View source for Peter Melvill

{{Short description|British military officer (1803–1895)}}
{{infobox person
| honorific_prefix = [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
| name          = Sir Peter Melvill
| honorific_suffix = [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath|KCB]]
| image         = Sir Peter Melvill (1803–1895).jpg
| caption       = Melvill, {{Circa|1860}}, by an unknown artist
| birth_name    = Peter Melvill Melvill
| birth_date    = {{birthdate|1803|07|02|df=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[Pendennis Castle]]
| death_date    = {{dda|1895|11|05|1803|07|02|df=yes}}
| death_place   = [[Brighton]], Sussex
| parents       = [[Philip Melvill]]<br/>Elizabeth Carey Dobrée
| spouse        = {{marriage|Catherine Mary Robertson<br/>|1836||reason=}}
| children      =
| relations     =  [[James Cosmo Melvill]] (brother)<br/>[[Philip Melvill (East India Company officer)|Philip Melvill]] (brother)<br/>[[Henry Melvill]] (brother)
}}
Major-General '''Sir Peter Melvill Melvill''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB}} (2 July 1803<ref name="birth">''England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975''</ref> – 5 November 1895) was a British military commander in the [[Bombay Army]] who was military and naval secretary to the [[Governor of Bombay]].<ref name="times">{{cite news |title= Obituary  |work=[[The Times]] |date=7 November 1895 |page=6 }}</ref>

==Early life==
Melvill was born at [[Pendennis Castle]], near [[Falmouth, Cornwall]], where his father was Governor.<ref name="1861census">''1861 England Census''</ref> He was the youngest son of Capt. [[Philip Melvill]] (1762–1811) and Elizabeth Carey Dobrée (1770–1845). His family was strongly associated with the [[East India Company]]. His elder brothers included Sir [[James Cosmo Melvill]], secretary of the East India Company; [[Philip Melvill (East India Company officer)|Philip Melvill]], [[Military Secretary to the India Office]]; and [[Henry Melvill]], principal of the [[East India Company College]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary |work=[[The Times]] |date=7 October 1882 |page= 9}}</ref> 

==Career==
He joined the Bombay Army in 1819 and was employed with the revenue survey of [[Gujarat]] from 1822–27. He served as Fort Adjutant of the garrison of Bombay and ''aide-to-camp'' to the Governor in 1828. In 1829, he  was on special duty in [[Calcutta]] as assistant to the Bombay military member of the Financial Commission. In 1836, he was first assistant to the Resident in [[Cutch State|Cutch]] and Sind and in 1838 he officiated as Political Agent at the former place. From 1840 to 1859, he served as Secretary to the Government of Bombay.<ref name="times"/> 

He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Bath]] in the [[1860 Birthday Honours]]. He retired with the honorary rank of [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] in December 1861.<ref name="times"/> 

==Personal life==
In 1836, he married Catherine Mary Robertson, the daughter of John Robertson of [[Tweedmouth]], Berwick-upon-Tweed. They had three daughters in Bombay:

* Elizabeth Margaret Melvill, who married Charles Gonne in Bombay in 1860.<ref>''India, Select Marriages, 1792–1948''</ref><ref name="Register1860">{{cite book |title=The Annual Register: World Events .... 1859 |date=1860 |page=390 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MABHAAAAcAAJ |access-date=15 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
* Catherine Mary Melvill (1838–1872), who married [[Arthur de Hochepied Larpent, 8th Baron de Hochepied]], eldest son of [[John de Hochepied Larpent, 7th Baron de Hochepied]].<ref name="burkewwii">{{cite book |title= [[Burke's Peerage|Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood]]|publisher=Burke's Peerage & Gentry |editor= Burke, Sir Bernard |editor-link=Bernard Burke  |edition= 97th |year=1939 |page= 2678|ref=Burke }}</ref>
* Robina Henrietta Melvill, who died young in India.<ref>''India, Select Births and Baptisms, 1786–1947''</ref>

He died in [[Brighton]], Sussex, in 1895.<ref name="times"/>

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F70537 Sir Peter Melvill Melvill] at [[The National Archives (UK)]]
* [https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/eicah/melvill-case-study/melvill-family-case-study-the-second-generation/ ''Melvill Family Case Study: The Second Generation''] at [[University College London]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melvill, Peter}}
[[Category:1803 births]]
[[Category:1895 deaths]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Cornwall]]
[[Category:Melvill family|Peter]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]