William Petrie

This article is about the English merchant and civil servant. For the English electrical engineer, see William Petrie (electrical engineer). For the archaeologist, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie, see Flinders Petrie.
William Petrie
portrait by George Romney
Born1784 Edit this on Wikidata
Died27 October 1816 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 31–32)

William Petrie (1747 – 27 October 1816)[1]: 200–1  was a British officer of the East India Company in Chennai (formerly Madras) during the 1780s,[2] and was Governor of Prince of Wales Island (Penang Island) from 1812 to 1816. An amateur astronomer, Petrie helped found the first modern observatory outside Europe, the Madras Observatory.

  1. ^ Bastin, John (2014). Raffles and Hastings: Private exchanges behind the founding of Singapore. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd. ISBN 9789814634786.
  2. ^ Kochhar, Rajesh (4 April 2011). "William Petrie (d.1816), Madras Civil Servant 1765-1812 and Governor,Penang 1812-1816". Rajesh Kochhar. Retrieved 4 April 2019.