https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Alexander_DiromAlexander Dirom - Revision history2026-07-31T03:01:20ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Alexander_Dirom&diff=172666&oldid=previmported>Dawnseeker2000 at 17:40, 11 May 20212021-05-11T17:40:42Z<p></p>
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[[File:Dirom-4-202 colours tweaked to simulate cleaning.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Alexander Dirom <br>{{right |''ca 1820''}}]]<br />
Lieutenant General '''Alexander Dirom''' of [[Luce Bay|Luce]] and Mount Annan [[Royal Society of London|FRS]] [[FRSE]] (21{{nbsp}}May 1757{{snd}}6{{nbsp}}October 1830) was a British military commander who saw overseas service in [[Barbados]], [[Jamaica]] and [[India]]. He is remembered not only as a military commander but also as an agricultural improver, which earned him Fellowship of both the [[Royal Society of London]] and the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]]. His most notable contribution was to identify the importance of salt in animal diets, leading to the widespread use of "salt-licks" from around 1800. His views on the British corn trade also paved the way to the formulation of the [[Corn Laws]] in the early 19th century.<br />
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==Biography==<br />
He was born in [[Banffshire]] the son of Alexander Dirom of Muiresk (Provost of [[Banff, Aberdeenshire|Banff]]) and his wife, Ann Fotheringham.<ref name="biff">{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf}}</ref><br />
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He was appointed [[ensign (rank)|ensign]] in the [[61st Regiment of Foot]] on 8 December 1778 and lieutenant in the [[88th Regiment of Foot (1779)|88th Foot]] 13 October 1779. He served with the regiment in Barbados (1780) and Jamaica (1780–84) as Military Secretary to the GoC and Major of Brigade. He exchanged into the [[60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot]], later the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, as a captain in 1781 and in 1783 went to St Domingo to negotiate an exchange of prisoners of war. In 1784 he returned to England. He was [[aide-de-camp]] to Major General Sir [[Archibald Campbell (British Army officer)|Archibald Campbell]] (Gov. Gen. and Commander in Chief at Madras) and subsequently served in India against [[Tippoo Sahib]] in the [[Third Mysore War]].<br />
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In 1795 he was elected a Fellow [[Royal Society]] and in 1796 a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]]. His proposers for the latter were [[Henry Mackenzie]], [[John Playfair]], and [[James Finlayson (minister)|James Finlayson]].<ref name="biff"/><br />
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He died in Annan on 6{{nbsp}}October 1830.<br />
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==Publications==<br />
*Narrative of the Campaign in India (1794)<br />
*An Inquiry into the Corn Laws and Corn Trade of Great Britain (1796)<br />
*Plans for the Defence of Great Britain and Ireland (1797)<br />
*On the Rev Robert Rennie's Plan for an Inland Village<br />
*Descriptions of the Limekilns built in 1801<br />
*On Experiments with Salt as Manure and in the Feeding of Livestock<br />
*Remarks on Free Trade and the State of the British Empire (1827)<br />
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==Family==<br />
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He was brother of Sophia Dirom who married Captain [[George Duff]] RN (killed at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]]).<br />
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Dirom married the wealthy Magdalen Passley (1772–1853) of Mount Annan in [[Dumfriesshire]], in [[Edinburgh]] on 3 August 1793 and thereafter adopted the title Dirom of Mount Annan. They had 12 recorded children including sons: Lt John Pasley Dirom, Sophia Dirom, Captain Alexander Dirom, Robert Dirom, Andrew Dirom, William Maxwell Dirom, Francis Moira Dirom and Admiral James Dirom.<br />
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Their daughter, Leonora Anne Dirom, married [[William Muir (divine)|Rev William Muir]] [[FRSE]] (1787–1869). Other daughters included Magdalen Jemima Dirom and Sophia Dirom.<ref name="geni">{{cite web|url=http://www.geni.com/people/Captain-Alexander-Dirom/6000000020229117086|title=Captain Alexander Dirom (1800–1837) - Genealogy|website=geni.com|accessdate=10 February 2018}}</ref><br />
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==Artistic recognition==<br />
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There is a "school of Raeburn" 3/4 length portrait, supposedly of him, which has Dirom's face painted onto an ensign in the red uniform of a regiment to which Dirom never belonged.<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Dirom, Alexander}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
*[http://www.kittybrewster.com/ancestry/dirom.htm Family tree]<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dirom, Alexander}}<br />
[[Category:British Army generals]]<br />
[[Category:1757 births]]<br />
[[Category:1830 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]<br />
[[Category:People from Banff, Aberdeenshire]]<br />
[[Category:King's Royal Rifle Corps officers]]<br />
[[Category:British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Mysore War]]</div>imported>Dawnseeker2000