James George Scott Cadell (1817 - 1870)

Born 31 Jul 1817 in Madras Presidency, India

Ancestors

Died 6 Feb 1870 at age 52 in England, United Kingdom

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Biography

James Cadell was part of the history of the British Honourable East India Company

James was born in 1817. He was the son of George Cadell and Susan Tod.^[1]

He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy (1828-32).^[2]

He joined the Honourable East India Company as a lieutenant in the 3rd Madras Light Cavalry, from which he retired in 1844.

Suffering from severe mental illness, he was for a time a resident in Moorcroft House, a private asylum in Middlesex. In January 1856, he was admitted to Crichton Royal Institution, Dumfries, where he was diagnosed as suflering from ‘mania merging into fatuity’.^[3]

He was described as 'dignified in bearing', his behaviour alternating between affability and pugnacity. He read and drew 'for amusement’ and 'joined in bowling matches'. In 1860, he was noted as ‘fond of military books'. He continued to enjoy reading but he 'became more difficult to handle' and in September 1862, he was removed from Crichton. His fate thereafter is unknown but he must have lived in England, presumably with family.

He died in England in 1870 and is buried in the Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh.^[4]

Research Notes

His record in the Edinburgh Academy Register reads as follows:
CADELL, James George Scott, 1828-32. Cl. 3-6. b. 31 May 1817 [sic] ; s. of Col. George Cadell, Madras Army.
Lt. 3rd Madras L. Cav. ; d. 6 Feb. 1870.

The FindaGrave webpage refers to James as having been in the 2nd Madras Light Cavalry. The engraving on the gravestone clearly states it was the 3rd.

Sources

1. ↑ India Births and Baptisms
2. ↑ The Edinburgh Academy Register: Page 36.
3. ↑ Art in Madness, p.278
4. ↑ FindaGrave webpage

• "India Births and Baptisms, 1786-1947", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FG6T-7B3 : 5 February 2020)
• The Edinburgh Academical Club. The Edinburgh Academy Register 1824-1914, Edinburgh: T & A Constable, 1914.
• Maureen Park (2007) Art in Madness: Dr W. A. F. Browne (1805-1885), moral treatment and patient art at Crichton Royal Institution, Dumfries, with special reference to his medical superintendence, 1839-1857, PhD thesis, Glasgow University
• FindaGrave webpage (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133774172/james-george_scott-cadell : accessed 5 March 2024)