Lieutenant-Colonel James Metcalfe CB (1817 – 8 March 1888) was an Anglo-Indian military officer in the Bengal Army.
Metcalfe was born in India, an illegitimate son of Charles Metcalfe and a Punjabi Sikh mother whom his father had met whilst envoy to the court of Ranjit Singh at Lahore[1] He had three full brothers.[2]
He was educated at the East India Company Military Seminary at Addiscombe in Surrey. He returned to India in 1836 as a commissioned second lieutenant in the Bengal Native Infantry part of the Bengal Army.[3] He became adjutant of his regiment in 1839 until 1846. On the death of his father in 1846 he inherited a fortune of £50,000.[4]
Between 1848 and 1853 he served as aide-de-camp to The Marquess of Dalhousie during his term as Governor-General of India.[5] During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 he was appointed interpreter to the Commander-in-Chief in India General Sir Colin Campbell as well as aide-de-camp and commandant to the headquarters.[6] After the rebellion he was made a Companion of the Order of Bath and promoted to lieutenant-colonel. He retired from service in 1861. He later migrated to London, where he died on 8 March 1888.[7]
In 1852 he married José Eliza, daughter of Evelyn Meadows Gordon of the Bengal civil service.[8]