Sir Alexander Johnston

Sir Alexander Johnston 1775 - 1849

Alexander was born in 1775 in Carnsalloch, Dumfriesshire to Samuel Johnston and Hester Napier, daughter of Lord Napier. Samuel took a ‘posting’ in 1781 under Lord Macartney in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India and at the young age of six, Alexander went with his family to live there. His famous teachers were the missionary Christian Friedrich Swartz and Sir Thomas Munro and through them Alexander soon learnt to speak Tamil, Telugu and Hindustani fluently.

At the age of 11 he was offered a commission in the Dragoons which he, or the family, declined. For some unfound reason, the family returned to England in 1792. After studying law, Alexander travelled to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to become in 1799, at the young age of 24, the Advocate General of Ceylon. In that same year he married Louisa Campbell then aged only 17. As no record has been found it is assumed they married in Ceylon.

Putting this into context Alexander arrived in Ceylon in the thick of great change and the island must have been in some turmoil. Briefly, the Dutch had surrendered the island in 1796 and the British, judging it as a temporary situation, administered the island from Madras, India.

They soon realised the island’s strategic value and in 1802 it became administered directly as a Crown Colony. By 1805 Alexander had become the Chief Justice and was already making suggestions for the running of the country which were incorporated into the East India Charter of 1813. By the time Alexander was 36, in 1811, he had been knighted and six years on in 1817 he had become an Admiralty Judge.

It appears that not only was Alexander extremely talented and successful, he was also a fair and popular man and seemingly ahead of his time in his thinking. He had encouraged British law to be brought into line with local traditions, with reforms being made for universal education, freedom of religious practice and the abolition of slavery.

He advocated the employment of the local people in government and the inclusion of the views of the Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists. He utilised and was responsible for bringing the Mahavamsa to European attention when he sent manuscripts of it back home for translation and publication. It is supposedly the oldest chronicle in the world and tells the history of Sri Lanka. For our story its detail is too complicated but well worth further research.

After this successful whirlwind career, the family returned to England in 1819. Little is known of his life in the United Kingdom for the next thirty years but we know that he stood as a liberal candidate in Dumfries in 1840 but failed to be elected. As an orientalist he was heavily involved in the formation of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1823 to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia". He was also a free mason of the Prince of Wales Lodge. No doubt he also used his knowledge of the law profusely in other directions. For example, he was at the time of his death disputing ownership of the family ‘home’ in Madurai known as ‘Fort Defiance’ or ‘Tamkam’ which his father had heavily invested in. Alexander had wanted this to be used as a school for “natives” and so his son Patrick pursued this and it did indeed result in the Johnston of Carnsalloch Scholarships.

Fort Defiance

For further reading there are many personal handwritten letters pertaining to Alexander in ‘The Alexander Johnston’ Papers in the Endangered Archives Programme, British Museum.

Alexander is buried where he was born in Carnsalloch as is his wife, Lady Johnston.

Research by Anne Smedley (March 2024)

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