Elijah Impey

Elijah Impey (13 June 17321 October 1809) was a British judge who served as the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal, Chief Justice of the Sadr Diwani Adalat and Member of Parliament for New Romney.

Life

Elijah Impey was born on 13 June 1732 at Butterwick House in Hammersmith. He was the youngest son of merchant Elijah Impey (1683–1756) and his second wife Martha, daughter of James Fraser. He was educated at Westminster School with Warren Hastings. He was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1751 and proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1752, graduating in 1756 as the second Chancellor's classical medallist and becoming a fellow in 1757. He was accompanied by his wife, who became one of the first British patrons of Indian artists. Impey refused to allow a reprieve or a stay of execution. With his wife he is commemorated in the church with a wall monument by Peter Rouw. He had married on 18 January 1768 Mary, daughter of Sir John Reade, 5th Baronet, of Shipton Court, Oxfordshire; they had five sons.

In 1795 his application for a fellowship of the Royal Society was rejected.

Legacy

A portrait of Impey, by Johan Zoffany hangs in Kolkata High Court.

His wife, Mary Impey, is commemorated in the name of the Impeyan pheasant (Lophophorus impejanus).