Captain Charles Von Drieberg

Biography

Commandant of Hambantota, Ceylon, Captain of H.M.'s 19th Regiment of Foot (the Green Howards).

He was born in 1788, the son of Friedrich Wilhelm von Driberg, of Hanover, and Susannah Petronella Jacoba Torres.

Ensign, 15 May 1806; Lieut., 3 July 1808; Capt., 19 December 1816; Gazetted to the 1st Ceylon Regt., 19 March 1818 - in the 1820s the regiment was styled 'The 1st Ceylon Light Infantry'.

He served in the Travancore War of 1809 with the 19th, and in the Ceylon rebellion 1817-8.

He became Commandant of Hambantota, Ceylon, in 1820, until his death in 1826.

In 1810 he married Gertruida Johanna Elizabeth von Mullertz, and they had ten children.

He died on 8 October 1826 of fever at Hambantota, Ceylon. His wife also died of fever the same day, leaving seven orphaned children.

From the Ceylon Gazette, 4 November 1826:

By the sudden removal of the heads of the family within four hours of each other, no less than seven children have been left totally unprovided for. To Captain Driberg's memory the Corps to which he belonged has borne honourable testimony, and the universally respected character of the parents has given rise to a great feeling of sympathy towards their offspring.

Sources

Obit. 4 Nov. 1826, Ceylon Gazette. List of Inscriptions on Tombstones and Monuments in Ceylon, of Historical and Local Interest, 1913.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Driberg-4 27/11/17