Author: Law, Thomas
Biography:
Law, Thomas (1756-1834: ODNB)
Thomas Law, born in Cambridge, was part of a large and prosperous family. His father Edmund and two of his brothers were prominent clergyman; another brother became Lord Chief Justice and was created Baron Ellenborough. His mother was Mary Christian of Unerigg in Cumberland; his father became Bishop of Carlisle. When he was 17, Thomas followed an older brother to India and rose through the ranks of the civil service to become Collector of Bihar at the age of 27. He is credited with having brought about major reforms to the system of taxation of land in India, a "Permanent Settlement" designed to benefit the peasantry as well as the government. Ill health obliged him to retire in 1791. He returned to England but left for America in 1793, taking with him the three young sons who had been born to an Indian wife or mistress. He settled in Washington DC, married Elizabeth Parke Custis (a granddaughter of Martha Washington) in 1796, and began to invest large sums in land, property, and business ventures--most of which, in time, he lost. He and his wife separated in 1804 and were divorced in 1811. Their only daughter and the three older sons predeceased their father, who died in Washington leaving what remained of his fortune to two illegitimate children born to Margaret Jones and Mary Robinson. (ODNB 15 Sept. 2019; Allen C. Clark, Thomas Law: A Biographical Sketch [1900])