Sir John Call, 1st Baronet
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Sir John Call, 1st Baronet (30 June 1731 – 1 March 1801) was an English engineer and baronet.
He was born at Fenny Park, Tiverton, Devon, educated at Blundell's School and went to India at the age of 17 with Benjamin Robins, the chief engineer and captain-general of artillery in the East India Company's settlements. After the death of Robins, Call became engineer-in-chief, and eventually chief engineer with a seat on the Governor's Council. Robert Clive strongly recommended Call for the Governorship of Madras, but he had to return to England on the death of his father on 31 December 1766.[1] On his return, he became High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1771, MP for Callington in 1784, and 1st Baronet Call in 1791. Call built Whiteford House in Stoke Climsland (demolished in 1913)[2] and the nearby folly, Whiteford Temple, now owned by the Landmark Trust.[3] He also built the reproduction Civil War fort on the summit of Kit Hill and was responsible for the construction of Bodmin Gaol in 1779.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1775, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1785.[4]
Call's son, William Pratt Call succeeded him, becoming the 2nd Baronet Call on his father's death.
[edit] References
- ^ http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~alan/family/N-JohnCall.html
- ^ http://www.whitefordfestival.co.uk/location_whitefordhistory.php
- ^ http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/featured/whiteford_temple.htm
- ^ D. L. Prior, ‘Call, Sir John, first baronet (1732–1801)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008 accessed 18 September 2008
| Baronetage of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| New creation | Baronet (of Whiteford) 1791–1801 |
Succeeded by William Call |
ń
- 1732 births
- 1801 deaths
- English engineers
- Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
- Old Blundellians
- People from Tiverton, Devon
- Cornish people
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
- British East India Company Army officers
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall
- High Sheriffs of Cornwall
