Biography
Henry Thomas Colebrooke, third son of Sir George Colebrooke, 2nd Baronet, was born in London. He was educated at home; and when only fifteen (15) he had made considerable attainments in classics and mathematics. From the age of twelve to sixteen he resided in France.
In 1782 Colebrooke was appointed to a writership in India. About a year after his arrival there he was placed in the board of accounts in Calcutta; and three years later he was removed to a situation in the revenue department at Tirhut. In 1789 he was removed to Purneah, where he investigated the resources of that part of the country, and published his Remarks on the Husbandry and Commerce of Bengal, privately printed in 1795, in which he advocated free trade between Great Britain and India.
He was sent to Nagpur in 1799 on a special mission, and on his return was made a judge of the new court of appeal, over which he afterwards presided. In 1805, Lord Wellesley appointed him professor of Hindu law and Sanskrit at the college of Fort William. He became member of council in 1807 and returned to England seven years later.
He was a director of the Royal Asiatic Society, and many of the papers in the society's Transactions were communicated by him. In 1822 he was elected the second president of the Royal Astronomical Society.
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