John Prinsep was born the son of a vicar in rural Oxfordshire, England. With limited horizons for advancement, he joined the East India Company as a cadet, travelling to Bombay, and was soon engaged in mercantile pursuits, eventually becoming the earliest British merchant to plant indigo, and becoming extremely wealthy in the process. Prinsep subsequently returned to England, where he became a London alderman and a member of parliament, but he eventually lost both large fortunes he created. He was the progenitor of an Anglo-Indian family of merchants, all of whom were artistically gifted.
- Occupation
- politician, merchant, writer
- Position held
- member of the 2nd Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Kingdom of Great Britain
