Talk:Robert Sparke Hutchings

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Robert Hutchings and Grace Newman

One Robert Hutchings and Grace Newman got married in Dittisham, Devon on 20 May 1802 (source: England, Marriages, 1538–1973. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013). As I haven't been able to determine whether this is Robert Sparke Hutchings, I've left it out of the article. It might be a cousin of his, for instance. Ni'jluuseger (talk) 19:34, 20 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Why Hutchings went to Penang specifically

It's not in the article because it's speculative / original research, but it's rather self-evident that Robert Sparke Hutchings went to Penang specifically (and not to another British possession) because George Caunter, the husband of his sister Harriett Georgina Hutchings, went there before him. Caunter died in 1811 while Robert arrived in Penang in 1814, but by that time there was a wider network of relations established in Penang. For instance, Richard Caunter (George Caunter's nephew) was acting superintendent of police at Penang in 1812 (Langdon, Vol. 2, p. 188). Robert Ibbetson, the later Penang governor with whom Hutchings went to Sumatra on a trade mission, married a daughter of George Caunter, Harriet Georgina Hutchings Caunter, in Penang in 1817.

To be clear, this addresses why Hutchings went to Penang rather than to another destination, but does not address the reason(s) he went there at all or gave up the Dittisham rectorate (for which I haven't found a primary source). Ni'jluuseger (talk) 19:59, 20 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Incidentally, Robert Ibbetson and his wife Harriet had a daughter Elvira in 1820, who may have been named after Robert Sparke Hutchings's wife Elvira. The following year, Robert and Elvira named a daughter of their own Elvira. Ni'jluuseger (talk) 20:06, 20 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hutchings and the Malay language

Some secondary sources state that Hutchings "produced one of the first books and dictionaries on Malay grammar" and "translated elementary textbooks". I haven't found anything about his writings in or about Malay beyond his revision of the Old and New Testament in Malay, so if anyone has more information about this, that would be welcome. Ni'jluuseger (talk) 10:57, 21 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]