Edward John Gambier

Sir Edward John Gambier (1794–1879) was a colonial jurist and law officer who held significant positions in British India and Southeast Asia. Born in 1794 as the third son of Sir Samuel Gambier, a prominent naval commissioner, and Jane Mathew, he was also the nephew of Admiral James Gambier. Gambier attended Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he excelled academically, becoming the first President of the Cambridge Union and receiving academic honors.

Gambier was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1822 and served as a municipal corporation commissioner in 1833. He was appointed Recorder of Prince of Wales Island in 1834 and knighted by King William IV that year. In 1836, he moved to Madras as a puisne judge of the supreme court and was later elevated to Chief Justice of Madras in 1842. He served in this role until his retirement in 1849, during which time he received a testimonial from the Hindu community of Madras, along with his wife, who also received a gift from European ladies in Madras.

Gambier authored *A Treatise on Parochial Settlement*, published in 1828, which was reissued in 1835. In 1828, he married Emilia Ora Morgell, the daughter of C. Morgell, M.P. His wife died in 1877, and Gambier himself passed away at his home in Kensington, London, on May 31, 1879, at the age of eighty-six.