KANDY PORRIDGE

See Also: NAUTICAL; PRISONS, DISAPPEARED; PRIVATEERING Three Privateers

Robert Knox was born the son of a sea captain who was active in the East Indies trade. In 1658, in what was intended to be a commercial venture, they both set sail for Persia on board The Anne. The following year the vessel was lost its mast while it was crossing the Indian Ocean. Therefore, they were forced to navigate it to Kottiar Bay, Sri Lanka. Upon the craft's arrival there, Robert Knox p re made the major error of not sending a letter of explanation and a gift to King Rajasinghe II of Kandy. Subsequently, the two Knoxes and over a dozen members of the ship's crew were taken prisoner by Kandyan soldiers.

Knox p re died of malaria in 1661. His son continued to be a prisoner. With the passage of time, he was granted a degree of leeway with regard to his conditions. He used this to become economically active. He was allowed to travel around the island on business matters. In 1679 he succeeded in making his way to a Dutch-controlled fort. The following year he arrived back in London.

During his homeward voyage, the traveller had written a manuscript about his two decades-long captivity. Knox was a cousin of the historian the Rev John Strype. The clergyman edited the text into a publishable form. The resulting book, An Historical Relation of The Island Ceylon, In The East Indies (1681), met with a ready public. It was translated into Dutch, French, and German.

Knox made several more trading journeys to the East Indies, initially in the service of the East India Company and subsequently as an independent merchant. These voyages were not without incident. During one of them he experienced a second spell of imprisonment. This time the incarceration occurred on the island of Madagascar. During another, his crew mutinied and marooned him upon St Helena.

Knox retired at the start of the 18^thC. He enjoyed two decades of leisure before his death. Daniel Defoe use An Historical Relation to help pad out Robinson Crusoe (1719), which was published the year before the merchant-traveller died. Defoe's Captain Singleton (1720) drew upon the 1681 work more directly.

Location: St Mary's Church, 30 St Mary's Road, Wimbledon, SW19 7BP. Where Knox's corpse was buried.

David Backhouse 2024