Wedderburn book > History

29S THE WEDDERBURN BOOK.
Part in - when early in the spring of 1823 he caught cold while exposed to severe weather,
Chap. viii. au( j ^.^ j Q ^j a y i to t | le g rea t sorrow of all his family."
Both of these sons were buried in the churchyard of Glyude, co. Sussex, near the
seat of their uncle, the then Lord Hampden. The epitaph on their grave is as follows : —
M. S. | JOHANNIS JACOB! WEDDERBURN, | DAVIDIS WEDDERBURN, BARONETTI, | FILII MAXIMI NATU : | QUI
ADHUC PUER, | VIRTUTIBUS AC INGENIO FLUSQUAM PUEH1LI PRAEDITUS, | A.D. MDCCC'X. AETATIS AUTEM VIII.
| MORTE IMMATURA EXTINCTUS EST. | NEC NON | GEORGII WEDDERBURN, | EJUSDEM | FILII UNICI SOPERSTITIS: |
QUI MORUM INTEGRITATE SPECTATDS, | OMNIBUS FERE LITTERIS | MIRUM IN MODUM IMBUTUS, | PRjECEPTORIBUS
AC SOCIIS OARUS, | PARENTIBUS VERO ORBATIS | NUNQUAM NON DEFLENDUS, | A.D. MDOCCXXIII ANNOS NA't'US
XVIII. I QUOAD MORTALIS FUIT, | DIEM OBIIT SUPREMUM.
The following verses were written by Mrs. Hemans, the poetess, for inscription on the
tomb, but were not so used : —
" Thou, that canst gaze upon thine own fair boy,
And hear his prayer's low murmur at thy knee,
And o'er his slumbers bend in breathless joy,
Come to this tomb ! it hath a voice for thee !
Pray ! thou art blest ! ask strength for sorrow's hour,
Love, deep as thine, lays here its broken flower.
Thou, that are gathering from the smile of youth
Thy thousand hopes, rejoicing to behold
All the hearts depths before thee, bright with truth,
All the mind's treasures silently unfold ;
Look on this tomb ! to thee, too, speaks the grave,
Where God hath seal'd the fount of hope he gave."
. Sir David thus left no descendants, and was succeeded by his half brother,
Sir John Wedderburn [1789 — 1862], second baronet of Balindean, and but for
attainder, eighth of Blackness, who was born at Balindean 1 May 1789 (Bl. 93 ; J.W. 24).
He is named in his father's settlement in 1801 (Bl. 22) ; in his nomination of tutors and
curators to his children 1801-3 (Bl. 82-83), and also in the will of his brother James in
1812 (Bl. 69; L.W. 7). 1
He entered the Indian Civil Service and went out to Bombay in 1807 ; was appointed
Assistant and Examiner to the Secretary in the Secret, Foreign, and Political Department,
4 Nov. 1808; second assistant to the sub-treasurer, 1810; assistant to the export ware-
house keeper, 1811; acting sub-treasurer, 22 July 1812; civil and marine paymaster,
1 1 Oct. 1814 ; accountant-general, civil auditor, revenue accountant, and accountant to the
recorder's court, 1 May 1817 ; and accountant-general and military, commercial, and
revenue accountant, t Jan. 1830.-'
He retired from the last-named post on 1 May 1837, and, returning home, long
resided at Keith House in the united parishes of Keith and Humbie, co. Haddington.
Before he left India he was presented with a service of plate 3 bearing this inscription,
" Presented to John Wedderburn, Esq., of the Bombay Civil Service, on his return to
Great Britain, by his European and Native Friends in Bombay as a testimony of respect
for his public, and regard and esteem for his private character, 1836." As showing the
number of subscribers to this testimonial, it may be noted that while £1,800 was collected,
in no case was more than £10 accepted from one subscriber, and in very many cases there
were native subscribers of a single rupee. 4
1 See also, in regard to his charge on Balindean, Bl. 74.
- See Dodwell and Miller's List of Bombay Civil Servants 1780 — 1838. His brother Alexander (J.W. 24)
says he embarked for India June 1808, but this would seem to be an error for 1807.
:< Now in the possession of Sir William Wedderburn, Bart.
4 The following address (Bl. 91) presented to him by the Bombay Native Education Society, and signed by
numerous residents, English and native, also shows the esteem in which he was held : —
"Bombay, 13th Jauy. 1837. — Sir, Intimately connected as you have been with the Bombay Native
Education Society, from the hour of its institution to the present moment, and latterly its leading
Director, we cannot witness your departure from among us without conveying to j T ou our high sense of
the great benefit the society has derived from your services during the whole of that long period. To
your liberal views, sound judgment, and conciliatory temper, we attribute much of the success which
has hitherto crowned our efforts in the great cause we all have at heart, and although the consciousness
of having tal.en so zealous and efficient a part in extending the blessings of sound knowledge and
European science to this portion of the British Empire, is in itself, perhaps, a sufficient reward to a
mind like yours, it would ill become us your associates in this labour of love, and representatives as
many of us are of the Native Community of this Presidency, which is thus so deeply indebted to