ORME, Robert (1728-1801), author of a History of British India, was the son of John Orme, surgeon in Bombay, and was born at Anjengo, Travancore, in June 1728. He was sent to Harrow school in 1736, and in 1742 to a school near London to obtain an education preparing him for commercial pursuits. In 1744 he became a clerk in the East India Company’s service in Calcutta. In 1752 he went to Madras, and in the following year he returned home with Lord Clive, with whom he lived on terms of close intimacy. His knowledge of Indian affairs gave him considerable influence with the company. Returning to Madras in 1755, he was appointed a member of the council, and in this position took an active part in directing the military operations in the Carnatic in 1755-59. By the court of directors he was appointed to succeed Lord Bigot in the government of Madras, and in 1757-59 he was commissary-general. In the latter year bad health compelled him to quit India, and he took up his residence in London, where he occupied himself in writing a History of the Military Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan from 1745, the first volume appearing in 1763, the second in 1775, and the third in 1778 In acknowledgment of his services he was appointed historiographer to the East India Company with a salary of £400 a year. In 1770 he was chosen a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He died at Ealing 13th January 1801....