, Personal Narrative of a Mission to the South of India, from 1820 to 1828, London, 1829
5. ↑ Berichten en brieven voorgelezen op de maandelijksche bedestonden van het Nederlandsch Zendeling-Genootschap voor het jaar 1822, Volume 10, published by Cornel en Van Baalen
6. ↑ https://www.vocsite.nl/geschiedenis/handelsposten/coromandel.html

See also:

• P.H. van der Kemp, De Jaren 1817-1825 der Nederlandsche Factorijen van Hindostans Oostkust in Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, 01 Jan 1918, Volume 74: Issue 1