Early Life
Edward Williams was born in India, the son of an East India Company's army officer, John Williams. His family sent him to England where he attended Eton College, and then, at the age of 14, he entered the Royal Navy. His father died at sea in 1809, and with a comfortable settlement from the will, Williams joined the Eighth Light Dragoons of the East India Company's army in India as a cornet in 1811.
He served under his half-brother and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1813. Williams's Sporting Sketches during a Short Stay in Hindustane contains drawings and journal descriptions of places and events during a leave of absence he took in 1814. The original copy of this notebook is in the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford. He remained with his regiment until 1817 and retired on half-pay on 28 May 1818. During his time in India he met and served with Thomas Medwin, the cousin of Shelley.
Williams returned to England, taking with him the wife of another army officer, Jane Johnson, née Cleveland (1798–1884), who told him her husband mistreated her and that she was justified in leaving him. Some time before September 1818 she began using the name Jane Williams, and hereafter they presented themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Williams.
Read more about this topic: Edward Ellerker Williams
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