Early Life and Career
Born in London to the Scottish poet Allan Cunningham, he had his early education at Christ's Hospital, London. He later studied at the M.E.I Company's Seminary at Addiscombe, and at the R.E. Estate at Chatham. He joined the Bengal Engineers at the age of 19 as a Second Lieutenant and spent the next 28 years in the service of British Government of India. Soon after arriving in India in June 1833, a meeting with James Prinsep sparked his lifelong interest in Indian archaeology and antiquity. He was ADC to Lord Auckland, the Governor-General of India from 1836 to 1840. On 30 March 1840, he married Alicia Maria Whish, daughter of Martin Whish B.C.S. He was appointed as Colonel R.E in 1860. Cunningham retired in 1861, having attained the rank of Major General.
Read more about this topic: Alexander Cunningham
Famous quotes containing the words early life, early, life and/or career:
“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“To be candid, in Middlemarch phraseology, meant, to use an early opportunity of letting your friends know that you did not take a cheerful view of their capacity, their conduct, or their position; and a robust candour never waited to be asked for its opinion.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“If, then, we would indeed restore mankind ... let us first be as simple and well as Nature ourselves, dispel the clouds which hang over our own brows, and take up a little life into our pores. Do not stay to be an overseer of the poor, but endeavor to become one of the worthies of the world.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I’ve been in the twilight of my career longer than most people have had their career.”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)