Name Eyles Irwin | Role Poet | |
Died 1817, Clifton, Bristol, United Kingdom | ||
Eyles Irwin (1751–1817) was an Irish poet and writer. He rose in the East India Company's service from a civil servant to superintendent of the company's affairs in China, but failed to gain a place on the board of directors.
Contents
He is notable for publishing several volumes of poems, primarily on historical subjects; elegies, odes, and epistles; and miscellaneous writings. Although not born in Ireland, he became a member of the Royal Irish Academy due to his Irish parents' roots.
Biography
He was born at Calcutta (presently Kolkata) to Irish parents in 1751. His father was a native of Ireland who died in the service of East India Company. Irwin was educated at a private academy at Chiswick in England, and joined the East India Company in a civil capacity, serving at Madras (presently Chennai) in 1767. Due to his association with George Pigot, who was imprisoned and suspended, he too was suspended in 1775; consequently, he went back to England to lay his case before the board. His application was successful.
In 1778, he married Miss Brooke, who was related to Henry Brooke, the renowned Irish novelist and dramatist. In 1780, he was restored to his previous job and position by the Company at Madras. He returned to England in 1785 from Calcutta. In 1792, he was appointed, in conjunction with others, as superintendent of the Company's affairs in China, in which post he served for the next two years. In 1795, he made one or two attempts to gain a place on the board of directors, but failed. Until he died on 14 October 1817, he busied himself with social and literary pursuits.