Leyden, John, 1775-1811

c 1784 shepherd, Henlawshiel; 1787-1790 student of the Reverend James Duncan, covenanting pastor; 1790-1797 student at Edinburgh University; 1797-1798 preacher, St Andrews; 1800 accompanied a pair of German tourists to the Scottish highlands and the Hebrides; 1803-1805 assistant surgeon, Madras; 1805 prepared a report on the geology, diseases, crops and languages of the Mysore provinces; 1806 settled in Calcutta, India; c 1807-1809 judge of the twenty-four parganas of Calcutta; 1809 commissioner, the court of requests, Calcutta; 1810 assay-master of the mint, Calcutta; 1811 accompanied Lord Minto to Java as assistant and interpreter of the Malay language.

Epithet: linguist and poet

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