Lt.

Col William Henry HORSLEY (28 October 1812 – 8 February 1893) was the son of George Henry
Horsley of Middlesex and Frances Elizabeth Horsley (née Harding) who had been born in
Jamaica. In 1830 he completed his engineering training at the East India Company Military
Seminary at Addiscombe in Surrey and then had a year of specialist training at Chatham before
sailing to India to take up a commission in the Madras Engineers.

Horsley took part in the Coorg War of 1834 but was mainly involved with civil engineering
projects, becoming the first formally trained civil engineer to work in the State of Travancore
(now Thiruvananthapuram). He was involved with the construction of Trevandrum Observatory
(1837) under the patronage of His Highness Sri Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma (1813-1846) the
Maharajah of Travancore, and his English astronomer John Caldecott (1801–1849). Horsley was
also responsible for the design and building of the Memorial Hall on Mint Street, Madras (1860)
and the old bridge over the river Karamana. He was one of the founders and trustees of the
protestant church at Trivandrum.

In this topographical drawing, Horsley has depicted the gentle arc of the palm tree lined beach at
Covellum (now Kovalam) facing the Indian Ocean on the South West Tip of India. There are
various figures, some observing the landscape with telescopes, while others hold parasols. On the
beach there appears to be a group of local fishermen. The topography is accurate and still
recognizable but the viewpoint on the promentary from which this drawing has been made is
now occupied by a lighthouse (Vizhinjam Lighthouse) and the entire area of the shoreline is now
developed and occupied by a beach resort with multi storey hotels and other buildings. The style
of the drawing corresponds to the only known illustration published by Horsley which is a
picture of Trevandrum Observatory, accompanying an elevation, plan and longitudinal section of
the building[1].

Horsley's “Memoir of Travancore” (written in 1838 and published the following year) was the
earliest English treatise on the history of Travancore. He was clearly fascinated by recording
history, in 1837 an iron box containing some hundreds of large gold coins "as fresh as if from the
mint" were found in the bed of the Beypore river in Malabar and it is known that "Col. W. H.
Horsley, R.E., possessed several of these".

As a captain he served as Civil Engineer in the Eighth Division and was a senior officer in Public
Works in the Madras Presidency and by the 1860's he was a Lieutenant Colonel and Chief
Engineer.  A highly able but underresearched individual, Horsley seems to be a man of many
talents. His daughter Annie, who was born at Pallamcottah in Southern India while her father
was stationed there, was also an accomplished amateur artist. He was clearly related to his
namesake William Dowdeswell Horsley (1834-1899), who gave his name to the Horsley Hills in
Andhra Pradesh.

Horsley married Frederica Montgomery O'Connell at St.Stephen's Chruch, Ootacamund, Tamil

Nadu, India on 30 Apr 1845. Their eldest son, William Henry Horsley (1848-1915) spent much
of his life in India and was a Judge in Bombay from 1887-96. William Henry (Sr) eventually
returned to England and was buried on 8 February 1893 in St. Stephen's Church, Canterbury,
Kent.

Literature:
W. H. Horsley, “Memoir of Travancore, Historical and Statistical, Compiled from Various
Authentic Records and Personal Observations”, Government Press, Kerala (India), 1839

Prof Achuthsankar S Nair, "William Henry Horsley’s Memoir of Travancore (1839): Earliest
English Treatise on the History of Travancore", Journal of Kerala Studies, University of Kerala,
Vol. XXXI, March-Dec 2004, 

G. Richardson Ph.D. "William Logan and William Henry Horsely: Pioneers of Modern Trend in
Kerala History and Historiography", Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tamil Nadu, India,
2020

Notes:-
[1] see. pp. 56-60, John Caldecott. "Description of an observatory lately established at
Trevandrum, by his Highness the Rajah of Travancore". Madras Journal of Literature & Science,
Madras Literary Society (Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society), Volume VI July-
December 1837, Printed J.B. Pharoah, Athenaeum Press, Published J.P. Bantleman, The College,
Madras, 1837.

Dimensions
W: 17.5cm  (6.9")H: 15.2cm  (6")
Code
10423
Period
19th Century, Georgian (1714 to 1837), Victorian (1837 to 1901)