Author: Broome, Ralph
Biography:
BROOME, Ralph (1742-1805: ancestry.co.uk)
He was the son of Ralph and Mary Broome and was baptised at Clyffe Pypard, Wiltshire. Nothing is known about his early life, but he became an officer in the Bengal army and served as interpreter to Colonel Granger Muir. While in India, he had a relationship that resulted in the birth of a daughter, Miriam, in 1781. He later took Miriam to England and she was baptised in Wiltshire in 1785. Ralph Broome married Lucy Jeffreys in London in 1790; they had a son who was born and died in 1792. Lucy died in 1796 and in 1798 Broome married Charlotte Ann Francis, the widowed sister of Fanny Burney; her family objected to the match. They had one son, also named Ralph. Another daughter, Margaret Amelia Weaver, was born in 1802 as a result of his relationship with a married woman. In later life he was said to suffer from periods of insanity. He died at Bath and was buried at St. Swithin’s Walcot. His will left the bulk of his estate to Charlotte and his son but also made provision for Miriam and Margaret. Most of his writings, including his satiric verse, concern the trial of Warren Hastings; among his other publications are An Elucidation of the Articles of Impeachment (1790) and Comparative View of the Administration of Mr. Hastings and Mr. Dundas (1791). (ancestry.co.uk 12 Jan. 2021; WorldCat; PBI)