George Udny
George Udny was a British civil servant in India, barrister and author.
Life
He was the son of Robert George Udny and his wife Temperance Sophia Fleming, and great-nephew of Robert Udny, plantation owner on Grenada. He was born into a family of nine children, of whom the five sons who grew to adulthood all joined the service of the East India Company. He was educated at East India Company College 1818–20, winning a prize in Persian.Udny became a writer of the Bengal Civil Service in 1819. He was acting magistrate of Jessore 1823, and acting import warehouse keeper 1826–7. He went home on leave in 1827, and returned to India 2 October 1830. He was secretary and treasurer of the Bank of Bengal 17 September 1833 to 1840. On furlough 1840–3, Udny was sub-treasurer to the general treasury Bengal 1843, and retired on the annuity fund 1851.
Returning to the United Kingdom, Udny became a barrister of Lincoln's Inn 6 June 1855. He died at 142 Adelaide Road, Hampstead, 7 April 1879.
Works
Udny wrote:A word on "The Currency" 1845A word on law in general, and on the law of England, and the study of it in particular 1855Executory interests of the law of England 1857Harmony of laws; or, examination of the principles of the laws of civilized nations 1858.Family
Udny married, firstly, in 1836 Frances Hanway Ryan, eldest daughter of Sir Edward Ryan, who died in Calcutta in 1838 leaving two children. Their daughter Louisa Tempe Udny, born in Calcutta in 1837, was an activist for female education and in feminist politics. She married in 1859 the civil servant Charles Mallet, brother of Louis Mallet, and was mother of Charles Edward Mallet MP.In 1844, Udny married, secondly, Anne Lydia Tomkins, daughter of Samuel Tomkins of Russell Place, London, a banker with Willis, Percival & Co. Their children included:
- Richard Udny. He married in 1883 Alice Tomkins, daughter of the banker Samuel Tomkins. This was a first cousin marriage, Alice being the niece of Anne Lydia. There were successive bankers named Samuel Tomkins who worked at Willis, Percival & Co. Anne Lydia's father was Samuel Tomkins the elder, who married Eliza Alicia Isabella Smith, daughter of Edward Tyrrell Smith RN. Samuel Tomkins junior, father of Alice, was her brother. The family were therefore close to a bank failure, thought at the time to reflect badly on the private banking sector.
- Emily, who married Edward Hermon
- Mary, who married in 1874 John Bailey Haslam.