>Citation bot at 16:48, 9 December 2020

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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2013}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Sir Elijah Impey
| image = ElijahImpey.jpg
| office = Chief Justice of the [[Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William]] in Bengal
| term_start = 22 October 1774<ref>Curley p 194</ref>
| term_end = 3 December 1783 (Effectively). Resigned 1 November 1787<ref>Curley p 485</ref>
| office2 = Sole Justice of the [[Sadr Diwani Adalat]]
| term_start2 = 24 October 1780<ref>Curley p 313</ref>
| term_end2 = 5 November 1782<ref>Curley p 344</ref>
| office3 = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br> for [[New Romney (UK Parliament constituency)|New Romney]]
| term_start3 = 1790
| term_end3 = 1796
}}
'''Sir Elijah Impey''' (13 June 1732{{snd}}1 October 1809) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[judge]], the first [[chief justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William]] in [[Bengal]],<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Impey, Sir Elijah |volume=14 |pages=342–343}}</ref> Chief Justice of the [[Sadr Diwani Adalat]] and MP for New Romney.

==Life==
[[File:Zoffany-Impey-family-Calcutta.jpg|thumb|Painting by [[Johan Zoffany]] of the family of Elijah and [[Mary Impey]] in Calcutta in 1783]]
He was born the youngest son of Elijah Impey and his wife Martha, daughter of James Fraser and was educated at [[Westminster School]] with [[Warren Hastings]], who was his intimate friend throughout life. He proceeded to [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] in 1752, graduating in 1756 as the second Chancellor's classical medallist.<ref>{{acad|id=IMY752E|name=Impey, Elijah}}</ref>

Having been called to the bar in 1756, he was appointed the first chief justice of the new supreme court at [[Calcutta]] in March 1774<ref>{{London Gazette
| issue = 11441
| date = 19 March 1774
| page = 1
}}</ref> and knighted later that month.<ref>{{London Gazette
| issue = 11444
| date = 29 March 1774
| page = 4
}}</ref>

En route to India he learned [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and [[Urdu]], and once there studied [[Persian language|Persian]].<ref name="BBC-50542353">{{cite web |title=The forgotten Indian artists of British India |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-50542353 |work=[[BBC News]] |accessdate=30 November 2019 |date=30 November 2019}}</ref> with his wife [[Mary Impey|Mary]] (née Reade), from 1777, he hired local artists to paint the various birds, animals and native plants, life-sized where possible, and in natural surrounds. The collection is often known as the ''[[Impey Album]]''.<ref name="BBC-50542353" />

In 1775 he presided at the trial of [[Maharaja Nandakumar]],<ref name=EB1911/> who was accused of forging a bond in an attempt to deprive a widow of more than half her inheritance. As a result of the trial he went down in history, because in 1787 he was subjected to [[Impeachment of Warren Hastings|impeachment]], along with [[Warren Hastings]], for their conduct of the case. He was accused by [[Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay|Macaulay]] of conspiring with Hastings to commit a judicial murder<ref name=EB1911/> by having unjustly hanged Nandakumar; but the whole question of the trial of Nandakumar was examined in detail by Sir [[James Fitzjames Stephen]], who stated that "no man ever had, or could have, a fairer trial than Nuncomar, and Impey in particular behaved with absolute fairness and as much indulgence as was compatible with his duty."<ref name=EB1911/> According to [[Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay|Macaulay]], Impey later applied English law so aggressively as to "throw a great country into the most dreadful confusion", until in effect bribed by Hastings to desist.

In 1790 Impey was returned to Parliament as the member for [[New Romney (UK Parliament constituency)|New Romney constituency]] and spent the next seven years as an MP before retiring to [[Newick]] Park near Brighton. He died there in 1809 and was buried in the family vault at [[St Paul's, Hammersmith]], London. With his wife he is commemorated in the church with a wall monument by [[Peter Rouw]]. He had married on 18 January 1768 Mary, daughter of [[Sir John Reade, 5th Baronet]], of Shipton Court, Oxfordshire; they had five sons.

In 1795 his application for a fellowship of the [[Royal Society]] was rejected.

== Legacy ==

A portrait of Impey, by [[Johan Zoffany]] hangs in [[Kolkata High Court]].<ref name="BBC-50542353"/> [[Thomas Lawrence]] also painted him.<ref>Levey 2005: 49–59</ref>

His wife, [[Mary Impey]], is commemorated in the name of the [[Impeyan pheasant]] (''Lophophorus impejanus'').

==Further reading==
*James Fitzjames Stephen, ''The Story of Nuncomar and the Impeachment of Sir Elijah Impey'' (1885).
*[https://archive.org/details/memoirsofsirelij00impeuoft ''Memoirs of Sir Elijah Impey, Knt ... with anecdotes of Warren Hastings, Sir Philip Francis, Nathaniel Brassey Hallhed, Esq., and other contemporaries;''] (1846)

==Sources==
*[http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/lotw/1.html ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (includes photo)]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=cdl;cc=cdl;view=toc;subview=short;idno=cdl417 The story of Nuncomar and the impeachment of Sir Elijah Impey]{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Cornell University Library Historical Monographs Collection. {Reprinted by} [https://www.amazon.com/dp/1429741287/ Cornell University Library Digital Collections]
*[http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/6980/10198 Exhibition of "Lady Impey’s Indian Bird Paintings"] at the [[Ashmolean Museum]], Oxford (until 14 Apr 2013)
*"Memoirs of Sir Elijah Impey: Knt., First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature, at Fort William, Bengal; with Anecdotes of Warren Hastings, Sir Philip Francis, Nathaniel Brassey Halhed, Esq., and Other Contemporaries; Comp. from Authentic Documents, in Refutation of the Calumnies of the Right Hon. Thomas Babington Macaulay" [https://books.google.com/books?id=1k5FAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA360 (Google eBook)], Simpkin, Marshall, and Company, 1846

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{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[New Romney (UK Parliament constituency)|New Romney]]
| with = [[Sir Richard Sullivan, 1st Baronet|Richard Joseph Sullivan]]
| before = [[John Henniker-Major, 2nd Baron Henniker|John Henniker]]
| after = [[John Willett Willett]]<br />[[John Fordyce (MP)|John Fordyce]]
| years = 1790–[[1796 British general election|1796]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Impey, Elijah}}
[[Category:1732 births]]
[[Category:1809 deaths]]
[[Category:British India judges]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies]]
[[Category:British MPs 1790–1796]]
[[Category:18th-century British judges]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]

Elijah Impey - Revision history

>Citation bot at 16:48, 9 December 2020